Chapter 9 #2
He's erasing the chalkboard with methodical strokes, ignoring my presence, or perhaps unaware of it. I wait, hoping he'll turn around and say something, but he doesn’t, even when I ensure my footsteps are audible as I walk toward the front of the room.
“Alar—I mean, Dr. Vale,” I finally say, unable to handle the awkwardness.
He pauses, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye, then continues what he's doing. “Miss Harver. Was there something you needed?”
“I just wanted to—I didn't know, obviously, that you were—”
He cuts me off. “A professor. I gathered that.” He finally turns to face me, and his expression is neutral. There’s no warmth, no teasing half-smile or sense of familiarity.
“If I'd known, I wouldn't have—” I stop, not entirely sure how to finish that sentence. Wouldn't have what? Sat at his table? Asked questions? Attempted conversation that borders on flirting?
“It’s fine,” he says. “I’m a professor, you are my student, and that’s all there is to it.”
Despite the perfectly reasonable statement and his understandably professional demeanor, my chest is heavy with disappointment.
I nod. “Okay. Glad we cleared that up. See you Thursday,” I mutter before rushing out of the room.
This is fine, I assure myself as I walk out of the building and toward the castle. It’s awkward, yeah, but now there’s no gray area to worry about. He made the boundary very clear, and I’ll respect that.
But he should have just told me outright.
Why didn’t he say anything yesterday or the other night?
It’s not like he didn’t know I was a student.
Hell, he even knew I was a botany student and made a comment in the greenhouse about being certain we’d run into each other.
Was this just some convoluted power play for him?
By the time I get to the dining hall, I’m riled up again. But I grab food and find AJ and Joanna, who scoot over to make room for me.
Two other women from our last class are sitting across the table, pausing the conversation briefly to acknowledge me and introduce themselves as Kaylee and Shayna before returning to what they were saying.
“There’s no way,” Kaylee says. “Sure, he’s hot as hell, but didn’t you hear what happened to his TA from last year?” Shayna shakes her head before taking a bite of her sandwich.
AJ nudges me with his elbow. “They’re talking about Vale.”
My ears perk up at his name, even though—or especially—because I’m pissed at him.
Kaylee continues, “Yeah, apparently she tried to sleep with him and was pretty aggressive about it. Like, showed up during his office hours constantly, kept finding excuses to touch him, flirted more and more until he couldn’t ignore it anymore.”
“What did he do?” Joanna chimes in.
“Reported her immediately, and apparently he wasn’t the first professor she’d tried to make a move on. She got expelled. He apparently wrote a pretty lengthy report regarding her lack of professional boundaries and inappropriate conduct.”
“Damn, that’s harsh.”
She shrugs. “I mean, she had plenty of opportunities to back down. He clearly wasn’t interested, and everyone knows he’s totally rigid about the rules. And frankly, if she couldn’t move the needle, nobody could. She was fucking gorgeous and part of Meridian House.”
Before I have the chance to speak, Joanna half-whispers, “Is that the vampire girl?”
Everyone’s heads turn in the direction Joanna’s staring, and sure enough, there’s Max looking as pissed off as always, carrying a sandwich and an apple in her hands, foregoing a tray to simply carry the food out of the building.
As she walks, multiple people cast wary glances in her direction and lean in to whisper to their friends.
Maybe she’s already gotten herself a reputation of being an asshole.
“Oh, yeah, she’s my roommate.”
Everyone’s attention locks in on me.
“She’s your roommate?” Kaylee asks in disbelief.
“Um, yeah. She and I don’t really interact much, though. She’s… not the friendliest person.”
Shayna snorts. “No shit. I don’t even know why she’s here.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, there’s an entire academy specifically for vampires where they can do all their freaky blood magic in peace. It’s not even allowed here. Why would she come to Arcadia?”
Blood magic? Should I be more worried about being around Max than I thought?
“Maybe she got expelled?” Joanna suggests.
Kaylee says, “That couldn’t be the case. All the Magical Academies are under the same board, so if she got expelled from one, she’d be expelled from all of them.”
There’s a beat of silence as everyone considers the possibilities, but we all come up short.
It makes me wonder just how many secrets my roommate is hiding, and whether I should be afraid of her or pity her. A part of me wants to talk to her again, to show her that I’d be happy to be friends if she’d stop being so acerbic toward me (and from the looks of it, everyone else).
But I remind myself that I can only do so much. I can’t befriend someone who’s dead set on pushing me away before we even get to know each other. And if I have to deal with the awkwardness of avoiding my roommate for the next two years, so be it.