My Professor's Secret

49|

forty-nine

As I return to the dinner table, I find our food in front of everyone, and Lorelei's spot sits empty as she stands with her foot perched against the brick wall outside—her phone still glued to her ear. My conversation with Josh went how I expected it to go. Josh wanted nothing to do with what I needed to ask Sawyer, and although it only complicated my situation more, I didn't blame him. He was right. If it was necessary, as I had explained to him, I should've been able to ask him myself. The only upside about talking to him was that he did say he'd let Sawyer know to call me later tonight. It took every shred of composure to hide the tremble in my hands as I sat at the table.

What if it had been too late by then? What if the Dean had read the letter and prepared to have Trevor arrested because of Wyatt's accusations? To say I was panicking would be an understatement. It wasn't so much so the Dean finding out, and it was naive of me to assume a situation like this would stay silent forever, but that didn't make the situation any less stressful. What shook me to my core was the reaction of everyone else. Would I even be able to return here for another year after having a scandal like that spread about me? If I'd been in Dreycott, this would have already been handled—translation; I would have already fulfilled everybody's gossip itch and then been ostracized by the people that smiled in my face days before. Luckily, in a town with more people meant endless drama to gossip over. The next big juicy story was only twenty-four hours away anyways. If today it happens to be me, by Sunday, it'd be some academic scandal or other insane rumor to spread around about someone else. All I'd have to do is survive that.

It isn't until Christian nudges me in the forearm that their voices resonate in my ears. Christian suggests we wait until Lorelei has returned inside before we start eating. I'm well on my way to openly objecting when Trinity shoots up from her chair in pursuit of the front door. Chris and I reacted shortly after, but by the scrunch of my expression and Chris's look, neither of us knew what had happened. With Hinkhouse filling with people intending to celebrate the end of the semester, stifling through the cluster of people takes us a few minutes. During the entire trek through the crowd, people passed whispers speculating about what had happened.

"She just collapsed," I hear someone say as we push out the door.

Trinity is to her knees by her mother's side in seconds before quickly lifting Lorelei's head from the concrete to prop on her knees. My eyes darted to Christian, desperate for what to do next, but I noticed he was no longer by my side. He'd somehow passed my gaze because I didn't see him again until he emerged from Hinkhouse with a glass of water clutched in his hand before passing it to Trinity. I can't help but glance between them—trying my best to comprehend how they'd been so calm in such situations. On the other hand, I'd been huddled in the back. Close, yet ten thousand miles away. Loss has left me destitute for too long now, and the thought of finally finding a shred of appreciation for Lorelei just for her to be in danger would send me over the edge.

Trinity continues to caress her mother's head, calling her name in hopes of waking her from unconsciousness, though her efforts fail her. Christian has grabbed the phone from Lorelei's limp hand and has it up to his ear. My attention remains on my brother, watching him respond to the voice on the other end. "This is his son, Christian Castillo," he says. His eyebrows scrunch even closer together as he remains voiceless. I want to know what's being said because whatever it is, it has him intrigued.

My attention finds Trinity once more. She glances at the frosted glass of cold water before picking it up and pouring a splash on her mother's face. There's a flinch from Lorelei before her eyes start to flutter open. Trinity quickly offers her the glass of water, but Lorelei refuses as she frantically searches the area around her, no doubt in search of her phone. Luckily, with Lorelei no longer unconscious, the crowd begins to thin. Someone even mentions the health center being on their way to help.