𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫'𝐬 𝐏𝐞𝐭 • 𝐄. 𝐎𝐥𝐬𝐞𝐧

21 • Goofball

Concerned, Lizzie asked in a kind tone, "Are you alright?" She gently retrieved the girl's exam from her grasp.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thank you, Bee," Stella responded with an affectionate smile. Rising from her chair, Lizzie extended her hand to Stella, pulling her up with a playful force. The sudden motion caused the brunette to collide with the blonde's figure, and Lizzie instinctively wrapped an arm around Stella's waist to pull her closer in. Wide-eyed, Stella found herself taken aback by the unexpected embrace.

"Elizabeth, I-" A voice interrupted their moment, causing the two to hastily separate. Mr. Lapio, perplexed, looked back and forth between them. "Ms. Peryl, please spare Professor Olsen and I a moment," he requested.

Stella's fearful gaze darted towards Lizzie, hesitant to leave her side. Sensing her concern, Lizzie whispered reassuringly, "It's alright. Meet me in my office tomorrow morning." Suppressing her urge to lean in for a kiss out of habit, she merely nodded slightly, conveying her agreement to the brunette. Stella slowly walked out of the room, looking back at the blonde with an unsure expression.

"What do you need from me, Paul?" the blonde snapped, her annoyance palpable at being interrupted in her own lecture hall.

"Are you and Stella in a relationship?" the man accused, provoking Lizzie's cold eyes to shoot daggers at him.

"How dare you! I would never. Ms. Peryl simply stumbled, and I caught her as a kind gesture," Lizzie lied, defending herself as she walked past him, placing Stella's papers into the stack of exams.

"I doubt that. All the teachers knew you were trouble when you first started. People like you have no regard for rules," the man spat, his words watched carefully by the analyzing blonde.

"...people like me?" Lizzie questioned.

"Rich, famous, too consumed with creating an image that you're superior to the rest of us," the brunette explained, prompting the blonde to fix a piercing stare upon him. The man's gaze faltered under her intimidation. Lizzie sighed to herself, slowly walking over to the door and closing it.

Returning to the man, Lizzie scrutinized him from head to toe before speaking in a calm tone. "Mr. Lapio, I realize you come to work every morning, to a job you despise, only to earn a salary to pay your child support to a woman who left you for another man." She held his gaze firmly as he opened his mouth to object. "You brought my personal life into this conversation, so don't even try," she warned, causing him to reluctantly listen to her words.

"I assure you that I am nothing more than a teacher to Miss Peryl, and she is nothing more than a student to me. If you have a problem with that, I can't find a fuck to give, to be brutally honest with you. So go scurry back to whatever hole you crawled out of before I inform the board that I caught you sleeping in your office since you have no home to return to. I genuinely pity you," the blonde raised her voice, her eyes icy and serious.

"I-um- Goodnight, Mrs. Olsen," the man cleared his throat, hastily exiting the room.

The blonde let out a deep breath as she surveyed the empty lecture hall. She couldn't continue like this any longer.

The weight of exhaustion settled upon Lizzie's shoulders as she stood alone in the silent lecture hall. The confrontation with Mr. Lapio had drained her spirit, reminding her of the countless battles she fought to maintain her dignity and professionalism. She couldn't bear the constant scrutiny, the insinuations, and the assumptions that accompanied her position as a successful and well-known figure in the academic world.

With a heavy heart, Lizzie gazed around the room, once filled with eager students seeking knowledge. It had been her passion, her calling, but now it felt tainted by the shadows of suspicion. The thought of continuing under such scrutiny, of defending her actions and intentions, felt like an unbearable burden.