The Green Rising

Chapter Twelve

At about three o’clock in the morning, the lights kicked on and the heater hummed a soft lullaby.  I turned off the light, leaving the hallway lit so the room wouldn’t be dark, then climbed back into bed. I wasn’t going to sleep tonight; my brain wouldn’t stop whirring long enough for that to happen.

The professor was sleeping, the rise and fall of his chest the only movements out of him since he had taken his spot on the floor. I let out about my hundredth woeful sigh, but he didn’t stir.

He wasn’t as easily persuaded as he purported to be, and I’d tried practically everything, except mounting him. Had the lights come on as I disrobed and made a show of going to bed in the buff, I doubted the results would have been the same. I’d tossed and turned until eventually his snores made it clear that nothing intimate would be happening tonight.

Deep down I knew that he was right about not taking advantage of me, but I was willing, even eager for him to do just that. I needed a distraction, and he was the most distracting person I'd ever met, or seen for that matter. And a fling with the professor, er, Jack was precisely what could take my mind off the whole weekend. After a few more flips in the bed, I dressed in flannel pajamas and walked to the study, deciding that surfing the Internet might put me to sleep. If that didn’t work, I’d break out the biology book.

I scanned the news, but nothing held my interest; I didn’t care to read about the prospect of going to war or the latest political scandal. It didn’t take long, and rays of sunlight were pouring into the living room, their intensity waking me with a start. Shocked that I’d actually gotten rest and it was mid-morning, I jumped off the couch and headed back to the bedroom; Jack was gone.

I threw myself onto the bed. Why hadn’t he said goodbye? Were his inappropriate feelings disgust and hate? Those sounded like very inappropriate feelings for a teacher to have towards a student. I’d been suckered in by his words and here this man was leaving me in tears once again. It was getting to be repetitive. My wallowing was going to lead me to gain thirty pounds from all of the ice cream consumption that inevitably was going to follow these tears.

It wasn’t until I walked into the kitchen to grab some ice cream that I saw a folded paper on the table. “Sorry, Lily, I didn’t want to wake you. Dinner at my house on Thursday night — 6:30?” The ice cream forgotten, I set about my day.

After another night of screaming, I purchased a nightlight on Tuesday so Holly wouldn’t think I’d gone off the deep end over break. She returned on Tuesday evening as loopy as ever and classes for the new semester began on Wednesday. The ground was still covered in snow and the roads and sidewalks were a slushy mess, but the danger had passed according to the State officials. Still, Thursday evening hadn’t arrived soon enough.

“Do you have a date?” Holly asked incredulously as she glanced away from her computer.

“I hope to. I like this guy in the study group and I’m hoping to make an impression.” I bit my bottom lip and hoped she’d believe it. It was mostly true.

“Anyone I know?” She grabbed one of her cotton candy pink pigtails, winding it around her index finger.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Well, if he doesn’t take interest in you with that skirt on, he’s either gay or married.” She jotted something onto a piece of paper.  “Omigosh! I forgot to tell you — that Professor Weaver is, like, so hot. You totally were holding back last semester.”

“Yeah, he is definitely gorgeous. I forgot that you signed up for his class.” I gulped then tilted my bugged out eyes away from her, sure that my facial expression had “she plans to seduce the professor” written all over it. “Is my skirt too short?” I slipped my foot into a boot that grazed the bottom of my knee and hoped that the change of subject wouldn’t be too obvious.