by Ivy Smoak
I wanted to be able to laugh about all this with him. I wanted him to not look hurt when he joked around about it. But at least he was joking around. That was a good sign. I really just wanted to move past this. I wanted to go back to being friends. Despite what Melissa said, I really thought we could be just friends.
"Do you want to talk about that email?" he asked.
I shrugged.
"Have you heard anything about the investigation?"
"I was interviewed by two detectives last night. They said something about these other girls that claimed James...well, it doesn't matter. It was all nonsense. Either the detectives were lying or the girls or both."
Tyler put his bagel down. "Why would his students lie about something like that?"
That was the same question that I had. But I wasn't going to doubt James. He had asked me to trust him. So I was going to trust him. Even if it was still nagging at me. "I don't know. But they were."
"Okay." He didn't sound convinced at all.
I knew it would be weird to talk to him about his. I took a bite of my bagel. It was delicious. My phone started buzzing again.
"Are you going to answer it?"
"I don't recognize the number."
"Well, maybe it's the dean."
"That's kind of what I'm afraid of."
"Answer it. Aren't you curious about why class is canceled?"
I knew why it was canceled. Because there were two lying whores out there making up stories about my boyfriend. But I was curious. "Okay." I swiped my finger across the screen. "Hello?"
"Penny Taylor?" It was a female's voice.
"Speaking."
"This is Becca from the dean of student's office. Dean Vespelli needs to talk to you. Hold for one moment please."
There was a clicking noise. And then I heard a man clear his throat. "Is this Penny?"
"Yes."
"Penny, this is Dean Vespelli."
"How can I help you?"
He laughed. "You can't really. I'm calling to tell you that the investigation went south. Three female students came forward with similar stories regarding sexual misconduct concerning James."
Three now? Seriously? "Well, they're lying."
"Not so easy to prove. The good news is that so far all the girls have been of legal age, so no charges are being pressed. But in light of these findings, all of James' classes are being canceled for the remainder of the semester."
"Okay."
"The validity of everyone's grades in James' classes are in question, so everyone will receive As given the circumstances. The announcement will be in the paper tomorrow morning."
"Oh." Is that why the girls had lied? Had they known what would happen if the classes needed to be canceled? That had to be it. Those bitches!
"But I'm calling to tell you that this doesn't include you. You'll be receiving an incomplete. It'll show up as an I on your record."
"Wait, why can't I just withdraw?" An incomplete on my transcript was worse than a W. It made it look like I didn't hand in all my assignments or something.
"You can't withdraw from a canceled class."
"You said that the blame for this lies on James. So why do I..."
"If I recall, you confessed to me that this whole mess was just as much your fault if not more. Do you have any idea how much backlash I've had to deal with?"
"I'm sorry if..."
"But that isn't the reason why I'm giving you an incomplete in the class. Apparently you did not cooperate in the investigation. You're lucky that I'm not giving you your third strike."
"Mr. Vespelli, those detectives were just trying to pressure me into telling them something that wasn't true." I lowered my voice slightly. "James never did anything inappropriate with me. Maybe the detectives pressured those other girls too."
"James did do something inappropriate. He engaged in a sexual relationship with you. And possibly three other girls."
"He didn't." I wanted to cry. I tried to keep my voice even. "And if the detectives didn't pressure those girls, then they just lied because they saw an easy way out of taking a class. Don't you see that? They must have known they'd get As if they made up stories like that. That's clearly what they were doing."
"We can't prove that."
"Well check their grades."
"I already did. None of them were doing well in James' class. But that doesn't mean that they made it up."
"Yes it does."
"Penny, I understand that this news is upsetting in more ways than one." His voice was calmer. Almost soothing. "I know that you're probably upset that you have to retake the class. But the incomplete won't mean anything on your transcript. Recruiters won't look for that. As for the accusations, there's nothing I can do. I'm trying to stop the investigation since we've already decided to cancel classes. This should be over soon. And if you're upset about what the investigators found, maybe you should talk to James about it."
He thought James was guilty. Did everyone think James was guilty? I looked at Tyler. He was almost done his bagel. I felt like he could hear the conversation. I turned my head to the side slightly, in hopes that he couldn't hear.
"Mr. Vespelli, I know they're lying. James and I have already talked about it."
"Then ignore it. Try not to let it bother you."
I was mad. I shouldn't have to try to not let it bother me. They should be figuring out the truth. I was sick of everyone spreading rumors about James. No wonder he was so closed off. Everyone was awful to him. "I don't want you to stop the investigation. I want you to find the truth. You can't publish this in the paper yet. I'm telling you that it isn't true."
"Penny, I'm sorry. I just want this to go away as fast as possible. The university needs it to go away."
"You're rewarding students for lying. They should be getting in trouble, not rewarded."
"I need to call James. Have a good day, Penny." The line went dead.
"You've got to be kidding me." I tossed my phone down on the table.
I could feel Tyler's eyes on me. I didn't know what to say to him. James was going to freak out when Mr. Vespelli called him. I couldn't believe the university was going to stop the investigation. If they weren't going to find the truth, what was the point of starting the investigation in the first place?
"So...what's up?" Tyler eventually asked.
I took a huge bite of my bagel to stall. I didn't want to have this conversation with Tyler. Clearly he thought that James was a bad guy. And I didn't want to hear anyone else tell me that. "Good news," I said. "You got an A."
"What?"
"Everyone in James' classes gets an A."
"Really?"
"Mhm. You're welcome."
Tyler laughed. "Thanks. But I'm pretty sure I could have gotten an A without you sleeping with our professor."
I wasn't sure what I was supposed to say to that. So I just laughed awkwardly. "Maybe."
Tyler shrugged. "So if we all get As, why do you seem so upset? It's kind of awesome."
"I don't get an A. I'm getting an incomplete."
"Why? You didn't do anything wrong."
"I did. I slept with my professor. And apparently I didn't cooperate in their investigation or something. I don't know. Those detectives were assholes. It doesn't matter anyway. I don't really care." I took another huge bite of my bagel. Cream cheese seemed to make me feel better.
"Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I mumbled with my mouth full.
"Penny, you know you can talk to me. That's what friends are for."
I shook my head. "It's so stupid. All of this is so stupid."
Tyler just stared at me.
"I know he didn't do those things. He told me he didn't. I trust him. So I'm not sure why I feel so...so..." I put my face in my hands. Three. Three girls? James had slept with Isabella when he said he needed space. I thought he had broken up with me. But he told me he had never broken up with me when he finally started talking to me again. So if he hadn't broken
up with me, that meant he knowingly cheated on me with her during our break. It had been in the back of my head, bothering me. James said he did it because he was trying to get over me. Which made sense. But maybe that wasn't the only thing he did to try to get over me. Maybe there were more girls. Maybe there were exactly three more girls. I didn't want to think that. I didn't want to think that it was possible. But wasn't it?
"Penny." Tyler put his hand on my arm. "Please just talk to me. I hate seeing you upset."
I lifted my face out of my hands. "What if they aren't lying, Tyler? What if he...what if he did the things they said he did?" I felt guilty as soon as I said it. It was fine to think those things. But I shouldn't have said them out loud. And especially not to Tyler.
Tyler kept his hand on my arm. "Then I'll kick his ass."
I laughed and moved my arm slightly to remove his hand. "I'm sorry, I don't know why I said that. Clearly those girls just wanted As. They weren't doing well in his classes. They're just dumb so they did another dumb thing."
"Girls can do pretty dumb things."
"Yeah." I knew he was talking about me. But I wasn't making a mistake by being with James. Tyler was amazing. And he'd be an amazing boyfriend for someone else. I looked up at him. "What did you say in your last speech? You never told me."
Tyler smiled. "It wasn't a great speech. I was really worried about you."
"Yes, I'm very dramatic."
He laughed. "I chose to major in economics because a major in business seemed like a logical choice. A safe choice. And I added on a second major of finance because it was easy to get both at the same time." He shifted in his seat. "I was upset after you stormed out of class. I kind of lost my cool during my speech too."
"You did?" I couldn't picture him doing that. He always seemed so calm and confident when he did his speeches.
"Yeah." He scratched the back of his neck with his hand. "You didn't see Professor Hunter's reaction after you left. But I was sitting right behind him. It all started to come together. I think I already realized what was going on between you two before I even saw your phone. I was really pissed. So I said I chose the majors I did so that I could eventually be rich. And have any girl I wanted fall in love with me."
"That wasn't why I fell in love with James."
Tyler laughed. "Yeah, I know you're not a gold digger, Penny. Like I said, I just snapped during my speech. I didn't understand. Hell, I still don't understand." He scratched the back of his neck again.
"So what do you really want to do after you graduate? That didn't exactly answer the question you skipped."
"I just want to be happy."
I was the one that was making him unhappy. "Do you think we can ever just be friends, Tyler? Really?"
"We are friends. We were always friends."
"I don't want to be the reason that you're unhappy."
"That's not what I meant, Penny. If all you'll give me is friendship then that's what I want. I want to be a part of your life. I want you to be happy too. And if Professor Hunter makes you happy, then I'm glad that you're with him."
Maybe I was reading into the things he said too much. He was right, we had always been friends. "So what do you think you'll be doing after you graduate that will make you happy?"
"Actually, I'm interviewing for a job next week."
"For what?"
"I think I want to be a business reporter. I love business. More than I thought I would, actually. But I think I like writing even more. And I had fun giving speeches in class."
"Tyler, that's awesome."
"Yeah, I'm really excited about it. I think it could be a perfect fit for me. I'm so nervous about my interview."
"You're going to do great." I smiled at him. "If you get it, where will you be working?"
"New York."
"You're moving to New York?"
He laughed. "Maybe. I haven't gotten the job yet. But I think it will be nice to move to the city. At least for awhile. I think a change will be good."
"I'm going to miss you. I knew you'd be graduating in the spring, but I didn't think I'd lose you to the big city."
He laughed again. "It's like a two and a half hour drive from here, tops. We can visit each other all the time. I can third wheel with you and Professor Hunter. It'll be a blast."
I smiled. "James grew up in the city. He loves it there. Maybe you two have more in common than you think. I really hope you two can eventually be friends."
"If I ever lose the urge to punch him in the face, maybe we can all hang out." Tyler smiled.
"That sounds fair."
"Are you going to your other classes today?" he asked.
"Yeah. I just want everything to go back to normal."
"I feel like I should warn you. Everyone's talking about it. I'm pretty sure it's the most scandalous thing that's happened here in ages."
"I think if I just act like everything's normal it'll just blow over."
"Maybe." Tyler leaned forward slightly. "Try not to let it bother you. If you need me you can call me, you know."
"I know."
"Let me walk you to your next class. It'll make me feel better."
He was acting weird. How bad was this going to be? "Yeah that would be great. I have psychology in Gore."
"Okay, let's get going then. My next class is pretty far from there."
I quickly finished my bagel and we walked out of the shop together. "Thanks for breakfast, Tyler."
"Of course. When have I ever not paid for one of your meals?"
"I always offer to pay, I..."
"I'm just kidding. You're going to have to learn to laugh stuff off if you're going to survive today."
"Is it really that bad? I mean, what are people saying?"
"It seems like most people really liked Professor Hunter's classes. Lots of people are blaming this whole thing on you."
"Really?" I was surprised. The things that the dean had said made it seem like people would think James was a monster. Seducing students left and right. It made me feel better that people were blaming me. It almost seemed like it would be easier to deal with. I hated when people said bad things about James.
"Yeah, I was surprised too. Professor Hunter always said the weirdest stuff in class. I thought he was an awful professor. Always talking about lust and inappropriate dreams and stuff. I get it now, though. He was flirting with you the whole time. So I guess he was just a bad professor in our class."
I could feel my face turning red.
"I really thought he was a crazy person."
I laughed awkwardly. "Yeah. We probably could have been more subtle."
Tyler shrugged. "I didn't even notice and I knew you. But looking back on it now, there were a lot of signs."
We stopped outside of Gore Hall. A lot of people stared at us as they walked by. Maybe they were just staring because my face was red. I took a deep breath. I was probably imagining it.
"Just try to laugh everything off today, okay? People are idiots."
"I'm going to be fine. I doubt anyone's going to talk to me. Especially in Psych. It's a huge lecture hall. I sit by myself."
"Oh, you don't know anyone in that class?"
"It's like 200 people or something ridiculous, but no, I don't know anyone."
"Maybe I should come with you."
I laughed. "Tyler, I'm not letting you skip another class. What will the people conducting your interview think next week if you keep doing that?"
"Psh. I have all As. They're going to think I'm awesome."
"Still. I'm fine."
"Okay. Well, I guess I'll see you later." He gave me a hug.
"See, she sleeps with everyone," some girl said as she walked by us with a group of her friends. They all laughed.
What the hell?
Tyler unwound his arms from me. "Yeah, if that was a guy I would have punched him in the face."
I stared at the girl as she entered Gore Hall.
"You sure you don't want me to stay?"
Tyler asked.
"Yeah. I mean, no, you should go to your class. It's gonna be fine." I wasn't as convinced as I had been a minute ago, though.
"Okay. I'll see you later."
"Good luck on your interview, in case I don't see you beforehand."
"Thanks, Penny. Remember, laugh it off." He smiled and walked away.
I remembered the advice that Professor Nolan had given me. Getting to class early was a bad idea. So instead of entering the classroom, I went to the bathroom. I sat down in one of the stalls and pulled my phone out of my pocket. There were no new messages. I thought James might text me after his conversation with the dean. Maybe they were still talking. Or arguing.
I heard the door to the bathroom close and two sets of footsteps entering.
"I can't believe class was canceled," one of the girls said. "This is so ridiculous. He was such a good professor."
"I know. I can't believe that slut got him fired."
"He probably doesn't even like her. And even if he does, it won't last long. She ruined his career."
"And she's a home wrecker. What an awful person. I feel so bad for Professor Hunter. I'm really going to miss his class."
"You're just going to miss staring at him."
The second girl laughed. "So what? He's so dreamy. And besides, it wasn't like I was going to act on it. I'm not a whore."
I looked down at my hands. I had put James in a terrible position. I never should have flirted with him. But it always seemed like he wanted this as much as me. He even promised that he didn't resent me. I still felt guilty though. Maybe I always would. He had come to teach here because he needed a fresh start. He was finally happy. Maybe I was messing everything up. He had finally gotten to be himself. Without his parents or his wife pressuring him. And now he was stuck again. I was preventing him from teaching.
Tyler had said he wanted me to be happy. Because he cared about me. I cared about James. I cared about James so much. Maybe I was being selfish by being with him. I should just disappear. The university might even let him teach again. The only requirement was that he had to stop seeing me. And for the investigation to come back clean.
But there wouldn't have been an investigation if I had never been with James in the first place. If Isabella had never found out about me, then he'd still be a professor. He'd still be happy. I waited for the girls to leave before exiting the stall.
