The Professor's Girl (18+)

Episode 40

Emma

Today is my first self defense class, and I'm nervous. I don't want to embarrass myself in front of anyone. Class is about to start, so I sit in the back where I won't be noticed. Our instructor's name is Sam, and he starts by mentioning how we're taught to read and write, but not how to defend and protect ourselves.

The beginning of class is more of a lecture. Sam talks about how the way you stand, breathe, how you talk to people, and how people talk to you is all related to self-defense. He discusses learning how to prevent trouble and avoiding danger. Sam tells us to pay attention to how people treat us and how we feel in certain situations. The second half of our class is where we learn physical moves to protect ourselves.

For now, we focus on sparring with a partner. The move I'm most interested in is the front chokehold. It's exactly what Adrian did to me. Sam teaches us to use our entire body to target the perpetrator's two thumbs. I duck down using my whole body, slipping out my partner's grip quickly. The move is so simple, yet efficient. When I walk out of class an hour later, I feel so much better. Kai was right about me taking self-defense classes--they do make me feel safer.

After class, mom calls me. She asks when I'm going to come back home to visit her and dad, so I offer to come back this weekend. Then mom tells me to "bring my boyfriend," so I tell her I'll do my best to get him to come. I'm not sure if Kai will be interested in meeting my parents. After all, we've only known each other for two weeks.

When mom hangs up, I call Kai. He picks up on the first ring. "Hey," his voice is a melodious baritone.

"Hi! I had a question for you," I start.

"What is it?"

"How interested would you be in meeting my parents this weekend?"

"Very," he says.

"Really? Even though we've only known each other for two weeks?"

"We've only known each other for two weeks? It doesn't seem like that at all. I feel like I've known you for years."

"I know."

"But yeah, I would love to come meet them. I want to see the people that made my favorite person in the whole world."

A silly smile crosses my face. "Would you be comfortable spending the night there? I don't want to drive there just for a day; I want to spend the whole weekend at home."

"As long as your parents are okay with it, I'm okay with it."

We chat a little bit more, but I hang up the phone relatively soon because I need to study. I grab my backpack and get in my car, driving home. Tonight is going to be a boring night because I need to catch up on MCAT studying. I would much rather spend this evening with Kai, but unfortunately I can't.

~~~
Kai

Truthfully, I am quite excited to be visiting Emma's family. I didn't expect to be able to meet them so soon, but I'm happy that Emma feels comfortable with me being there. She says that she's really close to her mom, so I'm hopeful to get on her mom's good side. As far as her dad goes, I hope he isn't too scary. I understand being protective of your daughter—after all, I have a daughter— but someone like Sadie's dad is crazy.

Sadie's dad swore that his daughter was like his own little princess. She could make no mistakes. Not to mention the fact that Sadie is an only child, so she is already spoiled as hell. Although now that I'm thinking about it, Emma is also an only child. However, she's not problematic the way that Sadie is. Sadie always has to be right and have her way. Emma isn't like that.

I grab my bag, which is filled with my clothes and whatever else I need for the weekend at Emma's parents. Chester sees me with the travel bag in hand, and I realize that I forgot to tell him I was leaving this weekend. To be fair, I've only known for a couple hours today, but still.

"Where are you going?" He asks me.

"I'm staying at Emma's parents house for the weekend." I walk over to the kitchen, where I grab a glass of water.

He raises his eyebrows at me. "You're meeting her parents? Does this mean you two are officially dating?" I nod my head, and Chester grins. "Finally!" He exclaims.

I laugh. "We just decided to date in secret since we can't seem to let each other go. Speaking of which, I should delete Tinder off my phone then."

Chester rolls his eyes while I drink my water. "I can't believe you thought you'd actually be able to stay away from her. You're madly in love with that girl."

I choke on my drink instantly. "Who said anything about being in love?"

"What do you mean?" Chester asks.

"What do you mean what do I mean?"

"I'm sorry, I assumed you were in love with her."

It feels like someone has punched me in the gut. What is he talking about? Why would he assumed that? Just because Emma and I have clicked doesn't mean that I'm in love with her."Definitely not. It's going to take a long time for me to ever fall for someone again."

"So this is about Sadie?"

"This has nothing to do with Sadie. What are you talking about?" I ask.

"This has everything to do with Sadie. The reason you are hesitant to say that you're in love with Emma is because Sadie scarred you. That much is obvious," Chester says.

I say nothing because he's right. If Sadie had never cheated on me, then I wouldn't have trust issues now. It would be easier for me to fall in love and trust people, but that's not the way that life turned out. Sadie did cheat on me, George did betray me, and it's impossible for me to trust anyone other than Chester at this point. It's obvious to me that I don't love Emma, but I do care about her a lot, and I want to see her happy.

"My mistake," Chester says.

"Don't worry about it," I tell him.