Several days had passed, in which I had barely heard from Mr. Preston. He had canceled the tutoring sessions and in class, he had either bullied or ignored me. Not a single day went by where he hadnât thrown mean remarks at me.
Although the others were also not shielded from his questionable teaching methods, none of them felt his wrath as much as I did. Well, maybe Noah did too.
âPut this on,â Leilah handed me one of her tops and I took it with wide eyes.
It was off-shoulder and made of silk, had a corsage effect and was flared at the sleeves. The washed out jeans fit loosely and didnât cut into my skin.
My friend had been dying to get me into some of her high heels, but I had declined politely. First, her feet were smaller than mine and second, I would freeze my toes off. Boots would do.
I hadnât dressed up in a while, and since I had promised Noah a while ago that we would head downtown today, I finally had an occasion.
âNoah will love it.â I rolled my eyes, had explained to her dozens of times that this date was purely amicable.
We were just two classmates going to a bar after school, nothing else, and I was sure Noah felt the same way. I hadnât missed the way he looked at some girls and guys, so his didnât have to be on the priority list.
My roommate gave me a dismissive hand gesture and sat down next to Caleb, who was just lying in her bed staring into his tablet while he put his arm around her waist.
I went into the bathroom and changed my clothes, applied makeup, and straightened my hair for the first time in months. I liked the curls better, but every now and then I needed a change, and I wasnât ready to cut it yet, even though it was already way too long and knotted at the back of my head.
After a few sprays of perfume and a close look in the mirror, I stepped out. Leilah gestured for me to turn around and I followed her command.
âWe need to capture this moment. My baby is leaving the nest.â She theatrically wiped a tear from her face, and I rolled my eyes.
âThe baby will have a fit soon if it doesnât get something to eat. Better hurry.â I squeezed in between the couple and fixed my hair.
âPull that top down a little, Avery,â she said impatiently, and I gave her a dirty look. Certainly not. It was already showing too much. âBuzzkill.â
She took a few pictures and my cheeks tensed up. Caleb had already stopped looking at the camera and turned his attention to the tablet.
âI think we got it,â I muttered and stood up, but my friend paid no more attention to me. Instead, she looked at the pictures, analyzing every inch and then picking out the best one.
I still had some time before I would meet Noah downstairs and we would ride his motorcycle to the next bigger city. Itâs going to be a nice evening, I kept telling myself.
While Leilah quite vocally discussed with herself, which was the best of all, I played my music, the headphones still from my professor.
I was caught up in the song when suddenly a notification noise disturbed my peace. Annoyed, I opened the message, only to see that it came from .
Irritated, I looked at the message. It took me a while to figure out what he meant. The photos.
I was tired of his games. Sometimes he was as cold as Antarctica and then he burned me out.
It didnât take long for him to reply.
I exhaled in annoyance.
Not that my non-existent love life was any of his business, but I couldnât help but rub it in.
I considered whether to tell him the truth. He would probably find out one way or another, but why not annoy him a little? After all, he had great pleasure in doing it to me.
His student? We had crossed hundreds of lines. Lines that could ruin his career, and yet he trivialized everything that had happened.
Like he knew who was good enough for me.
And thatâs the problem.
He acted as if he had known me all my life and I hated that behavior. He didnât know who I was, no, he had only seen a fraction of me.
I exhaled slowly and typed a response.
I stared at the display in disbelief, shocked by his sudden change of tone. Mr. Preston was causing me more and more whiplash with each conversation we had.
I wanted to respond something mean, wanted to tell him to piss off, and yet I found myself imagining what it would feel like to lie under him while he was thrusting into me.
I allowed myself to indulge in these words, in my forbidden thoughts, in his threats that would never lead to anything. He played with me, had his fun in confusing me, and I was tired of it.
It was my turn to mess with him.
I hoped that had left enough impression.
Fuck, Avery.
Bingo. He was all worked up.
With a big grin on my face, I left the chat and packed my bag.
I had taken control, had a hold on Mr. Prestonâat least for a few sentences.