Chapter 153

Tessa’s POV

How did he know this information?

I stared at him with disbelief written all over my face as he raised his right brow. He didn’t look pleased, but I also didn’t understand why he would be so upset about this.

I mean, he was the one who broke up with me after all.

“Well?” He asked when it was clear I was too frozen to say anything. “You have nothing to say?”

“I’m not sure what you want me to say…” I admitted, tugging at my fingers nervously. “It’s not like I skipped class to purposely hang out with him. I really did need time away.”

“But you took time away with Brian,” he said; his voice falling short with aggravation.

I couldn’t deny it; he obviously already knew the truth.

“Yes,” I said softly. “I took time away with Brian. But it wasn’t planned. He was just available.”

I wanted to shout at him, “Because I was so upset that you were flirting and hugging Miss Emily!” But I kept my mouth shut, not wanting to make things worse.

Every time I thought about Emily’s hands all over him, I felt sick to my stomach. I’d rather not throw up in Joseph’s office.

“Out of all the guys to hang out with, why that loser?”

I was surprised by his question, and I looked up to meet his eyes again.

“I told you, it wasn’t planned. He was just available,” I repeated.

“I thought you were smarter than that,” he said, shaking his head with such disappointment on his face.

I sunk lower in my seat, feeling a wave of shame crossing over me. I already heard this lecture from Ruby, and I didn’t want to hear it again, especially not from Joseph. My heart still hurt when I thought about Joseph ending our dating trial. My heart hurt when I thought about Joseph with another. My heart hurt seeing how disappointed he was in me.

When will this hurt end?

“How did you even know I was with him?” I asked, suddenly getting angry.

He didn’t even have a right to question me about this.

He narrowed his eyes at me.

“I went to your apartment to check on you,” he said in a low voice. “When you didn’t show up for class, I was worried something happened….”

His voice trailed off.

Brian took me home last night and we hugged in front of my apartment building. My stomach clenched; Joseph must have seen that.

“I’m sorry for worrying you, Professor. But it’s not your place to stop by my apartment unannounced anymore,” I told him, trying to keep my tone as even and as professional as possible.

The corner of his lip twitched, and I sat back in my seat, knowing that I aggravated him and that I was winning this conversation.

He leaned forward, uncrossing his arms from his chest, and peered into my eyes, making my heart skip a beat and my stomach somersault. He looked way less professional now; his eyes had softened, and I saw what almost looked like desperation cross his face.

“Are you really going to hate me for the rest of your life?” He asked, his tone soft.

I instantly felt bad.

My behavior toward him was out of pain and anger. I was acting immaturely, and I knew this. Ruby had told me this in her own Ruby fashion as well. I was here for a reason, and I needed to stick to that reason.

I sat up straight in my seat.

“I don’t hate you, Professor,” I told him calmly. “I’m here because I wanted to see if I can make up some coursework. I know it was wrong of me to skip your class last night, but I’m willing to do what I can to make things right again.”

He looked at me for a long while, processing my words and staring around my face.

He then sighed and broke his eyes from mine to look at the pile of papers on his desk. He silently went through them until he uncovered a couple of worksheets.

“I was actually going to come find you later, but seeming you are here, I suppose I can give these to you now,” he said as he slid the papers across the desk and toward me.

I stared at them questionably. They both looked like mini quizzes. Each one contains about 5 short answer questions and a 6(th) more detailed and in-depth question.

“What are these?” I asked, looking back up at him.

“Extra credit,” he answered. “Complete these along with your missed homework and the coursework for yesterday. Have them on my desk by class time tomorrow evening.”

“And then what? I’ll be caught up?”

He peered at me, narrowing his eyes at me.

“It’ll be like you never missed anything,” he stated.

I gave him a faint smile as I stood to my feet, feeling a wave of relief.

“Thank you, Professor,” I said to him before turning away and walking toward the doorway.

“Oh, and Tessa,” he said, stopping me as I reached the door handle. I turned back to face him, frowning. “Don’t ever skip my class again.”

Heat surfaced on my face and all I managed to say was, “Yes, sir.”

As I opened the door, Miss Emily looked startled to see me. Her fist was raised as she was about to knock on the office door when I opened it.

“Oh, sorry, Tessa. I didn’t know you were in here,” she said, brushing her fingers through her short brown hair.

I plastered a smile on my lips, trying not to show her the pain on my face.

“He’s all yours,” I said coolly, glancing at Joseph briefly before leaving his office and both of them behind.

…..

“Are you out of your goddamn mind?!” Ruby nearly growled as she slammed her locker door shut. “There’s no way in hell we are having lunch with Brian and his stupid friends.”

I knew she was going to be upset about this, but I didn’t think she’d be impossible. It was finally lunch hour, and my stomach was growling furiously.

“I made a promise, Ruby,” I told her.

“Then unpromised, Tessa,” she quipped. “There’s no way. We don’t owe him anything.”

“He wants to prove that he changed,” I said as we both turned and began to walk out of the academic center and toward the unattached cafeteria building. The campus of this school was a giant circle and in the center of the circle was the cafeteria.

“And you believe that he has?” She asked, glancing at me as we walked.

I shook my head and laughed.

“Hell no,” I told her honestly. “But this will prove to us he hasn’t, and we can move on from it.”

“You should already be moved on from it,” she said, scrunching her face in disgust. “He’s no good.”

“That’s an understatement,” I murmured. “But it’s just one lunch. I don’t want to eat with him without you, Ruby. Please….”

I could hear myself begging and I was ashamed of that. But she sighed and draped an arm through mine.

“The kind of shit I do for you,” she muttered.

I smiled.

“I owe you,” I said in return.

“That’s an understatement.”

We reached the cafeteria and went toward the food table where everything was laid out before us. My mouth was watering as I smelled the spaghetti and meatballs. I think I was more excited to eat than anything else.

I glanced at Brian’s table and saw that he was already there with his group of friends. I wasn’t surprised to see Amanda sitting grossly close to him. Just as she did during the entirety of our relationship, I couldn’t help but roll my eyes.

He hadn’t noticed me yet, but I saw that his eyes were darting around the cafeteria periodically like he was looking for someone.

I sighed and grabbed some food and a water bottle. I waited for Ruby to finish scouting the food table. Once she collected her food items, she joined me in staring at Brian’s table.

“Are you sure we have to do this?” She asked, looking at me with a worried look in her eyes.

“It’s just one lunch,” I breathed; I wasn’t sure if I was talking to me or her.

At that point, Brian’s eyes finally found mine and they widened. A grin appeared on his cocky face, and he quickly stood to his feet, startling Amanda.

“Tessa! Over here,” he waved, motioning for the two empty seats on the other side of him.

I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat as I made my way over to the table with Ruby trailing closely behind me.

“Hey,” I said, trying to act as casually as possible.

Nobody said a word as I slid into the seat beside Brian and Ruby sat next to me. All his friends were staring at me with narrow and unmoving eyes. I wondered if Brian even bothered to tell them that we were joining them for lunch.

When I looked at Amanda, she looked rigid.

“Brian…” she said in a low and threatening tone, glaring at him. “What. The. Actual. Fuck?”