Chapter 32: The Graduate Tutor
Nina
That night, the anonymous poster who referred to himself as “K” sent me his information. He was located a few hours away from me and seemed eager to make the drive to meet up. We’d meet in a public place, of course, and unbeknownst to K, I would have Luke standing guard across the street if anything went wrong. I knew it was stupid to meet up with strangers from the internet so quickly, but K didn’t know my real name or address, and I’d cover my hair and face with a hat, sunglasses, and a surgical mask. I didn’t tell anyone that I would be going to meet K except for Luke, and even with Luke I kept the information vague.
“I’m meeting up with an internet friend in a couple of days,” I said on the Tutor morning of the next day as I walked to get breakfast at the dining hall. “I want you to keep watch from across the street if anything goes wrong. Just in case, you know?” Luke didn’t question it. He simply nodded and agreed to do whatever 1 needed.
Once that was all squared away, all 1 had to do now was wait and think about what sort of questions I would ask K. I hoped that he would have some real information for me and wasn’t a total crackpot. What I would do with that information later was still a mystery to me; right now, my only goal was to just. learn as much as I could, and I wanted it to come from a source that wasn’t Enzo or Luke in case they weren’t being entirely truthful. I still didn’t know for sure if I could entirely trust them.
Besides, planning the meetup with K kept me from thinking about my s*xual encounter with Enzo at the party last night. It was better not to think about it. I hadn’t heard from him or seen him at all since I left the party, and if I thought about it for too long, images of him having sex with Lisa in the woods flooded my mind.
It was just better if I stayed away. It was Sunday, so thankfully I didn’t have class, and anyone who was at the party last night was still hung over in their dorms. I would have been hiding in my dorm as well, but unfortunately, with everything going on lately, my grades were starting to get a bit shaky. I had another exam in a few days, so I had to study.
After I grabbed a quick bagel and coffee for breakfast, I walked over to the library with the intent to study all day. The library was mostly empty, aside.
from a few other students who were probably in the same boat as me.] found a table by a window and sat down, opening my laptop and getting out my notebooks to start studying.
“Mind if I study with you?” a familiar voice said not long after I sat down. I looked up to see James, the graduate student from Tiffany’s office, standing at the table. He was looking down at me with a sweet smile on his face and a coffee cup in his hand. I smiled and nodded, honestly happy to have the company. “Sure,” I replied. “I could use some company.”
James grinned and sat down across from me. He took his laptop and notebook out. I looked up from my laptop for a moment to catch him looking at me, which made him blush a bit and look away. I couldn’t help but blush, too.
“What are you working on?” he asked, clearing his throat nervously. “I have a pathology exam in a few days,” I responded. “And admittedly I’m not doing very well in that class right now.”
“Why not?” James furrowed his brow and cocked his head to the side, which made him look sort of cute. I shrugged. “Just… got a lot going on,” 1 said. It was technically the truth. I couldn’t tell him specifics, obviously, he’d think I was genuinely insane.
“I passed pathology with flying colors when I was in undergrad,” he said with a warm smile. “Want me to help you?”
I nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, please!” I said. James smiled and stood, coming around the table to sit next to me. When he sat down beside me, I could smell a faint scent of cologne coming from his sweater. It smelled winter like mahogany and old books, and made my heart speed up.
James cozied up next to me and started to point at my notes as he leaned close to me. His closeness made me feel a bit shy as he started to explain a few things. “See, if you look here…”
I looked up at him, taking in his soft face and attractive jawline as I listened to him talk. He was so studious and intelligent in the way that he spoke that it made me feel a new sense of attraction to him. He caught me staring and looked up at me, meeting my gaze.
For a few moments, James held my gaze while he attempted to continue to explain a concept, his voice eventually faltering. “That’s why… benign tumors
His eyes flickered down to my lips. I blushed and looked away, pretending to be completely absorbed in my notebook… But I couldn’t help but notice the feeling of our shoulders pressed together as we continued to study.
Somehow, we studied for several hours before I realized just how much time had flown by. My stomach growled, and although I was enjoying being this close to James, I knew it was time to call it a day.
“Thank you for your help,” I said shyly as we packed up our things. “I’m sorry I took away from your studying time, though.”
James smiled and waved my words away. “No worries,” he replied. “Just make it up to me by acing that exam. And… study with me again sometime?”
I blushed and looked down at my feet as I held my laptop to my chest. “I think that would be nice,” I said, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
“I’ll see you around, then,” James said. with another warm smile as he backed away. There was something adorably awkward about him, yet he was also incredibly handsome in his knit sweater with his somewhat messy shirt collar sticking out of the top.
I watched James leave, admiring how academic he looked with his leather satchel slung over his shoulder, then let out a deep breath as I headed home with a smile plastered on my face.
My smile faded, however, when I saw a familiar figure walking toward me from across the quad. It was Enzo. I tried to keep my head down and pretend I didn’t see him, but I knew there was no way he didn’t see me, and when he called my name and started jogging toward me, I knew that I would have no choice but to talk to him.
“Nina!” Enzo called, jogging toward me. “Can we talk?”
He stopped in front of me as I held my laptop even tighter to my chest. “Hey, Enzo,” I replied, avoiding eye contact. “I’m really sorry about last night,” he said. “Lisa-”
“It’s fine,” I blurted out, not wanting to hear any more. When I looked up at Enzo, his brown eyes were fixed on me. His eyebrows were knit together and he looked a little sad, but I forced myself not to let it get to me. I knew that he ran away from me last night to meet up with Lisa, and I no longer wanted to play this game with him.
“I, um, have to go,” I said, averting my gaze and walking past him. “Wait!” Enzo called after me. I didn’t stop. I could feel his eyes focused on my back as I walked across the quad, but I just ignored him and let the stream of students coming out for lunch envelop me breaking his view of me.
