Sensation (h.s)

Chapter Seven

I don't think I've ever been given so much grief over one handjob.

No other words are spoken between us as I gather my things to leave. I pick up my papers from his desk and drop them into the garbage can by the door on my way out. Just as I step outside though, his familiar voice stops me.

"Ms. Stevenson, just a reminder that you're expected to make an appearance here after your final class today. None of this means you're off the hook for your punishment." He says with a look in his eyes that makes me want to run. He's so serious about all of this and I'm the one wishing he would snap out of it and go back to being flirty and fun, even though I started it all. If I had just payed attention to him yesterday afternoon when he was complimenting me and asking me doing nice favors like bringing me coffee, all of this could have been avoided. Maybe we could still be somewhat friends if I hadn't tried to bring it up to him.

"Okay. Am I supposed to meet you here or at the apartment?" I ask back, my voice weak now as I try to speak to him. I've lost hope on trying to win this ongoing war. No matter what I say or do, he has the upper hand here. He's the Professor and I'm the student with the rocky past that needs him to be on my good side so that I don't get expelled.

"I don't think it would be appropriate any longer for you to be in my home. I apologize for telling you one thing at first and changing my mind but I don't necessarily like the idea anymore of you being around all of my personal belongings. Let's just leave it at you coming here after your classes to help me with my school work and we can forget that anything else ever happened." He dismisses the conversation with a nod and I linger around the doorway for a moment.

He doesn't like the idea of me being around his apartment anymore? I should have seen that one coming long ago.

I leave the lecture hall without another word. My feet carry my across the campus towards the main part of the building where I sit with the secretary and request to drop Professor Styles class from my schedule. If this is how he wants things to be then I don't see the point in me sitting around and being miserable while he throws around insults about my intelligence level and intentionally fails me just because of a personal conflict.

As soon as the secretary confirms that the class is dropped from my registered classes, I feel as though I can breathe again. I walk to my next class with the hint of a smile on my lips just out of pure relief.

Lena and I meet for lunch later in the day and chat mindlessly over salads from some cafe that she picked for us. We sit on a park bench and enjoy the sun beating down on us as we eat and giggle over silly things. It's nice to laugh with someone instead of my constant wallowing that's been taking place for the past few days. I needed something to snap myself out of the funk and hanging out with Lena was exactly the answer.

When the end of the day rolls around, I retreat to Professor Styles lecture hall with my good mood suddenly lessening. I went back to my dorm in between classes and changed into jeans and a more concealing shirt so that I wouldn't feel awkward around him while wearing clothes appropriate for the warm weather.

Neither of us greet each other once I'm inside. I sit across from his desk and wait in silence for him to assign me some sort of work similar to what I was doing the first few days of my punishment.

"What's going to happen to the bookshelf if I'm not allowed to come over anymore to work on it?" I finally get ballsy enough to ask. I didn't necessarily want to give him a reason to be rude to me anymore, but I can't stand sitting in tension-filled silence like we have been.

"I'll finish it myself. It's not like you did it any better than I could have done it. It was just more convenient to have you doing it." He answers back without turning his eyes away from his computer screen. I allow my gaze to skim over his handsome face and wonder how his sharp features can be so deceiving to his rude personality.