My Professor's Secret

22|

twenty-two

After enduring what felt like endless renditions of classic Christmas carols, the mixer finally came to an end. Christian and Meghan wished me a Merry Christmas before disappearing into the night, hand in hand.

We'd spent most of the evening apart, so it was Christian who told me Taylor had left early. Apparently, she'd called Tony, and he came to pick her up before things wrapped.

I didn't mind.

She wasn't in the mood to stay, and I couldn't blame her. We'd just said goodbye to our friend. If anything, being with Tony probably gave her the distraction she needed.

It also gave me the space to shift my focus elsewhere.

With Taylor gone, I didn't have to explain why I wouldn't be walking back with her—or why Trevor's car would be the one waiting outside our dorm. For once, I didn't have to come up with a lie to cover where I was going.

The courtyard cleared out quickly. What had once been a crowd dwindled to a few stragglers and a handful of resident advisors working to put out the fire and gather what was left of the marshmallows and hot chocolate.

All except Presley.

She stayed planted, watching everything.

I pulled my phone from my back pocket, checking the time. Midnight was less than two hours away. A message from Professor Thornton sat at the top of my screen, timestamped over thirty minutes ago.

Where should we meet?

The RAs hadn't moved even after the fire was fully extinguished. They were probably assigned to stay until everyone had made it back to their dorms safely.

I typed out a quick response, settling on the front entrance of the library. It was far enough from the dorms to avoid being seen—and close enough that I wouldn't have to stand outside for too long.

Or so I thought.

The snow hadn't let up. Light flurries followed me the entire walk over, dusting the ground just enough to make everything look softer than it felt.

By the time I reached the library, the doors were locked.

Of course they were.

I hovered near the entrance anyway, shifting my weight from one foot to the other as the cold started to settle in. Without students around, the campus felt hollow—quieter than usual. The kind of quiet that made distant laughter carry farther than it should.

With classes out and most people gone for the holidays, there was no reason for the library to stay open late. I hadn't thought that far ahead. There was no reason for anyone to be here at all.

Yet, here I was. Left standing outside in the cold with nothing to do but think. And that's when it came back. Everything Chris had said.

For a while, I'd felt justified in holding onto my anger. It made sense. It felt earned. And for a long time, I'd had Christian standing right there beside me, reinforcing it. But now—now it felt different. Misplaced.

Like I'd been trying to force my dad into something that only made sense to me. Like I'd drawn a line he never agreed to and expected him to stay behind it anyway. And for what? To prove a point?

To hold onto something that wasn't coming back? The realization sat heavily in my chest. I hadn't been any better than Meghan.

Maybe not in the same way—no lawsuit, no custody battle—but the intent wasn't that different. I'd still been asking him to choose my version of happiness over his own. And that didn't sit right anymore. Not after everything.