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“Uh…yeah. Sure, Dr. Stone.” She grabs her paperback of Wuthering Heights and flips through it.
Unusual for her.
“Anyone else?” I ask.
“Do you teach erotica?” someone asks from the back.
Here it comes…
“No. Anyone have anything to say about Catherine? You should have all finished the novel by now.” I glance at the student next to Dina who’s trying hard to focus on whatever is in front of her. “SueAnn? Anything?”
She looks up, her cheeks red. “I’m afraid I haven’t had time to finish reading yet.”
“I see. David, how about you?”
“Catherine is clearly torn between her ambition and her aching desire for Heathcliff.”
“Aching desire,” I say. “An accurate way to put it.”
And an odd way, coming from David Larson, a science geek who’s taking this class for general ed credit.
David looks back down at his iPad, his eyes moving back and forth as if reading.
“Do you have something more interesting, Dave?” I ask. “Or are you rereading Wuthering Heights?”
David meets my gaze, pushing his glasses up. His cheeks are red now. I’ve embarrassed him.
“Yeah.” He clears his throat. “Just rereading.”
“Tell me. How did you come up with the description of ‘aching desire?’”
“You said it was accurate.”
“It is. Just wondering how you came up with it?”
“It just…came to me.”
Snickers and murmurs float through the room.
“Does anyone have anything they’d like to tell me?” I ask.
Radio silence.
I walk to the first row of desks and face David. I pick up his iPad. “You don’t mind, do you?”
I begin reading, and I keep my jaw from dropping.
This is my work. My fucking novel. My novel that hasn’t been released yet.
I throw his iPad back down in front of him. “Where did you get this?”
“It’s… It’s circulating online.”
“For God’s sake.” I breathe in. “Class is over until next time, when I expect every one of you to be prepared to discuss Catherine Earnshaw. Get out of here.”
The students gather their belongings and shuffle out the door. Dina stays behind.
“Dr. Stone?”
“Yes?”
“I just want you to know, I think it’s brilliant.”
“That’s kind of you, Dina, but you also may want to know that you have a pirated copy. The book doesn’t release for several more months. May I ask where you got it?”
“Online. And I’m sorry.”
“Ebook piracy is a serious offense. It’s copyright infringement and can result in a fine up to thirty thousand dollars.”
Her blue eyes go wide. “I didn’t put it out there.”
“But you have it in your possession.”
“I’ll delete it. I’m so sorry.”
“Dina, I’m not going to make a case out of this, but I need you to tell me where you got it.”
“I…don’t know. It was uploaded to one of the Mellville message boards over the weekend. Everyone was talking about it, so… You know.”
“I’m afraid I don’t know, Dina. This is a huge invasion of my privacy, not to mention a violation of the law. I have a contract with my publisher to sell the work. Someone is giving it away for free and has attached my real name to it. Tell me. What would you do in my shoes?”
“I… I don’t know, Dr. Stone. Please. I’ll delete it. I won’t say anything more about it.”
“You do that. Have a good day, Dina.”
She slinks out of the room.
I sigh.
Time to talk to Linda before this gets out of hand. I gather my stuff, head to my office, dump it all on my desk, and then walk down the hallway to Linda’s office. Our secretary, Lonnie, blushes as I pass.
Oh God…
I knock harshly. “Linda, it’s Hunter.”
“Come in,” she says.
I open the door and take a seat across from her desk. “Apparently I’m a household name around the student body now. I just wanted to give you a heads-up, since you demanded one.”
“Hunter…”
“Let me say my piece, please. My students somehow have a pirated copy of my novel, which hasn’t yet been released. Someone released my pen name and my work on social media, and they’re not only violating my privacy, they’re breaking copyright law. This is serious, Linda.”
“Yes, Hunter, but—”
“I won’t have it,” I say, interrupting her. “My private life is private, damn it.”
“Hunter, please. This is the least of our worries.”
I lift my brow. “Oh?”
She sighs. “The dean of students contacted me a half hour ago. There have been some allegations.”
“What kind of allegations?”
“That you’re a member of some secret club and that’s how you did all your research.”
“Christ… That’s no one’s business.”
“It is,” she says, “if you’re engaging in illegal activities.”
I stand up, knocking over the chair. “What?” I say through clenched teeth.
“It’s all over social, I’m afraid.”
“Linda, you and I both know that rumor and innuendo travel faster than the speed of light. I assure you that I don’t engage in anything illegal. Ever.” I look down at my white knuckles. “What I do in my private life is my own fucking business.”
