I came away from the ice cream parlour with a renewed sense of purpose. Henrietta had revealed to me that there was a way to block Luc from my mind, and if I could block him out then I might be able to escape the fate that he had planned for me. I walked back to my dorm hall with Jacques who was unusually sombre. He spoke little about our planned secret trip to Port Cressida and advised me not to think too much about it until Henrietta had taught me the mind block.
Frustrated by his lack of enthusiasm I asked him, “Why are you so against this Jacques?”
Jacques slowed and replied, “I just think this is a bad idea.”
“Will you tell Luc?” I questioned.
Jacques bowed his head and said, “No- when I said that I would be your friend I meant it … even if it means going against His Royal Pain-in-the-Ass.”
I bumped my shoulder affectionately against his and said with a smile, “Thank you.”
Jacques looked down at me and stilled, “For that smile, maybe the hell which will inevitably follow will be worth it,” He said.
We arrived at my dorm hall shortly after the sun had set. The setting of the sun had become a mixed blessing. I enjoyed not having to deal with the punishing glare of natural sun light, but I did not enjoy the migraine inducing glare of fluorescent strip lights that filled the campus buildings with light after dark.
I looked up at the building and felt sick. I knew that I would have to walk through the communal area and up several flights of stairs before I got to my bedroom. The thought of having to face the students who had seen Jack call me a ‘dirty whore’ filled me with cold anxiety.
Jacques hovered several feet from the entrance of the hall, he his head turned away from the glass doors and the bright lights that shone through them. Looking to me he asked, “Do you need me to walk you to your room.”
I shook my head, “No I got this,” I said quickly.
I did not want Jacques walking me to my bedroom. Goodness only knows what people would say if they saw me with another man who was not Jack or Luc.
Jacques leaned in and gave me a quick hug, “I promise you Mia, things will get better,” He whispered in my ear.
I thanked him and walked into the foyer of my dorm hall. It was early evening and students were filtering back into the dormitories from their lectures. After today’s dramatic events I did my best to keep my head down and keep moving. As I was jogging up several flights of stairs something happened, a voice called out to me.
“So is it true?” Laura Taylor’s echoed up the stair well.
I stopped dead and turned to face Laura and her groupies staring up at me from the flight of stairs below. They must have been waiting for me on this level to rub salt into the wound. I felt my heart sink as I realized that I would have to face them.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I shrugged half hoping they would drop the subject.
Laura smirked and said, “Jack has been telling everyone about your little secret to academic success.”
“Jack is delusional,” I replied flatly.
“Oh I would not call Jack delusional. We have all noticed the way that stand-in tutor looks at you,” She replied.
“Then you are imagining things,” I said.
“So the entire college campus is under one mass delusion?” Laura enquired sceptically.
“Small minds have a tendency to believe in tittle tattle and create drama out of thin air,” I retorted.
Laura’s eyes hardened and a cruel smile spread across her face. Her friends behind her began to whisper excitedly, and watched in glee as Laura dropped a bombshell on me.
“Did you know that the plenty for having affair with a member of staff in our college is expulsion?” Laura enquired casually.
“What?” I muttered dryly.
“The college guidelines prohibit members of staff from having any kind of intimate relationship with a student because that student might be given unfair advantage over their peers,” She explained with a smile, “For example a female student could be performing sexual favours for a male faculty member in return for higher grades … so imagine if someone was to anonymously tip off the college board about your activities?”
“You wouldn’t dare,” I gasped feeling my stomach drop, “I could lose my degree over gossip that isn’t true!”
Laura shrugged nonchalantly, “But we all know that this is not gossip Hayden, we all know that Luc Ashe has taken a special interest in you and I am going to find out why.”
With that Laura gave her groupies a nod and they retreated but into their hall. The damage was done and there was nothing more to say. I stood at the top of the stairs stunned. Laura was hell bent on sabotaging my degree and if she got a shred of evidence that Luc and I had anything other than a student teacher relationship then my academic career was over.
I slunk into my dormitory level and tiptoed past the communal area where my flatmates were playing poker. I glanced inside the kitchen and saw the normal college mess of unwashed pots, empty alcohol bottles and red cups. They were placing their bets as I crept past; normally I would join them but tonight after everything that had happened, I just wanted to be alone.
So I arrived at me bedroom door and slipped quietly inside the dark room. I let my book bag slide off my shoulder allowing it to hit the floor with a heavy thump, then fumbling around I found the light switch and turned on the lights. I nearly died when I saw Luc sitting motionlessly on the edge of my bed.
“Good Lord,” I breathed, “You nearly gave me a heart attack.”
“Where were you today?” He asked impatiently.
Luc was looking a little more dishevelled than normal. His black hair was slightly ruffled as if he had been anxiously raking his hand through it. The suit jacket and tie he normally wore had been taken off and neatly hung over the back of my desk chair, while the two top shirt buttons had been casually undone. The intensity of his stare caught me off guard and fumbled to think of something coherent to say.
“Um, I went for ice cream with Jacques but wait … how long have you been waiting here?” I asked as it suddenly dawned on me that the teacher I was accused of having an affair with was sitting in my dorm bedroom looking very at home.
Before Luc could answer I marched over to the bed and yanked his arm in an effort to pull him up onto his feet, “You cannot stay here,” I said firmly.
If someone was to walk in on us then my hopes of getting a degree would be turned into ashes. Luc lifted himself from my bed and stood at his full height. Looking down at me I could sense him wandering about in my head searching for answers. He paused for a moment and said, “That Laura girl has threatened you.”
“Yes she has, but that is none of your concern,” I said pushing him towards my bedroom door.
Luc pulled away from me and asked, “What kind of threats has she made against you?”
Exasperated I threw up my hands and said, “Look it doesn’t matter. I just need you to leave here before somebody finds you in my room.”
“Why?” Luc demanded.
“Because if someone sees you here in my room, it could be used as evidence against me,” I explained.
“What do you mean evidence?” Luc queried.
“Students are not supposed to have relationships with teachers, if a student is found having an inappropriate relationship with a member of staff then they get thrown out of university- Luc I could lose my degree if I am not careful,” I replied.
“Who cares about your degree? You are never going to need it,” Luc said.
“I care about my degree! I am the one who worked tirelessly for three years for it, right up until you came along and screwed things up with your stupid vampire shit!” I snapped.
Luc’s face hardened, “Don’t you dare talk to me like that,” He said.
“Why not,” I said choking tears back, “It’s true. My whole life was great until you came and turned me into this monster.”
I knew I was being melodramatic, but I could not help myself. My whole world was collapsing in on itself and I had nowhere to run from the falling debris of my shattered reality. Feeling the tears building up inside, I pushed past Luc before he got to see the first tear fall and I ran straight into the bathroom. Slamming the door and turning the lock, I gasped for air as I broke down.
Everything I cherished was now in tatters.