Chapter 194

Tessa’s POV

I followed Dean Miller across the school until we reached his office at the end of a long and narrow hallway. The walk to his office felt like an eternity long; I don’t think I’ve spent nearly enough time in his office, so I wasn’t really used to this walk. But I couldn’t help but feel like there was something seriously wrong.

Ruby told me she would wait for me before she left so she could take me home. But I told her it was fine and that I could just walk home. It’s not like it was a far walk and she looked utterly exhausted after the exams today.

I didn’t want to keep her longer than necessary.

Once we finally reached his office, he nodded at the receptionist who sat at her desk just outside of his door. She returned the nod and then her eyes shifted to me. I couldn’t help but think she was judging me for something.

The intensity of her stare caused heat to rush to my cheeks and I fixed my eyes on the ground in front of me.

Dean Miller pushed the door to his office open and stepped inside. I wasn’t too far behind him, but I paused when I saw who was sitting in one of the seats in front of Dean Miller’s desk.

Jeremy Evans.

He was in Joseph’s writing class and after Joseph pulled him out of the room to speak with him, Jeremy didn’t come back in with him.

“Tessa, please take a seat beside Jeremy,” Dean Miller instructed, motioning for the empty seat.

Jeremy didn’t bother looking at me as I entered the office. I swallowed the lump that formed in my throat and ignored the pit of anxiety that bubbled in my chest.

I took a seat beside Jeremy, chewing the inside of my cheek nervously as Dean Miller took his seat behind his desk and scanned each of our faces.

“Jeremy was just telling me something interesting,” Dean Miller began. He then looked at Jeremy. “Care to tell Tessa what you told me?”

Jeremy cleared his throat and then straightened himself out.

“I was telling Dean Miller that I don’t think you got into this special writing program fairly,” Jeremy said, staring at his hands.

He was too much of a coward to look me in the eyes and say that. I stared at him astonished by what he was saying.

I looked at Dean Miller like this was some kind of joke.

“Excuse me?” I finally asked after a short silence.

“You got into the program because you are sleeping with the professor,” Jeremy said; and now he was looking directly at me, his dagger of eyes turned in my direction and burning a hole in the side of my face.

“I….” I tried to say, but Dean Miller held up his hand.

“Do you care to explain this photo, Tessa,” Dean Miller asked as he pulled out a piece of paper and slid it across his desk.

My heart was pounding in my chest as I reached across the desk to take the paper from him.

There was no way I could possibly be prepared for the photo that was staring me in the face. My entire body felt like it was on fire.

It was a picture of Joseph and me in his classroom, kissing.

My entire world stopped moving around me and I suddenly felt like I couldn’t breathe.

How did this picture surface? Was this the picture Amanda took? It was supposed to be deleted.

Seeing the panic on my face, Dean Miller leaned back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest, and narrowed his eyes at me.

“So, it’s true then,” Dean Miller said, raising his brows. “You have been involved with Professor Evergreen?

I was at a loss for words, which I knew was making me look even guiltier. But I wasn’t sure what to say to get out of this mess. I couldn’t believe this was happening’; How did they get this photo?

“Of course, it’s true, Dean Miller,” Jeremy said, furrowing his brows together. “Pictures don’t lie. I took that one myself. I was coming back to the classroom to get something, and I saw them kissing. I took a picture and left.”

Dean Miller’s eyes remained on me.

“Tessa… what do you have to say for yourself?”

I had no idea what to say; I was so confused and blindsided. I couldn’t believe this was happening. This could ruin my entire life.

There was a knock on the door that brought me out of my daze.

“Come in,” Dean Miller said to the closed door.

The door opened and my heart dropped when I saw Joseph standing at the doorway. He looked concerned when he saw me sitting in front of Dean Miller’s desk. I’m sure I looked horrified. But then his eyes shifted to Jeremy, and annoyance spread across his face as he stepped further into the office, closing the door behind him.

“You wanted to see me, Dean Miller?” Joseph asked, fixing his attention on the Dean.

“Professor Evergreen, you do know that it’s against school policy for a professor to be involved with their student, right?” Dean Miller began, his brows raised as he stared at Joseph. “Even though Tessa is a legal adult, a student-teacher relationship is not allowed.”

Joseph nodded, but I could see the uncertainty behind the nod and his eyes shined with raw confusion.

“I understand that Sir. I assure you my relationship with Tessa is—”

“Choose your words carefully, Professor.,” Dean Miller said, stopping Joseph’s words as he lifted the photo for Joseph to see. “There’s proof.”

Joseph narrowed his eyes at the photo; there was no lying his way out of this one. It was a clear shot of me sitting on his desk with my legs wrapped around his waist and we were kissing pretty heavily.

My cheeks flushed as I looked at the picture and then I stared down at my lap.

“You play favoritism and it’s obvious,” Jeremy muttered. “Now everybody is going to know it too.”

“Why are you doing this?” I found myself asking, looking at Jeremy. “What did I do to you?”

“It’s not what you did,” Jeremy said with a shrug. “I don’t care what you do. This is about him.” Jeremy pointed at Joseph and narrowed his icy eyes in his direction.

“Jeremy is upset because I caught him plagiarizing on his final project,” Joseph said simply.

He didn’t seem too bothered by what was happening and I wondered why that was.

“Yes, Jeremy is not off the hook for that,” Dean Miller said, his tone deepening as he fixed his attention on Jeremy who sunk further into his seat. “But right now, I need to know the extent of your relationship with Tessa.”

“My relationship with Tessa doesn’t affect her abilities in my class nor does it influence the way I teach her vs. the others,” Joseph said, keeping his eyes fixed on Dean Miller.

“Bullshit,” Jeremy muttered, drawing our attention to him. When he noticed everyone was staring at him, he turned his attention to Joseph alone. “I see her blog; there’s no way Tessa wrote those stories herself. Most of her writing looks like something straight out of your book.”

“Because he’s, my mentor!” I found myself saying with my voice high-pitched.

“He’s a lot more than that,” Jeremy said in return.

“Enough of this,” Dean Miller said loudly, silencing our bickering. Dean Miller then turned his eyes in my direction. “If it’s true that Joseph has been writing your blog posts for a blog that is school-funded, that’s a breach of the contract, Tessa. A contract that you signed a couple of years ago when we set this blog up for you.”

I nodded; I knew this. He didn’t have to tell me this.

“Yes, I’m aware,” I told him. I wasn’t sure what more to say to him.

A tight knot was in the pit of my stomach, and I was suddenly feeling very sick. I just wanted to get out of here.

“I’m not going to lie to you, Dean Miller,” Joseph’s voice cut through my spiraling thoughts. “Tessa and I have been involved. It’s a little more complicated than it seems, and I know it’s not right to involve myself with a student. She was someone I mentored before I came to this school to teach; it wasn’t planned, and I didn’t know this was the school she attended when I got hired. We were already close before this school year began and the more, we worked together, the closer we got.”

My cheeks flared with heat from his words.

“Lying to you was never part of my agenda and I apologize that you had to find out about this in this kind of way,” Joseph continued. “But I assure you, Tessa being accepted into my class had nothing to do with my relationship with her. I used a non-biased voting system and she got into the program fairly.”

Dean Miller glanced between Joseph and me for a moment before nodding.

“I appreciate your honesty, Professor,” Dean Miller said. “But that doesn’t answer the questions concerning her blog. Jeremy brought to my attention that Tessa’s writing changed, and she gained more followers after she began your class.”

“She learned new writing techniques from my class—”

“Did you see her new following count?” Jeremy asked as he brought out his phone.

He lifted the screen for Dean Miller to see.

“Her following count tripled in the last few months. I’ve never seen anything like that before. It had to be because of Professor Evergreen,” Jeremy huffed.

Dean Miller narrowed his eyes at the phone as he examined it. Then he leaned back in his seat and looked back at me.

“I’m sorry Tessa, but until I know for sure that your blog is strictly yours and not being written by Professor Evergreen, I’m afraid some repercussions will have to be made.

“What kind of repercussion?” I asked, my voice quivering only slightly.

“I’m going to have to suspend your blog until further notice and your graduation has been put on hold.”