Chapter 95

Tessa’s POV

There was silence in the room as everyone turned to face me. My eyes were on Joseph, and he gave me a wary look in return.

“I’m going home to the country to see my father,” I said, turning to address everyone. “I haven’t seen him in a while, and I miss him.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, and everyone began to murmur amongst themselves, turning away from me.

I looked at Ruby who looked like she was trying hard to not burst out laughing. I gave her a warning look but then grinned at her face.

After class, I didn’t wait for Joseph like I usually would. I would meet up with him afterward, but Ruby wanted to come over and help me pack for my trip. We leave tomorrow night, and I was beyond nervous. I told Joseph that I was going to need a night with my best friend before I went away with him, and he understood.

I went to my locker to put some things away and grab some things while Ruby went to the bathroom. Just as I shut my locker door to meet up with her near the bathrooms, I froze when I saw Brian approaching me.

He didn’t look happy, and I had a nervous feeling bubbling in the pit of my stomach, but I was also majorly annoyed that he was yet again bothering me after he was warned and threatened against it.

“We need to talk,” he said, stopping in front of me.

“I’ve told you countless of times that there’s nothing to talk about,” I said, folding my arms across my chest.

He narrowed his eyes at me, pressing his lips firmly together.

“I spent these last few weeks doing research on your professor and I found nothing,” he said through his teeth.

I rose my brows at him.

He researched Joseph? For what reason would he have to do that? That was an invasion of privacy and really messed up.

“Okay?” I said, trying to remain unbothered. “That’s good that you found nothing.”

I went to walk away, but he grabbed my arm firmly, halting me.

“Ouch, Brian. Let me go,” I seethed, pulling my arm out of his grip. “What is wrong with you.”

“He’s a famous writer, Tessa. He has no information about his personal life online. Don’t you think that’s a little weird?”

“He’s a private person,” I said in return. “He doesn’t have social media and he’s hardly online.”

“But if he’s that famous and rich, you’d think there’d be something about him. But there’s nothing. I’ve looked into it for the last couple of weeks and I found nothing. I’m starting to think he doesn’t exist.”

“Obviously he exists, Brian,” I said with an eye roll. “He has a lot of books. You’d know that if you read.”

“I’m not joking, Tessa. Something is up with him, and you need to be careful.”

“He’s my professor,” I said through gritted teeth. “We’ve been over this countless times, and I can’t keep having the same conversations with you, Brian. It isn’t fair to me and it’s driving you insane. Just leave it alone and leave Joseph alone.”

“Joseph?” Brian asked, raising his brows.

I realized quickly my grave mistake. I used Joseph’s first name instead of Professor Evergreen. But maybe I could still recover from this. Though looking at the look Brian was giving me, it wasn’t likely.

“You call him by his first name?”

“A lot of teachers have us call them by their first names,” I said, trying to recover quickly. “It’s not really a big deal.”

Brian sighs.

“You are smarter than this, Tessa. There’s something off about him. There’s no information anywhere on the internet. You can’t be that rich and famous without there being anything online. It’s not possible…”

“Are you speaking from experience?” A voice asked.

We both froze when we saw Joseph standing nearby. He was staring at Brian like he was ready to attack him at any moment.

“I don’t particularly enjoy others knowing my business. I keep my information off the internet for a reason. When you have connections, it’s easy to get things erased,” Joseph continued. “I’d rather live a quiet life without many people knowing my true identity, vs. being harassed by fans and press. Some enjoy that lifestyle, but I don’t. However, I don’t need to explain myself to you or to anyone for that matter. Why exactly are you looking into me, Mr. Brian?”

Joseph spoke quickly and without any hesitation or stuttering in his words.

Brian looked stunned. He stared at Joseph like he had seen a ghost. I’m not sure why he was so surprised. Joseph works here. He’s bound to be lurking around the corner. It’s not like Brian knew that Joseph had incredibly good hearing due to being a vampire or anything.

“I just find it weird that you have connections no one else has…” Brain said, his voice less confident. “I’m not trying to harass anyone. But Tessa’s safety is important and—”

“You feel I pose a danger to her,” Joseph finished for him. It wasn’t a question. “I can understand that and I’m sure she appreciates you looking out for her. But as she probably told you previously and as I’m telling you now, I am only her professor. I teach her writing and mentor her when I can, but as far as a relationship goes, it ends there. But also, from my understanding your relationship with Tessa is non-existent, so who she chooses to spend time with and her affairs, don’t involve you. You really should be doing something better with your time. According to your professors, you are falling behind in class. I can now see the reasoning as to why.”

“You looked into me?” Brian asked, his voice becoming hollow.

“It was word of mouth, actually,” Joseph said with a shrug. “Teachers here are very gossipy, and I heard them speaking about you particularly. I wouldn’t worry too much about what I’m doing, and I certainly wouldn’t worry about what your ex-girlfriend is doing. Especially when it seems you’ve moved on with someone else. You should worry about what you are doing and how you are going to keep your scholarship. If you fail, everything you've worked for will be thrown out the window. Not to mention, harassment is against school rules and is grounds for expulsion. Is that really something you want to risk?”

Brian swallowed hard, but he managed to shake his head. I knew that Brian’s parents would kill him if he got expelled from this school.

“Then you should run off and study so you can catch up in the classes you are behind in.”

Brian nodded but stood his ground for a moment longer. He pulled his gaze away from Joseph to meet my eyes.

“Just think about what I said,” he murmured.

I said nothing in response, but I watched him as he disappeared down the hallway.

I looked up at Joseph, and a huge sigh of relief escaped my mouth.

“Thank you,” I breathed, resisting the urge to run to him and hug him. I could tell he was resisting the same urge. It was still early in the afternoon, so students were still occupying the halls.

Joseph nodded his head with a twinkle of humor in his eyes. But before he could say anything, Ruby was back from the bathroom with a bright smile. But then it fell when she saw the look Joseph was giving me and my drained features.

“Did I miss something?” She asked, staring between the two of us.

I shook my head and grabbed her arm, answering with a grin.

“Not at a thing.”