We’d both been looking forward to it, considering we shared no other classes between our different majors. Mads looked up at me. “We’ve had a last-minute change of professor. And you’ll never guess who the substitute is.”
I frowned, an odd feeling in my gut. “Are you gonna make me guess?”
“Older. Ruggedly handsome. Somehow wears the hell out of a good cardigan,” she said breezily, watching my expression carefully.
My face blanched.
“Ronan?” I asked incredulously.
“Yep. Your hot Friday night date himself,” she replied.
My ears burned at her words, but I ignored the comment. I’d obviously opted not to divulge the details of the rest of the night.I knew that she’d have a lot to say about that, and well, it would be nothing I didn’t already know.
“What happened to Professor Bass?” I asked.
She shrugged. “I’m not sure. There were some ugly rumors floating around campus about him getting caught drunk off his ass and half naked in one of the lecture halls. I’m not sure how much truth there is to that but if that’s the case then the school did a pretty good job of damage control.”
I hummed, considering. “Well, we better get to class.”
“You’re not gonna have a ritualistic panic attack?” Mads asked in mock surprise.
“Nope,” I said. “I’m turning over a new leaf. Been reborn, if you will.”
If only she knew just how true that statement was. I was actually nervous at the thought of attending a class taught by Ronan. But there was too much for me to think of all at once to focus on that. I was so tired of always turning every consequence over in my mind before I could even enjoy the thrill of the mistake.
“Well, I’ll be damned,” Mads said, looking genuinely impressed. “Being bold is a good look on you, June. I’m proud.”
I laughed a little at the irony.
But I pretended as though it was just another morning as we made our way to the lecture hall and met up with Chloe, James and a few of Madison’s friends from her architecture course.
We picked out our seats and settled down, making idle conversation until Ronan finally walked in. I braced myself, wondering if this was going to be a repeat case of what happened with Lucas.
But Ronan showed no signs of entertaining any weird dynamic between us. Though there was a stark difference between Professor Locke and Ronan, sparks of his personality came through even with his professional and commanding teaching style. And when I remembered just how he translated that command in his personal life…
I lowered my eyes and carried on typing out notes on my laptop.
Testing, I raised a hand later to answer a question and Ronan called on me with no difference in tone or expression than he had any other student. But despite being happy that I didn’t have to worry about him treating me differently after what we did, I couldn’t help but wish that things could be the same with Lucas.
I missed our old conversations. He hadn’t texted me again after that night but I had a feeling that there’d be another “talk” somewhere down the pipeline and I found that it wasn’t something I was looking forward to. Not with how things stood between us currently.
An older man scuttled into the venue through the front entrance, gesturing at Ronan. I recognized him as Mr. Halliwell, the head of the urban planning department. He pulled Ronan aside, speaking feverishly.
Something inside of me twisted, my nerves suddenly starting to fray at the edges. It was getting harder to stop thinking too hard again. Ronan didn’t look very happy but he said something and nodded, watching as Mr. Halliwell moved to the podium and cleared his throat ceremoniously.
“Michael Sutton, get your things and follow me, please,” he said.
Everyone started looking around until a boy stood up from three rows behind us, his face pale and mouth pulled into a tightline as though he knew what was coming. He packed up his bag and made a quick descent down to the front where he was marched out of the venue by Halliwell.
“I know that kid,” Mads said quietly to me. “He’s in my class.”
The other students around us burst into frenzied whispers once the door slammed shut behind Mr. Halliwell and Michael. A girl sitting further down our row called over to Madison.
“I told you it was true!”
I looked in confusion at Mads who simply shook her head. “There were rumors going around about sexual harassment charges being filed,” she explained to me. “Something between him and either a professor or tutor on campus.”
A silent warning flickered in her eyes. I turned to face the front, ignoring the ensuing talk around us as Ronan tried to quiet the class down. But the carefree facade I’d tried so hard to build up since Friday night was crumbling.
