My Professor's Secret

30|

thirty

When morning arrived the next day, after my stop at the lounge in pursuit of breakfast, I trudge my way through the cold to Christian's. After Taylor told me about Trevor and Meghan's recent endeavors, I knew I couldn't keep it from my brother. Maybe now he would see how truly wrong she was for him. It's all I could hope for to get him to finally call it quits on their relationship.

Chris is wrapped up in his robe when he answers the door which earns him a glance from me that he attempts to shrug away. According to his school schedule, his first lecture was starting in twenty minutes. The only reason I decided to come now was because his lecture was in the same direction as Hinkhouse.

"Why aren't you dressed? I picked us up breakfast burritos so we could walk together." His eyes light up once he realizes the contents of the bag in my hand. His face dulls immediately once I jerk away when he attempts to grab it. "Not until you're ready to go. You know it's a fifteen minute walk from here. Let's go."

Chris doesn't say anything for a moment. Instead he walks back towards his bed and bellyflops on it. He must've been harboring a secret he'd been too afraid to tell anyone else about because as the days continue on, he becomes less like himself. My brother isn't the type to dwell on relationship dysfunction any longer than he has to.

It isn't that he walks away from his relationships easily, but if there was a problem brewing or continuing, he would work out the frustrations in the gym and go forth accordingly. It was his way of rationalizing the situation in an environment meant to stimulate the brain. If that didn't work, he'd come to the conclusion that there was no relationship to salvage.

Once his mind was fixated on the idea that a relationship without common ground was doomed to fail, he'd dump them without a chance to work it out as adults. He most certainly didn't skip school, lay around mopping or bellyflopping on beds. Or shut me out for that matter.

"I'm not going. I'll be damned if I sit in another class where everyone is whispering about whether a teacher is fucking my girlfriend. It's fucked up and I'm done."

There was tons I could've said. Tons I wish I actually had said. Like the fact that all the guys found her so attractive because she had been with an older man. And obviously because she was a "milf". I hadn't heard Chris' reasons for dating her but she obviously meant a lot to him if she could bring out this side of him. A side of him I only saw when we were younger and trying to manage the deterioration of our mothers health. Neither of us knew how to properly express ourselves and that manifested in our silence and reclusiveness.

This was my opportunity to stop whatever was going on before it could escalate.

"Maybe this is a sign that you two should just go your separate ways. All she brings is drama. It's not like we haven't witnessed it first hand." Nothing insulting, just enough to make him aware of. I didn't want to use the proof of her cheating as a way to get him to break it off with her because it felt insensitive. As much as I hated their relationship, I couldn't pretend it didn't mean a lot to Christian because it obviously did.

"Did her sister tell you anything?" He asks. If he could get ready in five minutes, we'd both make it to our respective places at just the right time.

"I'll tell you. Only if you're ready and outside in five minutes." There's nothing more to say so I head outside in hopes he'd meet me.

He's outside in two, eager to yank the bag of burritos from my grasp. He practically inhales his before finally asking me more information on what Taylor told me about Meghan. As crazy as it seemed, I was hesitant to say anything about it because it only made the reality of Trevor not actually being into me real. No one who still hooks up with their ex is ready to move on. It's why I practically snapped at Taylor about Tony. In all actuality, I wished the idea of me dating him would just leave my mind. It couldn't happen. He wouldn't let it.