Chapter 31

Judy’s POV

“That asshole!” Nan gasped as we stood in line at the campus coffee shop, waiting to take our orders. “I can’t believe he had the nerve to do that to you last night. And to involve your mother??”

It was the next morning after Ethan came to see me and I just finished telling Nan about what had happened last night. I was still in shock that Ethan had the nerve to come to my house and take care of my mother just as I would agree to be his mistress. I felt disgusted over the fact, and I also felt a bit guilty. I felt bad for Irene; she didn’t deserve to be treated like that, even if she didn’t know about it.

“I told him to leave,” I concluded the story with a shrug.

“What can I get for you ladies this morning?” The Barista, Nicole, asked. Nicole was in a couple of my courses, and she was a pretty good fighter. I’ve sparred with her on a couple of different occasions. She worked at the coffee every other morning and she always made my beverages to perfection.

“Just a vanilla cappuccino,” I told her.

“Make that two,” Nan said as she pulled out her wallet.

I shook my head and grabbed my own wallet.

“I’ll pay,” I told her. “You got me a coffee last time,” I reminded her.

I handed Nicole my card and after the transaction went through, she handed it back.

“Coming right up,” she said, and she turned to make the drinks.

“So, what are you going to do about the whole Ethan situation?” Nan asked as we stepped aside to wait for our cappuccinos.

I looked at her with a frown.

“What can I do?” I asked. “He doesn’t seem to take no for an answer. The most I can do is keep working so I can pay off my father’s debt.”

“Are you going to tell Irene what her fiancé is up to?” Nan asked, raising her brows.

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. It wasn’t my business, and Gavin was clear when he said he didn’t want me to do or say anything that would jeopardize this pending marriage. If I was the reason his daughter got hurt, he would never forgive me, and I would be out of a job.

“It’s honestly not my place and I really don’t want to get involved,” I told her.

“Your cappuccinos are all set,” Nicole said, sliding two to-go cups in our direction.

“Thanks,” I said, grabbing both cups and handing one to Nan. “I’ll see you in class later.”

Nicole waved goodbye as we left the coffee shop and started to walk across the campus.

Nan decided not to ask any more questions about what had happened last night and whether or not I should tell Irene. As far as Nan knew, I didn’t know Irene any better than anyone else. The Landry’s have always been locked up tight and though Irene was known to be in the spotlight, she wasn’t known to have friends or get around the packs. She was a mystery to those outside of her family and that made her even more intriguing.

If Nan knew that I actually knew Irene and was getting to know her even better, she would question how I knew the famous Irene Landry and I would have to tell her the entire truth. It would be a breach of my contract, and I could lose my job. I had to hold onto this job as if my life depended on it… because it kind of did. Me and my father’s life depended on this job.

“I still have 30 minutes before my class starts; want to go the lounge for a bit?” I asked as we neared the buildings.

“Sure,” Nan agreed.

We walked into the fairly busy lounge; most hung out here before their morning classes. As soon as I walked in, I noticed something was a bit different. Students were whispering amongst themselves like they were gossiping about something.

When we walked in, their eyes shifted in my direction. I frowned as their whispers grew even louder and it was clear they were all talking about me.

But what had I done?

“She was the one who got Carol expelled from the school,” I heard one of the gossipers saying.

“I can’t believe she walked in here with her head held high like that.”

“She has some nerve after the stunt she pulled!”

My cheeks burned with heat, and I glanced at Nan who was eyeing everybody as well, her frown deep.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

“Carol was expelled from school,” she answered. “And it’s obvious everyone is blaming you for it even though it wasn’t your fault!” She said loud enough for everyone to hear.

We walked through the lounge and reached our normal table near the window. Carol’s friends were standing nearby with their arms folded across their chests.

“How dare you show your face here after what you did,” one of them sneered. “Carol worked hard for that scholarship, and you stole it from her!”

I turned around to face them, my eyes narrowed.

“She cheated,” I said through my teeth. “She didn’t work hard at all. Someone else did the work for her.”

“And you have been deceiving everybody into thinking you are poor,” she hissed back.

“Think what you want,” I murmured. “I don’t need to prove anything to you.”

“Maybe you should be worried about yourselves,” Nan said, folding her arms across her chest.

“Just forget about it, Nan,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m going to get to class. I’ll see you later.”

I didn’t wait for her response, I just left.

Even class was weird; everyone was looking at me and whispering. The teacher was eyeing me as she passed out our assignments and I frowned when I looked at the paper.

Was it just me, or was the font a little different?

I glanced at the girl beside me and noticed that her paper looked normal.

“Can I see that for a second?” I asked.

She frowned but she nodded and handed me her paper. The wording was different too; the words on my paper were smaller.

“Thanks,” I murmured and handed it back to her.

We spent class working on the assignments and as I was leaving the professor stopped me to say, “You did a very nice job today, Judy.”

She spoke slowly like she was speaking to a child.

I frowned.

“Uh, thanks Miss Prescott,” I said, my brows furrowed together.

I quickly left the room and went into my next college reading class. This was one of my favorite classes besides my combat, shifting, and defense courses. The professor gave us a book to read, and we pretty much just journaled about it the entire class. We finally finished our last book and were supposed to receive a new book today.

The professor handed out a book to each student upon entry to the class but when I walked in, she didn’t hand me a book like she did the others.

“Hi, Judy,” she said, giving me a soft smile. “I’m not going to make you read this book; it’s kind of long and can be pretty difficult. I’ll write you out some cliff notes and you can write your entry based on that and class discussion.”

I frowned at her; I couldn’t believe what she was saying. I had always read the books she assigned, and I read them quicker than most in the class. I narrowed my eyes at her and deepened my frown.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand,” I said hesitantly. “You don’t want me to read the book?”

She sighed and set the books on the table.

“Look, I think it would be better if you sit this one out,” she told me. “I know this kind of thing doesn’t come easy for you.”

This kind of thing?

Was she talking about reading?

I never gave her a reason to believe that I wasn’t good at reading. Sure, I was dyslexic, but that doesn’t mean I’m incapable. Besides, it’s not like she knew of my disability. The only ones who knew were my adoptive parents, Nan, and unfortunately Ethan.

“Please, take your seat, Judy,” she said politely.

I pressed my lips together and walked to my seat. As more students walked into the class, one by one, she handed them each a book.

Soon, I was the only one without a book. I sat in class, fuming, but I continued to bite my tongue. I was going to the dean after my last class and speak with him about the behavior of my professors today.

I was relieved to be in my shifting and combat course; it was my last course of the day and my favorite. Now I could take my frustrations out on my sparring partner.

When I got there, I overheard Nicole speaking to the professor and she sounded upset.

“Professor Morgan, I don’t think that’s necessary. Judy is more than capable of this new routine without me holding her hand,” she told him firmly.

Professor Morgan was the assistant professor for this class; I’m assuming since Carol was expelled, that our normal professor was fired for his part in trying to get me kicked out of the school. That would make Professor Morgan our new professor.

“There’s a lot of notes to go over today and I need her to properly understand the material,” Professor Morgan replied.

“She always understands the material just fine,” she told him. “She’s one of the top students.”

“You heard the rumors. She didn’t earn that spot, she bought it.”

“You don’t honestly believe that crap, do you?” Nicole asked, folding her arms across her chest.

“Nikki, please,” Professor Morgan sneered. “Do me this favor for once in your life.”

“Don’t call me that here, Noah,” she said in a hushed whisper. “I don’t want people here knowing that you are my brother.”

Professor Morgan and Nicole were siblings? I guess that made sense considering that Nicole’s full name was Nicole Morgan. But I thought that was a coincidence.

“Look, I need you to do this for me. You care about her, don’t you? I know you want her to succeed, so help her succeed.”

“Why suddenly are you treating her so differently? Why do you think she’s incapable?”

There was a long stretch of silence at first and then his next words stunned me frozen.

“Because the dean called for a faculty meeting this morning and he told us that Judy is suffering from Dyslexia.”