Professor Cline Revealed by J. M. La Rocca Page A

was on the bus and told her we needed to get together. I was still reeling from my encounter with the professor the day before, and I wasn’t sure how I was supposed to react or respond.  A part of me said to fuck it all and go with it, but another part was throwing up red flags. What teacher, let alone a professor, would pursue a student? It was creepy and hot all at the same time, which made me feel like I was losing my mind.
    I walked into her apartment around six that night, carrying a bag of Chinese take-out. I figured if I was going to barge in on her, I could at least provide dinner.
    “Hey!” I yelled from the hall. “You really need to start locking your door when you come home. Any crazy person could just walk in.” I set the bag on the counter and looked over at Victoria who was standing over a baking dish. “V, what are you doing?”
    She turned and looked at me. “What? I’m on my period. I need chocolate,” she stated as she licked chocolate batter off a spoon. “Brownies will be done soon. What did you bring?” she asked, bounding over to me.
    I smiled. “Chicken lo mein, General Tso’s chicken, and egg rolls.”
    “Music to my ears,” she said as she pulled out the containers and grabbed two plates. “So, I’m highly interested in this news you have to tell me, but first, how are you doing?”
    She stopped what she was doing and looked at me with concern. You’d never know, but she was overly affectionate and took on the role of mom in our little group. It was annoying at times, but I loved her big heart.
    “I’m good, really. I don’t want you to worry about me. I can honestly say I only had one instance where I checked my phone to see if I had gotten a text from him. It hurt, but I’ll get over it. I mean, seriously, he’s over it. There’s no reason for me to dwell on it.”
    Victoria walked to me and grabbed me in an embrace. “You truly are stronger than you appear, you know that?” she told me as she pulled back with a smile. “Okay, so tell me this news you had to share.” She grabbed her plate full of food and moved out of the way so I could make mine.
    I sat at the table with her after I made my plate. I didn’t know where to start, so I just blurted it out. “Mr. Sexy Eyes is my professor.”
    Her eyes widened as she stopped chewing. “No freaking way,” she said with a mouth full of food.
    I laughed and nodded.
    “Holy shit. Seriously? That is unreal. Was it awkward? Man, it had to have been. Oh, my God. Did you tell Becky yet?” she rambled.
    I chuckled at all her questions. “No, I haven’t told Becky yet and yes, it was awkward. What made it more awkward was when he called me into his office after class.”
    “Oh, my God. Don’t leave me in suspense. Spit it out already!” she ordered, all giddy.
    “He called me into his office and propositioned me,” I told her. I bit the inside of my cheek and waited for her to reply as she looked at me with her mouth hanging open.
    “Are you serious?” she asked, finally. I nodded. “What exactly did he say?”
    I looked down at my food, not being able to hide the grin as I replayed the scene in my head. He was so close to me. If I closed my eyes and thought hard enough, I could still smell him.
    “Hello?” she said, annoyed.
    I looked up at her and laughed. “Sorry.” I gave her a play-by-play of what happened and she looked at me with her mouth open again, but that time she had food in it. “So you can see why I wanted to talk to someone about it. He’s so… intimidating. I don’t know what I’m going to do. I mean, you’ve seen him. He’s flipping gorgeous, but I don’t want to get into trouble. And he’s trouble with a capital T.”
    She finished chewing her food and set her fork down. “He said all of that to you.” I nodded. “Okay, listen to me. If I were in your shoes I’d be freaked out, too. But doing the things in life that are the most forbidden are the most exciting and adventurous. Just