Give the Devil his Due

Chapter 9

Well Lucas was back to being his usual sarcastic self. He picked me up the next morning twenty minutes late, without giving me a reason. However, I managed to use that time to look up what 'mi diosa' meant and if Lucas thought calling me his 'goddess' would make things easier for him, he had another thing coming.

Because of his tardiness, I had to walk into my first class after Professor Duncan already began the lecture. Was it Lucas' goal in life to ruin mine?

While I couldn't escape the angered gaze of the Professor, I managed to slide into a seat in the back of the room, limiting the stares I received from the other students. This was an awful way to start the semester and I could already tell that hanging out with Lucas was only going to make it worse, but I didn't really have a choice.

I sat silently through the rest of the house, taking notes and paying absolute attention to every worse the Professor said. I was going to prove that I could be a good student even if it killed me.

"Ms. Jones, may I speak with you briefly?" Professor Duncan asked after dismissing the class.

Everyone slowly trudged from the room, the last few students shooting me curious looks before leaving as well. I gathered my things and made my way towards the Professor's podium, trying to calm my rapidly beating heart. What if he decided I was jeopardizing the education of the other students and asked me to leave his class? I needed this class for my major.

"Yes Professor?"

He leaned against the whiteboard behind him and crossed his arms over his chest, "This is the second time you've been late to my class."

I gripped the strap to my messenger bag tighter, "I know and I'm so sorry, my ride was late this morning."

He nodded, "I understand that sometimes life is just too unpredictable and everyone is entitled to bad days, but yours are becoming frequent. You're late on your first day at this university, then bring a student to the class who isn't on the roster, and now you're late again. It seems to me, Ms. Jones, that you aren't taking college too seriously."

"No I am sir, I swear that I take college very seriously. My life has just been...a little hectic, recently." That was the best explanation I could offer, "This isn't my usual work ethic and I promise I can do better."

"Be careful, 'promise' is a big word with big implications." Professor Duncan pushed away from the whiteboard and gathered a stack of papers in his hands from the podium to place into his briefcase, "I'm not saying you are a bad student, in fact your high school transcripts show that you were rather brilliant. But...well, I couldn't help but notice you graduated from the school in Chicago where that boy shot those two lunch ladies."

I swallowed dryly but nodded, "Yes sir."

A small side smile appeared on his face, "I'm sorry to hear that. Was he a friend of yours?"

"Did you ever see anyone about what you went through? You know, we have wonderful counselors here that can help with things like this." Professor Duncan handed me a piece of paper with contact information for each of the trauma counselors at the university, "I suggest you call one of them, they could really help you get through this so you can focus on your studies-"

"What happened in Chicago has nothing to do with my studies or lack thereof." I answered quickly, doing my best to hide the agitation in my tone. Especially since I was speaking with my Professor who already thought lowly of me, "And I don't need to speak with any counselors because the events of the shooting had no effect on me. I've moved on from what happened that day and I don't wish to dwell on it."