As Crystal headed to her next class, she happened to run into her friend Serenity, who was sitting on the floor beside her locker. When Serenity saw that Crystal was in a hurry, she asked what her rush was all about. Before Crystal could reply, Serenity noticed that her face was red and that her clothes were disheveled. “Are you okay?” she asked. “Your lip is swollen.”

Crystal scrambles for an answer, and when she begins to stammer, Serenity knew with certainty that something was up with her, and she suspected that she knew what it was. “What is the matter with you?” she asked reproachfully. “Does it have something to do with You Know Who?”

“No!” Crystal replied argumentatively. She bit her lips nervously and said, “Maybe I got attacked by a cockroach! Did you think of that?”

“It’s Professor Davis, isn’t it?” Serenity said. After a moment, she lowered her voice and said, “It was! You kissed Professor Davis.” She giggled. “What a tramp!” Serenity didn’t mean this literally. It was just a joke between two friends.

“I didn’t KISS him!” Crystal said, and she touched her lips thoughtfully. I wonder what it would be like to kiss Nathan? - she wondered - and would I let him kiss me if he tried? Didn’t know... She didn’t know...

“Well, if you two didn’t KISS, what did you do?” Serenity squeaked, her voice rising several octaves. Just now, she was guessing that there had been some foreplay that maybe included heavy petting or under the shirt but over the bra action, but her imagination didn’t take her anywhere near what had actually happened. Crystal’s face turned red when she heard Serenity’s question, so Serenity knew she was on the right track, but she would have never guessed the full extent of the liberties her professor had taken with her friend. “Well,” she said, “if you can get him to be infatuated with you, you may find a chance to get your mother’s inheritance back.”

“Jesus, Serenity!” Crystal hissed. “Did you take the class for nothing?”

“No way,” Serenity replied. “I am listening very carefully. Look at yourself, though; you’re one to talk! You’ve been daydreaming all semester.”

Crystal laughed, and Serenity laughed along with her. “Fine,” she admitted. “I haven’t been concentrating, but you watch: I’ll concentrate next time.”

Serenity got up, and the two girls walked to their next class together, which was philosophy, and they took their seats as the teacher walked to the podium. Serenity opened her book while Crystal twirled her pen out of boredom. I didn’t even want to be here today - she told herself - so why should I bother paying attention!

Furthermore, although the teacher worked hard to make the lessons easy for the students to understand, Crystal remained absent-minded, and the fact that she was two years younger

than the other students was a constant disadvantage to her. Crystal managed to endure until class was over, though, and as she gathered up her books, she and Serenity discussed what to have for lunch.

Unfortunately, before they could make any headway, there was a sudden cry at the door: “Crystal, the president wants you to go to his office!”

Crystal’s mind went blank, and she had to ask Serenity, “What did he say?”

Serenity looked at her friend curiously and said, “Where is your mind today?!?!? He said that the president wants to see you. You’d better go quickly! Maybe it is about another scholarship.” If it were, it wouldn’t be the first time that Crystal had won a scholarship. She had never received one from the president before, though, so she didn’t think that that was what this was about.

“My mind was elsewhere, that’s all,” Crystal explained. She handed her books to Serenity and said, “Can you take these for me? I’ll meet you in the cafeteria after this meeting.”

Without waiting for a reply, Crystal left the room, and since she was in a hurry, she rushed down the hallway towards the office. And when she entered the office, the secretary looked up from her desk and said, “You can go right in, the president is waiting for you.”

When Crystal entered the office, she said hello to the president. He said hello back, and he told her to close the door, which she did. There were two seats in front of the president’s desk. One was empty, and the other was taken by Ms. Ford. The president pointed toward the empty chair and told Crystal to take a seat, which she did. And as she did, she noticed the name tag on the president’s desk and gasped. His name was Mr. Ford! He was Ms. Ford’s Father!

What the fuck is going on?- her thoughts began to spin out of control - This must have something to do with Nathan!

Am I in some kind of trouble? “Mr. Ford,” she said nervously. “What can I do for you?”

“You’re Crystal, aren’t you?” he said. It wasn’t a question, but she nodded her head as if it had been. “You are the first student to be recommended for admission to our school through the Advanced Program for High School Students, and your scholastic record is outstanding. Although there is not much schoolwork to do right now, it will increase, and I hope you will give full priority to your study. You are still young, and I hope you don’t ruin your future unnecessarily.”

Is that a threat? Crystal asked herself. His tone was flat, and his face lacked expression, so she had no way of knowing if this was anything more than friendly encouragement.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Ford, but could you be more specific?” What unnecessary things are you talking about? I don’t quite understand.”

Ms. Ford turned to Crystal and scowled. “What my Father - Um... What Mr. Ford said,” she hissed, “was about you and Professor Davis. I told him all about your little ‘relationship’ with him, and that is not the kind of thing a young student like yourself should have time for!”

Actually - Crystal wanted to say the RELATIONSHIP takes up very little time, thank you very much! - but she remained silent, obeying the more reasonable voice in her head that was saying - Let the adults talk, and then you can go on your way, living your life in whatever manner you please. After all, you aren’t beholden to this dysfunctional woman or her father in any way!

Mr. Ford stood up so that he was standing over Crystal. “Crystal,” he said, “our school does not object to students falling in love, but we try to encourage our teachers not to enter into sexual relationships with students, and if they must, then they should at least wait until the students are of legal age. Surely, you must understand that if this got out, it would tarnish the reputation of the school.”

Ms. Ford whined, “Dad... Mr. Ford, I mean... Her behavior has already been a bad influence on other students. Furthermore, although she keeps saying that she and Professor Davis are in love with each other, it is clear that she is the one who seduced Professor Davis, and not the other way around! Young girls have ways of mesmerizing men, as I am sure even you know, so how could he resist the provocation of this naughty vixen?!?!? I think that since this kind of thing has never happened in our school with a girl so young, it is necessary to make an example of her.”

Mr. Ford nodded approvingly and asked, “What do you think is an effective way to control something like this? Should we circulate a notice of criticism?”

Off with her head! - Crystal thought wildly, and she was barely able to contain her laughter.

“That’s too serious,” Ms. Ford replied. “I think it would be better to expel her.”

Mr. Ford looked at Crystal thoughtfully and said, “These are some heavy charges that have been made against you. But I know that you have been through a lot lately, what with your Mother’s death and your Father’s remarriage, so I don’t want to be too quick to give up on you, particularly because of your previous exemplary record. Do you have anything to say on your behalf before I pass judgment?”

Crystal looked first at Ms. Ford and then at Mr. Ford. “This is hard to talk about,” she admitted, “but my relationship with Professor Davis is not one that is comparable to that of the love that is sometimes made between a man and a woman, but -”

“Ugh, I knew you’d say that,” Tiffany interrupted cruelly. She rose and grabbed her laptop, plugged in her hard drive, and an image of her and Nathan appeared on the computer screen. He had her pressed up against the wall with her arm twisted behind her back, and his free hand was down the front of her pants. “What excuse do you have now, Miss Crystal? Isn’t this evidence of a relationship between a man and a woman or a man and a little GIRL, as is the case?”

Mr. Ford looked away in disgust and said, “Geez! You really are shameless. You will disgrace our school. I have made up my mind: for seducing a teacher, you are being expelled. You can empty your locker!”

Having nothing to say, Crystal stood up and left the office. On the way out, Ms. Ford yelled at her to” STOP!” but Crystal paid her no mind.

After all, now that she was no longer a student here, the staff no longer had any hold over her.

What a bad day - she thought to herself - my boyfriend cheated on me. My guardian sexually assaulted me. And now I’ve been expelled from school. Damn it! What is the point of even living...?

Crystal found Serenity in the cafeteria, and she ordered a large lunch for herself. Why despair when you can eat?!?!?! When Serenity saw how much food she’d purchased, she nearly choked. “Did Mr. Ford offer you a double scholarship?” she asked.

“No,” Crystal replied flatly, “he expelled me.

This isn’t a celebratory meal! It is a consolatory meal! Can’t you tell the difference?!?!!?

Serenity frowned, and tears welled up in her eyes, and Crystal felt bad for speaking to her friend in such a harsh manner. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I’m upset, but it wasn’t fair to take it out on you.”

“It’s okay,” Serenity replied. “I forgive you. We all have bad days, and yours sounds particularly bad. Why did the school expel you, though?”

“Because of Nathan,” Crystal replied.

Serenity: “So, your affair with Professor Davis was exposed?”

Crystal: “It isn’t an affair. I may have been a bit of a cock-tease, but he sexually assaulted me, and they’ve turned me into the villain!”

Serenity: “Why don’t you ask Professor Davis to explain it to them? Maybe they’ll let you stay in school.”

Crystal: “The evidence is conclusive. How could he explain it away? Let’s end this talk, shall we? I want to eat my lunch. When I’m full, then I will have the strength to think about what to do next.”

As they were eating, Crystal’s big brother, Evan Henry, came and sat with them. Crystal looked at him uncomfortably and asked him what he was doing.

“Surprised to see me?” he asked. He was wearing a light blue shirt and black pants.

“Shouldn’t I be?” Crystal replied.

“Not really,” Evan replied. “Who did you think Dad would send after he discovered that you were expelled? He cares about you. You know that, don’t you?”

“Cut the crap,” Crystal replied coldly.

“He does!” Evan insisted. “And he plans to contribute five million dollars to this institution to keep you enrolled, and I finally persuaded Mr. Ford to reduce your sentence from expulsion to probation.”

“How about if I accept the dismissal, and he can transfer the money to my account,” Crystal replied snarkily. “How does that sound? And why would a man that didn’t want to raise his own daughter set aside five million dollars to keep her in school? Can you answer that question for me?”

Serenity listened quietly, not daring to interrupt. She had heard Crystal’s story about their family and felt sorry for her.

Evan frowned and said, “Crystal, you can come to me if you need money. Don’t be angry at Dad. He has his reasons for abandoning you, and they are reasonable. Can you believe me?” Crystal rolled her eyes and said, “Of course… NOT.

Evan nodded as if he hadn’t expected any other answer from her, which he likely hadn’t... “Dad hasn’t been feeling well lately,” he said. “Go and see him whenever you can.”

Crystal was about to excuse herself by saying she wasn’t available, but Evan saw through her. He said, “Dad asked that you come and see him tomorrow. Your Mother left something at his place for you to have.”

Then, without saying goodbye, Evan rose and left.

“Is he your half-brother?” Serenity wondered.

“No,” Crystal replied. “He was adopted.”