Her Possessive Professor by Gena Snow

Chapter 15

 

Jared

 

 

 

 

It’s been a week since I received the two-word text message from Hailey. That day, I waited for her for two hours in my office. She was obviously very pissed by the grade I assigned her. I expected it and wouldn’t blame her for that. It was a pretty bad paper which she obviously didn’t spend enough time and effort on. D was a merciful grade and I could’ve given her F. I wanted her to come to my office so I could help her to rewrite it. I called and texted her again, but didn’t get any answer. Hell, she might have blocked my number.

I haven’t seen or heard from her since then. She didn’t show up in class on Thursday. I called her a few more times but didn’t go through. I underestimated her temper. The fiery girl wouldn’t give me a chance. Damn. I have myself to blame. I made a blunder fucking a student. I had the urge to go to her apartment or to her workplace, but stopped myself. I had to give her space. If she needed me, she would come to me.

I hope she’ll come to class and I will speak to her afterwards.

Before heading out of my office, I check my email quickly, scanning the tittles to see whether there are urgent matters that require immediate attention. Most of them are junk. A message from the Vice President has my attention, and as I glance over the title, I freeze. “Notification of Sexual Harassment Complaint.” What? I open the message, and instantly my blood boils.

Lora Larson, a student of mine from two years ago, who falsely accused me of sexual harassment, has refiled her complaint. Shit. What the hell is she up to? I clench my teeth as I recall the nightmare that haunted me for months. The brat had tried to seduce me in my office in exchange of a passing grade. And when I told her to put her clothes back on, she became infuriated. In her report to the college, she made up a lie, saying I offered her a deal. And when she refused to obey, I gave her a failing grade.

There were so many incoherent facts in her complaint letter that I wondered why they would even initiate the investigation. But thankfully, it didn’t take the authority long to realize the woman lied. Miss Larson dropped out of college after that, and I haven’t seen her since.

I’m about to close the email and look at it later when I catch the name Hailey Cason. I quickly go over a few more lines. As I read on, blood drains from my face. How did Hailey get involved with this? Do the two know each other? Are they friends? Did Lora Larson send Hailey to seduce me?

I shut my eyes after reading the entire complaint. It all makes sense now. It explains why Hailey acts so differently after our last meeting. Unbelievable. She did all that just to help a friend to nail me in a harassment case? Holy fucking hell. She was much more skillful than her friend.

I sit on my chair, paralyzed by the realization, unable to move even though I’m late for class. I want to convince myself my conjecture is groundless, but the more I think about it, the more evidence I see.

Hailey is not exactly a studious student. Even though she does her readings, she doesn’t care about the learning material at all. Although she wrote decent smut, her last essay was as poorly written as Lora’s. Wait a minute, how do I know she wrote the smut? She might’ve copied it from somewhere. Come to think of it, all that sending me smut by mistake must’ve been their ploy, too. Jesus Christ. And I fell for that. What a pathetic fool!

That explains the timely encounter with Dr. Kennedy, too. The old man didn’t hide his interest in Larson’s complaint the last time although he was new to the department back then, and wasn’t supposed to handle the investigation himself.  I even saw Lora Larson in his office a few times right after she filed her complaint. I got the feeling the department chair believed her story and was eager to help her.

The two women used similar strategies to attract my attention. Although not totally certain, I have good reasons to believe Lora Larson got a job at the campus coffee shop in order to get close to me. She started working there about a month after the semester started, and she worked the shift during the time I usually got my coffee. I was never interested in her, but we became friends because of that. I offered her extra help on the readings willingly, even though I was disappointed most of the time because she seldom studied. Hell, she even skipped classes often.

Hailey and I met at her workplace too. It didn’t take a genius to figure out my coffee consumption habit, but how on earth did she find out I would go to Tropic of Cancer? Okay, maybe, just maybe, Lora Larson hated my guts and hired a private eye or stalked me herself. It isn’t that hard. Was the guy who gave Hailey trouble at the bar an accomplice, too?

The possibility chills me to the bone. No way! This is ridiculous. I’m losing my senses. Hailey can’t possibly be such a devious creature. Maybe Lora has something on her. Maybe Hailey does it for money? Otherwise, why did she pull such a stunt on me? And did she not send me that outrageous text message?

I grit my teeth as I go down to the classroom. Shit. That’s it. My career has just ended, in the hands of a couple of sluts. Somehow, I expected it the moment I met Hailey. I knew she would be the death of me. But I let my animal nature take control of my head, and I’m done for.

 

Hailey shows up ten minutes late for class. Old habit dies hard. I’m surprised that she even bothers to come at all. Hasn’t she already gotten what she wanted? This time I pretend I don’t notice her when she comes into the classroom and sits down right next to Alex.

What game is she playing?

If she thinks I’ll be jealous of a whore, then she’s underestimated me.

I ignore her for the rest of the class—or I try to because my cock doesn’t cooperate. Whenever I accidentally catch sight of her pink lips, it twitches. Fuck. It wants her although my head says no. Even my head doesn’t deny her completely. The fact I popped her cherry says she isn’t a whore. Why the hell did she offer her virginity to me just to get me into trouble? Did she think I had to pass her because of that? Did she trade her innocence just for that? It doesn’t make sense.

With too much going on in my head, I find it impossible to lecture fluently, so I assign some reading questions and let the class discuss in pairs. I walk around the classroom to offer help and to make sure they stick with the reading rather than discussing irrelevant topics.

I avoid getting close to Hailey and Alex, but my ears perk up at the sound of their conversation.

“This Saturday at ten. Do you think you can make it?” Alex asks.

“I’m not sure. Let me think about it.”

“Okay. Here’s my number. Let me know by Friday morning.”

An uncontrollable rage overcomes me, and before I know it, I’m next to them, growling. “Alex. Focus on the poetry discussion, please.”

“Sorry!” the moron apologizes. “I’m just letting Hailey know about a poetry reading at the library this Saturday. Would you like to go too? It’s organized by the poetry club on campus. Some well-known poets will be there.”

I have heard about the club before and attended their events from time to time. My impulse is to say yes, but I waver between jealousy and rationality. Finally, I nod. “Sure, what time will it be? You know what? Why don’t you announce it to the entire class? It’ll be a nice extra-curriculum activity for everyone.”