My Professor's Secret

05|

After we both got our food, we made our way back to the table and sat down. Taylor immediately scanned the room looking at everyone else in here. She picked up the yeast roll on her tray and took an enormous bite, shaking her leg simultaneously under the table.

"Look at her," she says with a mouth full of food, subtlety pointing over to some girl in line dressed up head to toe with an entire face of makeup on. "All the effort she put into coming down here just to eat," she pauses, taking another bite of her roll. "Don't get me wrong, I commend her on the effort because I mean look at her, she looks amazing, but my slob ass could never. Maybe that's my issue," she ends with a shoulder shrug and a laugh.

The whole dinner, Taylor talked about what her plans for the future were and how she'd wanted to spend her college experience. It was so adventurous and spontaneously insane and I knew that we'd become the best of friends because she was the actual opposite of me. I wanted to be able to walk into a lounge with a pair of light up Mini Mouse slipper and and slip meant as undergarments and not give a shit what anyone else thought.

A small town mindset had the ability to cripple anyone into perfectionism and I was entirely over trying to live up to the expectation of perfection for a town of people who'd nearly shut my dad out for a sick rumor as big a murder.

When we were done eating, we walked around campus a while longer. Her and I had finally found a conversation that opened up the opportunity to really get to know each other. It was crazy how much you could relate to someone who grew up so different.

She opened up about her struggles regarding her family and how she was the black sheep. Her parents refused to pay over half of her tuition fee because she hadn't received a 4.0 like her sister. Not to mention they forced her into attending this college just so they'd be able to monitor everything she did through her sister.

The walk back to our dorm ended up being longer than expected, but it wasn't a bad thing. It gave the both of us a chance to get to know each other and I wouldn't take it back for anything.

"I can't wait to lay in my bed," Taylor sighs, as we walk off of the elevator and down the corridor to our dorm. She reached into her bra for the key, frantically switching between each cup before her eyes widened to me.

"What?"

"The key. It's not in my bra," she says, frantically looking and feeling about again the twisting the knob on our dorm, hoping it'd open but nothing happened.

"Seriously," I groan, checking my pockets for my key, though I knew I'd left it on the nightstand inside. "We'd have to go to the dorm advisor for a new key," I shrug.

Her brows furrow and she tries twisting the knob a few more times "Do you know how much a replacement key cost?" She questions, not even giving me enough time to answer. "One hundred and fifty dollars," she says, kicking the door. "Which I don't have."

"Best case scenario, We could go to your sister's place?"

Taylor's neck snapped over to me so quickly I thought she might've given herself whiplash.

"Um, my sister stays in a sorority. Not to mention I wouldn't go for help if it were over my dead, burning, decomposed body," she ends with an eye roll. "What about your brother?" She asks.

"Negative. Him and I got into an argument earlier today and I said some pretty unforgiving things. He'd throw us out without a second though. Let's see if Lynn is back home. Maybe she'll let us crash there tonight and then we can figure something out in the morning?"

Taylor nods her head and the two of us walked over to Lynn's room, but there was no answer.

"Lynn is never home," Taylor groaned. "Damn it. I'm sorry. I know you wanted to be in bed by now. I should've just let you sleep."