Obsession

Chapter 25

When I see my dad's truck pulling into the faculty parking lot, I quickly run out to meet him. I don't bother looking over my shoulder for Kai. Right now, he's the least of my worries.

I get into the truck and slam the door shut before burying my face in my hands. I'm not gonna cry. I'm determined not to be a wimp about this, especially in front of my dad.

"What happened?" dad asks. "Was it Kai?"

"No," I mumble through my hands.

"Then why did you call me to come get you right after your first class? Don't you have two or three more?"

"Yes."

He drives away and thankfully, stops with the questions. At least for now. I pull out my phone and send Leo a text to let him know what happened so he won't be looking for me in the cafeteria.

After we've been riding in silence for a while, dad finally looks over at me. "You know I'm not gonna drop this until you tell me what's wrong, right?"

I sigh and look out the window. "It's just school stuff. One of my professors..."

"Uh-huh," he says, motioning for me to go on.

I cross my arms over my chest, getting angered all over again by what happened. "I signed an agreement to stay off social media for a month as part of a class experiment. It was going so well and I only had five more days to go before it was all over. I didn't even think about it when I logged in to block Kai. It never even crossed my mind."

"Wait a second, are you telling me you got into trouble for logging in to block someone who threatened you?" dad asks incredulously.

I look at him and shrug. "Not so much got into trouble as got a zero for the assignment, which counts for 20% of my final grade."

Dad brings the truck to an abrupt stop. "Who the hell does this guy think he is?! Didn't you explain to him what happened?"

"I tried, but he wouldn't listen to me."

"That son of a bitch," dad mumbles under his breath, swinging the truck around in the opposite direction and pressing the gas pedal to the floor.

"Dad, what are you doing?!" I ask, holding onto my seat for dear life.

"I'm gonna have a few words with your professor," he says, staring straight ahead with a crazy look in his eyes.

"It's okay, you don't have to do that. As a matter of fact, please don't," I beg.

He starts to slow down, much to my relief. He finally comes to a stop and looks at me like he's ready to tell me off.

"What?" I ask.

"You can't just accept it when people walk all over you, Mara. You have to stand up for yourself."

"I know," I sigh.

"I'm serious. Are you just gonna take this zero or are you gonna march in there and tell that asshole what happened? We were concerned about your safety. I could give a shit less about his stupid experiment," he says, mockingly using air quotes.

I stare at him like he's insane. Because right now, he is. I know he's right though. I wanted so badly to tell Dr. Kahn he could take this assignment and shove it right up his ass. But I've never been the type to cause a scene. That's always been more Rue's thing.

"There's a lot more to life than a college class, baby girl. I'm sure even you know that much by now," he goes on. "What happened to you was scary. Of course you're gonna take all the necessary precautions to ensure he doesn't contact you again. If your professor can't accept that, then you should tell him to kiss your ass."