MARSTON ━︎━︎ PROFESSOR MARSTON

chapter two - ❝chewing gum.❞

SYNOPSIS / Andrew finds out the person behind the review.
A student pays a visit during office hours.

tw - mentions of grooming (i have now added this to the disclaimer) but i am in no way entitled
to write in detail about this cos i would know how far too many people have wrongfully gone
through it, this was only mentioned in andrew's backstory in S2 of the series.

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"I'VE ALWAYS valued the sentiment behind poetry. But now when I look down and read the poems I wrote during my youth, I can't bare to look. Only a seven-year-old writes, 'roses are red, violets are blue', and students who couldn't care less about poetry use that line over and over just to get the assignment over with. Students in the classes I were in used that as a prompt, and last year a student used that but just switched up the words. Violets cannot be red.

But this topic is for another time. I won't be teaching poetry until next semester. Right now, the first topic before I could even jump into The Odyssey or The Iliad is the history behind literature, and because literature existed during the beginning of civilization: we go way back." I press the forward arrow key to go to the next slide. "History plays a huge role in literature, and without history, no literature. Without literature, no history. Without either, I am unemployed."

Another round of giggles erupts.

"We will cover history, and if you're in a program such as English and Liberal studies, you would very likely have that required course in your schedule."

Speaking of schedules, the Dean requested to see me before my office hours. I have opened them for week 1, despite it only being syllabus. But because I jump right into the topics, students would want to come during the hours and ask me pretty much anything.

As I entered the Dean's office, I let out a breathy sigh. "Any luck?"

She nodded her head. I rush over to her desk.

"I want to stress this to you, Andrew. Once we track down this person, they will be under investigation. Think about all the paperwork that comes with it. The poor kid is probably-"

"Childish? Very much so." I fold my arms. "I would never do anything to jeopardize my relationship with my students."

"Even though you claim to be innocent, you will still be under investigation. They require proof." The Dean opened her email, then split the tabs so we could see both the report she filed as well as a document shared on Google Drive.

I begin tapping my foot, agitated. "Is there a new review posted?"

Dean stares. "Andrew."

"Right."

"The more paranoid you get, the more you will keep feasting on the negativity. That's unhealthy."

"Yes, but having the nerve to come up with a fake allegation is just as unhealthy and quite bloody dangerous to my job. I am hiring a lawyer if this doesn't resolve by the time it snows."

The Dean opened the new tab. "Here."

"Read it to me, please."

"They said they carefully reviewed the page where it was posted, and they were able to track down the IP address. Their offense violated the policies and guidelines, and the review has since been removed after you have contacted the site's personnel and reporting the rating as additional efforts for faster evaluation." The Dean smiled at me. "Now it's up to you to take more legal action."