CARTER

“Anyone else?” I folded my arms and sat on the edge of my desk.

I decided to keep today's class short and interesting. Engaging the students has always been a top priority. I also wanted a chance to torment Eli. It was amusing. The way his head was always bent low throughout lectures and how he fidgets with his pen, hoping I wouldn't call him whenever a question was asked.

“Rhodes” I called “you wanna try?”

He looked around to be sure it was him. “Yes, you” silly boyMost students buckled under pressure but Eli didn’t. He stumbled, yes, but then he pushed through, in a way I hadn’t expected. I knew he was a smart kid. He used to date Liam so I was very well aware. I wasn't just aware of his level of intelligence.

Fuck why did I care?

When Eli finished, I remained silent. I wanted to see if he was confident or if he would shrink back into himself.

“Not bad. Better than I expected” I said at last. I would not be the professor to fill my students' heads. He was great, but I wouldn't let him know that. Not yet.

I dismissed the class soon after and the room emptied slowly with chattering and the rushing of footsteps.

“Impressive” I hear a sweet voice say, with single, loud claps.

I turned to see who it was and I was shocked to see a model-like woman leaning against the door frame. As she walked towards me, I could see her hips swing as a result of the fitted knee-length dress she wore.

“Good day. You are?”

“Vanessa. Vanessa Cross” she extended her hand for a handshake.

“Nice to meet you Miss Cross. Rhodes” I say returning the handshake.

“Oh I know you” she chuckled and I raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry, have we met?”

“No. Uhm. I just got back from a sabbatical”

“Oh” I was amazed. “So you're a professor huh. I should have definitely come across you at the last distinguished professors meeting”

Her smile twitched a bit, “I’m an associate professor”

That made sense because I knew all the professors of higher ranking here.

“So uh. Is there a reason you're here Miss Ross” I asked. I was done packing my briefcase now and I was ready to leave.

“I just wanted to get myself affiliated with the new professor” she chuckled. “I’ve heard so much about you”

“I see”

“You can let me know if I can be of help with anything.”

“I will make sure to do that” I said and gave her a small wave.

She was weird but I guess it was just a nice co-worker gesture.

“Carter” My heart froze for a second. There was only one person who boldly called me that in the school premises. I turned around expressionless.

“Carter. Wait up”

“What Liam. What do you want this time”

“Chill out. I'm not asking too much” he quickly reacted, noticing my expression.

“So what is it?”

“Can you help me cover up for dinner tomorrow night?” Right. I had forgotten that I had dinner with my family. We planned occasional dinners so we could have some time together despite all our busy schedules.

“Why am I supposed to do that?”

“I wouldn't be able to make it”

“Why wouldn't you?” I shot back. We always made time for dinner, it was something we always did. Knowing Liam, he didn't have anything doing aside from school.

“I uhm.. I planned a road trip with Zara”

“So?”

“It's tomorrow”

“Cancel it then”

“I can't. I have to make it up to Zara”

“This is really not my business. Have her come over for dinner then” I attempted to walk away.

“Please Carter. I’ll owe you” I would have turned deaf ears to Liam but knowing he was on a thin line with my parents, I decided to hear him out. Any wrong slip from him at any moment from now could have him cut off from the family resources, including his access to education.

“Fine. What should I say”

“I already hinted to Dad that I was going to be at a conference. So I’m just going to say the conference got extended”

“Is that all?”

“Yes. Just cover for me, you're a professor, you

know about conferences and all”

I nodded in response to him.

“Thanks. I owe you one”

“You sure do”.

The parking lot was nearly empty, the sun was setting, and over in the corner, I could see a familiar figure being towered over by another man.

I observed from a distance and it seemed the larger man was intimidating. It took a few seconds before I realized that was Eli. The same Eli who had left my class a few minutes ago.

I walked over to where they were, the two hadn't noticed me.

“What is going on here?” My voice was cold and it seemed to startle them both because they both jumped.

Taking a closer look at the bigger man, I wouldn't say I was surprised to see who it was.

Eli

I hung around for a few minutes after class and just when I was about to leave the school, someone came up to tap my shoulder from behind.

The boy whispered into my ear “Dean Holloway asked for you?”

“Me?” I turned to the boy who had delivered this message.

He nodded.

“I’ll be there” and he hurried off.

“What? What did he say?” Maya who was next to me questioned.

“Dean Holloway asks for me”

“Yikes. What did you do” she said, earning her a death stare from me.

“I don't know. You tell me”

“Well… you have to go. What if it's urgent”

“Yeah. I will”

“Hurry. I’ll wait here”

“You're sure? You don't have to”

“Whatever” she muttered and I went my way.

On getting to the Dean’s office, I saw him on his way out. He was locking the door with one hand and holding a briefcase in the other.

“Dean Holloway” I called his attention “You asked to see me”

“Ah yes. Uh Eli” he said, his huge frame turning towards me. “I wanted us to have a discussion. Come on”

I followed him out of the school building into the parking lot.

“How is the student support treating you?” he asked. He was the dean so of course he would know about me getting student support.

“It's good so far sir” I asked.

“I see. And you're sure you've been of good behavior?” I gulped at this statement.

Was there anything I could have done? The last thing I wanted was for me to get stripped of student support.

“Yes sir” I answered.

“You’ve got a girlfriend?” he asked

“No”

“Do you take part in any of the sports activities”

“No”

“Why?”

“I don't have interest in any yet” I was sweating at this point and I started to feel threatened.

“Don’t be frightened. You were spotted at the bleachers some time ago. That's only why I asked.”

There was a bit of silence before he went on, “You know, students like you are on the edge. You have to be extremely careful about your behavior in school premises.Any wrong move and it's over” he snapped his fingers as he moved closer to me.

“Yes I understand” my knees started to feel weak under his stern gaze.

“How about your buddy Liam?”

“We uh… er… we..” I wasn't sure exactly what to say to him.

“You what? Young boy” he moved even closer, looking like he would break me into two if I made any attempt to move.

“We…”

“What's going on here” a stone cold familiar voice cut me off, scaring both Dean Holloway and I.

I turned to look at the one who he somewhat rescued me and it was Carter.

“Professor.” The Dean quickly spoke and broke into a fake smile.

“Dean” Carter gave a small nod.

“I was just asking Eli here about how school life is going”

I could tell Carter didn't buy his excuse.

“Eli” he turned to me.

“Yes. Ca… professor Vale. We were just discussing about my student support” I mumbled.

Carter looked a bit surprised. “That's alright. I thought it was something else. Have a wonderful night Dean” Carter waved us off

“A.. And you too Professor” Dean Holloway said. He then turned to me, “You can go. Now”

I noticed Carter seemed to have a higher influence on Dean Holloway, despite the fact that he was a dean.

I walked through the parking lot and getting to the school gate l, I saw Carter black sleek SUV, coming nlto a halt next to me. He rolled the window down. “Do you want a ride?” he asked.

“Sure”

“Get in” he said and I rounded the car to get in from the passengers side.

“Shoot. I forgot” I uttered as soon as I got in. “Maya”

I quickly pulled out my phone and texted Maya to ask if she had waited for me.

A minute later she responded and said that she was waiting for me at another end of school.

“Can we turn around to pick Maya up. Please” I pleaded with Carter.

“Sure. He said unphased, like he didn't care at all.

We turned around and in no time we got to pick up Maya.

“She seemed hesitant at first but when Carter roller down the window tonrefeal my smiling face, she hopped in instantly.

“Where do you live Miss Adeniran?” Carter asked, a few minutes into the ride, breaking the silence.

“A few streets away from Eli’s” she seemed timid.

Within a few minutes. We were in front of Maya’s home.

“What was that about?” Carter faced me when we dropped Maya off.

“What was what?”

“You know what I'm talking about Rivera”

“It was nothing. Really. I'm on student support and..” I trailed off when I saw his expression.

“Continue” he spoke

“I just have to be of best behavior. That's all”

“You got any bad records?”

“No”

He gave me a side eye, “Then why on earth did he need to pull you aside for that. This is college, there's very little you can do to be considered a bad student”

I gently agreed.

“Well, get out” he tilted his head towards the window and that was when I realized he had gotten to my apartment building.

That was fast.

“Goodnight Mr carter” I waved him off but he didn't say it back. He only nodded and drove off.

A part of my heart was hurt a bit by his action.

I only wanted to know why Dean Holloway seemed to fear him even though he was literally the Dean.

ELI

“Let’s break up.”

I stared at him like I didn’t hear right. The café was loud. There were students behind me laughing, someone playing music too loud through their AirPods, the clink of cutlery and cups, but all I heard were those three words. I blinked once. Twice. My fingers tightened around the paper cup in front of me.

“What?” I said. My voice barely came out.

Liam didn’t even look up. He kept stirring his drink slowly like it didn’t matter. Like I wasn’t falling apart right in front of him.

“I’m done, Eli,” he said. “It’s not working anymore. We’re just… not right for each other.”

My chest started hurting. I sat up straighter, feeling that panic crawl up my throat. “Liam, please. Can we just talk? Whatever it is, I can fix it.”

He sighed, finally looking at me. His face was calm. Too calm. “You can’t fix this, Eli. You’ve been… heavy. For a while now.”

“Heavy?” I repeated, not understanding.

“Yeah. Everything with your past, your mom, the scars.” he shrugged. “It’s just too much. I don’t want to deal with all of that anymore.”

I swallowed hard. It felt like my tongue had turned to stone. “You knew what I’d been through when we started dating,” I whispered. “You said you didn’t care.”

“Well, I do now.”

It felt like he punched me in the stomach. I leaned back slowly, not even knowing what to say. My hands were shaking. My heart was pounding too fast. “Is there someone else?” I asked quietly.

Liam didn’t answer at first. Then he smiled — small, guilty, careless. “Sort of.”

The words knocked the breath out of me. I opened my mouth, but before I could even speak, a girl walked up to our table. She had curly hair, a tight black skirt, and red lipstick. She smiled at Liam, leaned down, and kissed him.

On the mouth.

Right in front of me.

I froze.

Liam stood up like it was nothing. He slung his backpack over his shoulder, gave me one last look, and said, “It’s better this way. Don’t make it worse by begging.”

And then he walked away with her.

Just like that.

I sat there, staring at the spot where he used to be. My ears were ringing. My vision blurred. My throat closed up. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t breathe. Couldn’t believe what just happened. The café kept going like nothing had happened, like my entire world didn’t just crash and burn in public.

I don’t know how long I sat there. Maybe five minutes. Maybe thirty. Eventually I stood up, legs weak, and stumbled out of the café into the cold air. My chest was tight. I felt like I was choking. I didn’t cry. Not yet. I just kept walking. My body moved on its own. Everything felt far away. The trees. The sidewalk. The people passing me. None of it was real.

When I got back to my apartment, I locked the door behind me and leaned against it. My backpack slid off my shoulder and hit the floor with a soft thud. The silence inside the room was too loud. I didn’t turn on the light. I just walked straight to my bed and dropped down face-first.

That’s when the tears came.

I didn’t even feel them at first. They just slipped down my cheeks, soaking into the pillow. My chest started to heave. I tried to stay quiet. Tried to bite down on the sobs so no one would hear through the thin walls. But the pain didn’t care about being quiet.

My whole body shook. I turned on my side and curled up tight, hugging my knees to my chest like I used to do as a kid. Like I did after my dad’s fists. After my mom’s screams. After nights when my sister would rock me back and forth and promise we’d escape one day.

Liam knew all of that. He knew what I came from. He saw the scars. I let him see them. Even when it hurt. Even when I hated how ugly they made me feel. I trusted him. I let him touch me. I let him in.

And he left. Just like everyone else.

He kissed another person right in front of me and told me I was too much to love.

Maybe he was right.

Maybe I was too broken.

Too heavy.

Too hard to hold.

The room stayed dark, and the tears kept falling. I buried my face in the pillow and cried harder. I tried to stop, but I couldn’t. My chest hurt so much I thought it might split open. I kept whispering, “Why?” like it would change something.

But no one answered.

Eventually, my body gave up. The crying turned into little hiccups, then silence. My eyes were swollen. My pillow was soaked. My heart was numb.

I lay there in the same clothes I left the house in, the cold wrapping around my arms like a blanket I didn’t ask for. I stared at the wall for a long time. No thoughts. No plans. Just that empty ache that fills you when you’ve been left behind.

And that’s how I fell asleep.