My Professor

33. Confrontation

A month later I was well into my campaign to make Theodore feel comfortable about us being together before the end of the school year. I was careful not to visit him too much in his office, only stopping by when I knew the building was cleared out, and I left him alone when I saw him around campus. I wasn't happy about it, but it seemed to be working. Theodore hadn't expressed any more concern about the nature of our relationship.

One evening I stopped by his office to find it empty. I sat on the couch and waited for him, assuming he was off making copies or something. I'd been working a lot lately and I hadn't been able to stop by his apartment too often over the previous week. I missed him and I just wanted to pop by and see him for a minute.

To my chagrin, Marcy walked in shortly after I'd sat down.

"What are you doing here?" she asked immediately, not unkindly.

"Um," I began. I had no official reason to be there and I didn't know what to say. "I had a question about Chemistry," I lied. It was weak and she saw right through it.

Marcy gave me a hard look before crossing the room to stand closer to me. "Indigo," she said, "I hate to be the one to tell you this, but this needs to stop."

"I'm sorry?" I replied.

"This little school girl obsession with Theodore. It's just sad."

I knit my eyebrows.

"Oh, come on," Marcy said with a cruel laugh. "Don't act ignorant. I know what you're doing."

I got up from the couch and grabbed my book bag. "I don't know what you're talking about, Marcy. I was just trying to be nice."

"You're not his student anymore," she said. "You have no business being here. Clinging on to him like this? It's pathetic."

"If Theodore had a problem with me stopping by I think he would've said something himself," I said.

Marcy shook her head. "He's way too nice. He would never tell you to buzz off, even though you're practically stalking him at this point."

"I'm not stalking him," I blushed. I was getting angry, but I had to keep my cool. No matter what she said, I couldn't risk tipping her off about the true nature of my relationship with Theodore. If that meant I had to stand there and be chastised then so be it.

"He feels bad for you," Marcy sneered. "Really, he just doesn't have to heart to tell you."

I knew she was lying but it still hurt to hear. She was coming at me, hard, and as much as I hated to admit it, her words were hitting home.

"Why are you doing this?" I asked. "Why can't you leave me alone?"

"Because someone needs to stand up for Theodore since he won't do it for himself. He's too good. He wouldn't want to hurt anyone's feelings."

"But you're more than happy to do it."

"I think it's healthy to rip the Band-Aid off. You deserve to know the truth."

"He doesn't—" My voice faltered.

"I don't know what you think is going to happen," Marcy said. "Do you think that if you keep popping up you'll win him over? Do you think you can convince him to like you?"

"No."

"Do you think he'll fall madly in love with you?" she mocked me.

I pressed my lips together and didn't say anything. Tears began to well up in my eyes.

"I don't mean to hurt your feelings, but I thought you deserved to know," Marcy said. "This, you showing up all the time, is just sad. It's absolutely pitiful. I just thought you needed to know."

I swiped away a tear from my cheek. I knew she was wrong but her words still hurt. This confrontation was humiliating and all I could do was stand there and take it.

"I think it's probably best if you leave," Marcy said.

Without another word, I pushed past her and promptly left the room. I was crushed. As I walked down the hallway tears fell freely. I tried to wipe them away but they came too quickly.

"Indigo?" I heard someone call my name just as I was about to exit the building.

I turned around and spotted Theodore approaching. I wiped my face again and did my best to hold back my tears.

"Indy?" he said, alarmed, when he was close enough to get a good look at my face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I said, putting a stop to the tears. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine," he said, looking down at me with concern.

I looked away from him. "I ran into Marcy in your office. She wasn't exactly kind to me."

"Marcy? What did she do?"

"I don't want to talk about it," I said. "I'm sure she would be more than happy to fill you in, though."

"Will you talk to me about it later?"

"If you want," I sniffled.

"I'll talk to Marcy, okay? She shouldn't be treating you like that."

"You shouldn't bother. She could begin to ask questions. If you seem too defensive, she could begin to wonder why you're so attached."

Theodore pursed his lips, unhappy with my suggestion. He knew I wasn't wrong, though.

"I hate to see you upset, Indy," he said, still keeping a respectable distance between us.

"It's fine. I'll get over it." I didn't wait for him to respond. I pushed open the door and made my exit, quickly making my way out into the early spring night.