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This relationship, if you could even call it that, has an incendiary nature to it. Already, it threatens to grow out of control, like an unchecked wildfire about to rampage through me. Professor Barclay is not nice or easy or safe. He holds the power to ruin my life personally and professionally. I know all of that, and I keep reminding myself of it, and yet it doesn’t seem to compel me toward making better, more rational choices. I didn’t have to go get those engineering plans. I didn’t have to lean into that kiss. I didn’t care that Candace was sitting out in the hall, only feet away from his office. I didn’t care that everyone on this floor just watched me scurry back to my desk in shame.
The trouble is I’m at the mercy of Professor Barclay’s whims, and while that excites me, it also terrifies me.
I pull up my email and go back to his request from this morning. I hit reply and type out a message, angrily tapping on the keys, eliciting a laugh from Hugo.
“Someone has a bone to pick with Mavis Beacon.”
I ignore him.
My reply to Professor Barclay is short, but not sweet.
This is my future you’re playing with.
Then I press send and go to retrieve my forgotten coffee mug in the break room. Lord knows I could use another cup.
