Professor Oakley rescheduled the test. I skip anyway. I can't study after being called Stacey. I can't sit next to Dante and have him cheat off me, cause he thinks I know all the answers.I don't eat. I don't drink. How do I breathe again? Even that feels like a chore these days. It's time I do the only sensible thing there is left to do, I pack up my shit and prepare to leave my dorm room. Hopefully undetected by Evie. I need to go home for a few days and skipping classes for the rest of the week is worth it if it gets me away from him... Professor Blake Oakley.Evie comes into the room with the same flavor of coffee she drinks every fall. Pumpkin spice something from Biggby or Star Bucks."What are you doing? It's almost midterms. You can't just bail on me. Why is your suitcase packed? Did you fight with Dante? I can have Ben talk to him if you'd like. There are no guarantees of course that it will help. Here let me text, Ben."She gets out her large pink phone case and sets it in h
Coming home was a bad idea. When I told Jessica Evans, I lived nearby what I meant was an hour away. It's not an uncommon practice for college students to move an hour away. Close to home but far enough away that being an adult feels real. I'm not sure I will ever feel like a real adult with the way my mom takes care of me.When I texted her that something happened she jumped right into action. Mom's always had my back, even as a small child she would snuggle me so tightly to keep my innocence a little longer. But now as a young woman, we have an understanding that I will tell her something is wrong and she won't pry. I don't like people prying and interrogating me, Evie is still learning this with me. But not mom, mom's got me figured out like a science. Mom knows I will tell her eventually. I need a few days to process and then I come out of my shell like a sly little turtle emerging for the first time. Evie pokes the turtle in me with a stick, but not this time. This time she is b
I manage to sneak past Jessica Evans hall director apartment undetected. I have a feeling I will be hearing about her date and that she will rub Blake Oakley down all the dormitory women's throats.I don't want to be the jealous type. Being jealous is not a place anyone should be in. I don't even know where jealousy comes from or where it's origin story began. I imagine some Greek god concocted jealousy and now us mere mortals are forced to live with this consequence. Jealousy is born from chaos, chaos lives in the hearts of those who are in love. I can't say I'm in love with Blake Oakley. But I do admire him. I admire the way he still cares about his wife Stacy even though she's dead. I admire the way he cares about his students even if things don't work out between them in their personal lives.But it is time to grow up and move on. I've had my fling with Blake Oakley. And my mom doesn't need to know that he is my college professor. I wish I didn't lie to my mom about him being a m
Someone knocks on the door of Professor Oakley's office. Papers are everywhere on his desk and books are knocked off on the floor. My hair is a mess and his lips are covered in my pink chapstick. The person knocking on the door appears to be a male figure. The door is locked as the person continues knocking."Hey Blake, are you in there?"Professor Oakley adjusts his shirt and fixes his tie. I give him a comb from my purse and he brushes his hair."Be there in a minute I had an accident," Professor Oakley replies as he stares at me. Luckily for Professor Oakley there's a large closet in the back of the room."Why is the door locked? Do you need help in there?"I quickly stuff loads of Professor Oakley's books into my backpack. Next, I take his papers and shove them into a box in the closet. I hide in the closet. He turns the lights off. I hand him a Kleenex to rub my chapstick off his lips.It's almost sexy getting caught. But not sexy enough. The man who enters the room has loud foot
I get to my dorm room and hide the dress from Evie. If she saw this blue dress it would come with a set of more interrogation questions and I'm not in the mood to deal with it. Evie would flip if she saw this fancy blue dress. She'd have a heart attack if she knew it belonged to Professor Oakley's deceased wife, Stacey, and that I am going to wear it on a date with him.Evie enters the room shortly after the blue dress has been hidden in my guitar case. Sneaking around with a professor and almost getting caught by President McIntyre, is exhausting. Lying to mom about who Blake really is is hard. I didn't ask to bump into Blake and make his papers go flying that day. I didn't expect our lips to touch and my heart to burst at his smile."Cora, how are you? I haven't seen you in ages. Are you avoiding me? Benjamin wanted me to give you a heads up that Dante may or may not ask you to be his girlfriend? Isn't that exciting?"I wish I could tell her the truth that I could careless about Ben
The cats out of the bag. There's no turning back now. My best friend knows my deepest darkest secret. That could be a good or bad thing. If she lets her tongue slip, then Professor Oakley will have his livelihood taken away. I would get kicked out university but could take classes online at my mom's house. My punishment is far less severe.It's Saturday and Blake and I have our date tonight. I can hardly contain my excitement at the thought of us dancing together. I look at the photo of him I have hidden in my purse. Stacey still looks good in that blue dress. Maybe Blake will be mad if I wear this. As a precaution I sneak another blue dress in my purse that's shaped like a backpack.If Blake gets mad I took this one from his office I can always change at a restaurant and apologize. I just wanted to surprise him but maybe this is not the best course of action.I start getting ready for our date. But then I realize if Dante sees me like this he will want to jump my bones with flowers,
Waking up next to Blake is better than I ever imagined. I put my hand on his face as he blinks a few times, next he leans over to kiss my forehead. He easily shows affection and I show it back. How are we supposed to keep this a secret now? How are we supposed to pretend that we aren't madly in love when he lectures next week? I don't want to be half alive during the week. I want to sit and have lunch with Blake Oakley, in the university cafeteria. I want everyone to know that I'm proud to call him mine, because I am. I truly am happy for once."Good morning, Cora. Did you sleep well?" Blake asks as he pulls me in for a hug. His natural scent takes over making me crave him all over again. I dare not indulge in him again it will make returning to the dorms even harder."Yes, I did. Thanks for asking, Blake. It's going to be hard going back to the university and pretend you don't mean something to me. How am I supposed to do that?"I hide my eyes from him. It's hard to give yourself to
"Hello, Zac. It's nice to meet you. I'm Cora. If you'll excuse me, I am going to finish getting ready for the day." I take my leave before Isaac can ask how we met. I'm not sure what Blake's game plan is here. Maybe his brother is trustworthy and maybe he isn't. I will leave it up to Blake to decide.I overhear Isaac in the background. His voice is deep and strong. He's strong and bigger than Blake. His arms are hairy and there must be a story there. They hardly looked related at all."Blake, what about Jessica? I thought you and Jessica were getting back together."My stomach drops low into my intestines. I don't know what's going on. An hour ago Blake and I were in love, and I was happy to give my virginity away. Now his brother shows up and whispers about Jessica. If it's the Jessica I think it is, then the hall of my dorm has just gotten harder to walk down. The campus is already hard to walk through and it will be even harder to waltz down once my heart and soul have gone missin
Winter is the time of year when the snow falls and the bleakness and dry air force my skin to expand and my pours to crack. Fires bring on the warm and heat that defeats the snow and forces it to melt off my skin. As a child snow and sledding brought out a joy in me. Making snow angels with mom was a great comfort in the grand scheme of the world. We would both wear our infamous snow gear and glide together through the snow on sleds or throw snowballs at each other.When it came to snow forts we weren't the best at designing igloos. My mother's lack of building skills didn't include a roof. Her designs for a snow structure were more like a wall and was more often than not used as a defense mechanism against another snowball fight. At the end of all our snow play, I could always count and rely on mom to make cookies and hot chocolate. She would melt dark chocolate on a stove and add milk and all kinds of spices like a potions master and within five minutes heaven was created. Heaven
My appetite comes and goes. I'm craving weird things. It's like I'm a new and different person than I've ever been before. Being pregnant is a weird feeling, it's an out of body experience. Something or someone rather is growing inside of me and I have no say or control over how their development will affect my body. It's Christmas break and all the festivities are starting. I haven't bought my mom or Evie anything for Christmas. Me: Would you like to go Christmas shopping with me? Isaac: Sure. It's a bit unexpected but I'm not doing anything right now. Want me to pick you up? Me: Sure, I really need to talk to you. Isaac: Okay. I will be there in ten minutes. Isaac is true to his word, in less than ten minutes he and his car pull into my driveway. Mom knows why I am going out. It's time to confess to at least one of the Oakley brothers. I don't have the heart to tell Blake without Isaac's support. Isaac gets out of the car and opens the door for me. His car is full of booster
Mom and Evie accompany me to my baby appointment. The waiting room smells like toddler poop, latex gloves, and baby vomit. Other mothers with varying sizes of belly bumps fill the room. Some are glowing and some look defeated. Two women are crying and one is nursing. Being a mother looks sacrificial and confusing, maybe this is a bad idea. I don't have to be a mom. Someone else could raise it and Blake would never need to know. Perhaps Blake being out of my life is for the best."Cora Wellington." A nurse calls my name and Evie and mom follow behind me."Well, this is it. We are going to find out the gender.""Actually today you will get an ultrasound and hear the heartbeat. As for the gender it's probably to early to tell. We will have to see."The truth is I haven't had a period in two months but I haven't put much thought into it. I just figured stress and being bullied changed my body chemistry. I never considered pregnancy, not once. I suppose most women my age wouldn't consider
A week goes by, finals have come and gone. That little place on campus where Professor Oakley once had an office is now empty. The professor he filled in for has agreed to return. Finals week was hard to get through and everyone found out of course.The double date got cancelled. Isaac texts me from time to time to see if I'm alright. Little does he know that we really are going to be family soon. He will be the uncle of the child inside me. He's been like a big brother to me for awhile now, and I'm happy to say it has been most comforting.The two pink lines have been terrifying and I haven't had the courage to tell my mom about it. She'd be happy and disappointed. I know she wouldn't turn me away. I'm her only family. Everyone in my family has left or died. We only have each other for every holiday. A baby would brighten her world and I know she'd be a wonderful grandma.My car is still full of my university boxes and suitcases. I've been too lazy to lift them and too concerned the
Packing my belongings is hard. Although, President McIntyre has given me his permission to live on campus through finals week, I prefer to commute regardless of the long drive. I haven't told Evie about Blake and our double date. Isaac sprung that on him, and he truly didn't seem interested in pursuing us. My hopes of having what we once had together has diminished. I'm the reminder of the biggest mistake of his life.He made it known that I'm a reminder of his downfall. His career ending falls on my lips and ends at my feet. His biggest regret is bumping into me that first day, when all his papers went flying. I didn't know it then, but it was the beginning of the end.My stomach aches and churns. I go to the bathroom and throw up. It's not like me to get sick. When I'm ill it's usually colds and migraines. Stomach illnesses are for other people who don't wash their hands prior to eating. Perhaps the emotional roller coaster I'm facing has triggered the vomit response within me. It's
Walking away from Cora isn't exactly what I wanted. But it's necessary if I am to ever move on from here. Nordstrom University is my low point, following the death of my Stacey."You bastard. You bloody coward. Cora did everything for you and you turned her back on her. You rat bastard. She was going to fuck someone else to save your job. She came clean because I found out about Dante. And you turn her down now. Now after President McIntyre knows. What has gotten into you?" Isaac asks as he helps me clean up my office."I knew you'd say something like that. I don't expect you to understand. You have the perfect life. I'm a mess." I start placing my photos and memories of Stacey that are hidden in my office closet into the boxes that President McIntyre had sent up for me."You don't know what you're talking about," Isaac says."Sure, I do. You have the perfect family and a loyal wife. She's alive. She's breathing."Isaac takes a large cardboard box and slams it down on my desk."No, s
The meeting with President McIntyre has ended. He listened intently to Cora's stories about Dante."Is that everything then? Is there any more you both would like to share? It is a lot of information to take in, I can assure you of that. As for both of you, Cora I accept your transfer to another university after this semester. And Blake, as for you I think your resignation is for the best. Please start packing your office immediately, and I will personally teach your remaining classes for the remainder of the year. Give me any and all lesson plans you may have. If you have a final exam written please email it to me, even if it's a rough draft. Never in my forty-two years of teaching have I experienced anything like this. Of all the shenanigans, of all the scandals, this is probably the cherry on top of my academic career. You will never teach again Blake Oakley. I can assure you of that, and as for you Cora. I will see to it personally that this Dante character is dealt with. I can as
After delaying Dante for as long as I can, my time to decide is upon me. It's not an easy place to be in. Do I try to be with Dante or do I confess and get kicked out of the university? I was never college material to begin with. My mother paid for tutoring all way through high school. She can deny it all she wants but I'm convinced I have a learning disability of some kind. It took me years to learn how to read and I confuse letters sometimes. Mother never got me tested for anything. I can't hold a bad decision against mom, but it didn't make studying any easier.If I were college material perhaps I would be sad at the prospect of possibly being kicked out. But right now I don't care. The pressure to study and memorize is just daunting to me. Writing papers makes my anxiety high. I think I would be better suited to something else, but what that is I'm not sure. I just want to go home and become a barista for a year or two. Having a gap year or two might have been a better choice for
Dante pulls a chair up to me. His eyes tell a story of jealous, hurt, and anger. I hand him a cup of coffee and prepare to listen to whatever story he wishes to tell. Some stories are important to listen to and if I want to not get fired I had better listen this time. I suspect that no matter what happens I will not be teaching at Nordstrom University for very long. If Dante knows about Cora and I, and what transpired between us before the break up, then my job has already been on egg shells from the beginning. I always knew this would be the case.There was always the possibility of this relationship ruining me. It was always a likelihood. I knew it right from the start, but I kissed her anyway. I could have been fired and yet I loved her anyway. I love her still. I love her as Cora Worthington and not as Stacey Oakley. I always knew she compared herself to Stacey, but I ignored it for the most part. Perhaps I shouldn't have done that to her. Perhaps I shouldn't have let our paths