42

My heart was beating rapidly, thinking about all the possibilities if I go and confront Adeline.

Now walking through the front door, just arriving back from university, there's a chance she already told my dad everything.

The house, which usually felt like a refuge, now felt cramped and small.

My eyes darted around as I searched for the person ruining my relationship-- besides me.

My dad was in the dining room, going over some files.

He luckily seemed calm enough which is a good sign. That means Adeline hasn't broken the news to him.

Good.

She's holding up her part of the deal.

I have no idea what dad's reaction will be if he heard I'm literally, romantically, with my professor.

But there's so much on my plate right now.

Daniela and I even have to figure things out.

She thinks it's her fault for the awkward tension between us, but it's my fault.

Despite the chaos in my mind, I tried to act normal, so my dad won't question why I'm acting off.

"Hey, dad." I say casually as I enter the dining room.

He looked up from his files and smiled warmly at me. "Hey, sweetheart. How was the first day back?"

Exhausting.

"It was good."

He raised an eyebrow at my half-lie, but didn't comment. "Just good?" He asked, "Are your classes still doing okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, everything is fine." I said quickly, looking around.

I shifted on my feet awkwardly under his gaze.

I wanted to talk to him more. I wanted to hug him. I needed comfort right now.

He went back to the files while talking. "Have you met Adeline's nephew yet? It was his first day too, but like, his first-first day. He came from Los Angeles."

My jaw clenched. If only he knew."Yeah. I did actually."

"Adeline said you should get to know him. She thinks you two will get along well."

His words came into my left ear and passed straight through the right. "Yeah well, where is she anyways?"

"She's upstairs in our room." He said. "Why? Everything alright?"

I nodded quickly, a bit too fast. "Yeah, I just... need to talk to her. About uh, about something. Love ya.'"

"Love you too, sweetheart." He said, watching me as I quickly turned away.

I sighed.

I can say it to my dad, but why not to Daniela?

I quickly walked out of the dining room before he could ask any more questions.

I rushed upstairs, quickly going to my room to throw down my bags and stuff then out again.

My hands began sweating, already thinking about what I'm going to say.

I'm going to tell my dad! No.

Adeline, you listen to me. You motherfucker... No.

Cameron is too sweet for me, I like bad girls-- I mean badboys! No. Well. Maybe.

Every step towards my dad's room felt heavy. My heart pounding in my chest as I neared the door.

I took a deep breath in and stood in front of it. I loudly bang on the door.

"Adeline!"

There was a pause. "Come in."

Once I open the door, I was met with a half-naked Adeline, pulling up her pants. She was in a red laced bra and red matching panties before she pulled up her jeans.

She had perfect curves, and her abs were more apparent today than last time.

I mean, who wouldn't want a body like that.

She's definitely not afraid to show it off. If anything, she's proud to put her body on display.

She has such defined bones, like her collarbone and V-line. Perfectly tanned too.

Snapping my head back around, a blush spreads across my face. "W-What the fuck!?"

I heard her scoff. "Oh stop being dramatic, it's not like you haven't seen a woman naked before."

"You could have warned me!" I hiss, still trying to keep my eyes on the ceiling as I heard the zip of her jeans.

"Relax, you brat. You're acting like you've never seen boobs before." She said in a mocking tone.

I heard her moving and shuffling around, probably putting her shirt on.

"Have you met Cameron?" She asks.

The question caught me off guard, and I almost forgot the reason why I'm here.

I slowly turned back around, and saw she was now fully clothed.

I didn't know how to answer her question.

My eyes wanted to swell with tears again, but I tried my best to keep my emotions in check. "W-What's it matter to you?" Just something about looking at her face makes me angry.

She let out an amused hum and sat on the bed, staring at me with that devilish look in her eyes.

"So, you did meet him. What do you think of him?" I could tell she was holding back a grin.

She leaned back on the bed's pillar with one arm, crossing her legs over each other.

I point at her, "You didn't mention anything about him coming to NYU!"

"Well, that's because it was a surprise." She said, smiling smugly.

I was speechless, closing the door behind me and stepped further into the room. Once my eyes lands on her, I wanted to shout again. But if I yelled, it wouldn't have helped. If anything, she'd love it. She loved to see me bursting out, losing my temper and get a reaction out of me.

She sat there on the bed with a satisfied grin on that bitchy face of hers.

She was just waiting for me to explode.

"What the hell, you set him up to take Spanish?" I scoff, "How far are you going to take this."

"As far as I need to." She says nonchalantly, as if it's no big deal. "Plus, I can't help that he wanted to take it. He's half Spanish, doll."

I clenched my jaw, and my hands curled into fists.

This woman was truly the devil.

"Stop playing these stupid games!" I snap.

"What is your problem?" She asked, keeping her smug smile. "He's a perfectly nice guy. Handsome, smart, and from a good family. You should be grateful that I'm trying to get the two of you together."

"You're just trying to get me away from Daniela!" I said, using my hands a lot as I talk from frustration, "There's already something going on between us, and I don't need anything more to aggravate it!"

Her smile dropped, and a sarcastic look took over her face. "Oh, is there something going on... tell me?"

I had to look down to cool off, trying to steady my breathing.

And I ignored her question.

"I'm not going behind Daniela's back." I said, more calmly. "I'm not going on a date with him... I'm not getting with him. And I'm certainly not cheating on her."

She let out a cruel laugh. "Wow, you really are naive." I furrow my eyebrows."You think you and her are actually a thing? You're nothing more to her than a child having a silly little crush on their teacher."

"And plus, you won't be cheating on anyone if you call it quits now."

My head snaps upwards at her, the anger returning. "There's no thing such as 'quitting' her!"

"I won't stop seeing her. I can't give up just like that." I continue, my voice wavering. "I don't want to give her up. I won't be able to just... pretend like she doesn't matter to me. I'm not doing it!"

She let out an exaggerated sigh. "Oh, Victoria. I'm not asking you to give up on her. I'm commanding you to give her up."

"Otherwise the entire world will know about your hustle with your professor."

Adeline stood up and walked closer to me. Her smug smile was back as she now stood directly in front of me. I had to crane my neck back to look at her. Her perfume stung my nose, my expression almost faltering from her sharp gaze.

"End it or I'll end her career and your reputation." She whispered coldly.

A chill went down my spine.

It's been a few days later, and I learned that there's basically a psychopath living with my dad and I.

Each day Adeline will give me warning eyes before I left for university.

I can't even tell dad, because then Adeline will fire back with everything she knows about me and Daniela.

I've been thinking about it a lot.

Adeline's not rushing anything. She's trusting the process because sooner or later, Cameron will grow so attached to me, he'll ask me out.

She thinks I'll have mutual feelings towards him, but I won't.

Even if I don't, she'll force me into being with him.

Sooner or later, Daniela's going to burst.

Even though we're going through a rough patch, I still try my best to win against Adeline.

I try to persuade her to back off, but her heart is as cold as ice. I try to get away from Cameron, but unfortunately, he's been hanging out with us.

Eleanor and Iris really enjoys his company. So how do I break the news to them that he has to leave.

I can't.

Adeline will do a check-up on Cameron then he'd say we're not talking anymore.

Then she'd strike.

Besides that, I guess Daniela's been talking to me more-- thankfully something better.

I mean, a simple 'hi' is a lot more.

Cameron's also starting to crawl on her skin, but also mine. Literally. He's becoming very touchy lately. Always giving me hugs or trying his best to stand close to me.

The poor guy really likes me, but he doesn't even know he's being set up by his own family member.

We were now in Spanish class, and like every day if we have Spanish, Daniela puts Cameron at the back of the class and away from me.

Can't be more happier about that.

I was following on the board as Daniela wrote and taught her class like what every professor does. But each time, I do find myself getting lost in her eyes when she looks out to the class. Whenever she could get the chance, she'd sneak a glance at me.

Like now, as she stood at the front, speaking to us, my eyes was stuck on her.

I couldn't look away.

That beautiful woman right there told me she loves me, and I didn't say it back.

I'm going to hurt her even more under Adeline's control and with Cameron by my side.

I wish I could give her a warning, but Adeline warned me not to.

If I did, she'd know.

I jumped out of my thoughts as a paper hit my back. I frowned, tilting my head over my shoulder to look behind me.

There Cameron sat with his usual smile, staring at me.

I really feel bad for him too.

He nods towards me and then pointed at the paper ball scrunched up on the floor.

I reach down and picked it up.

Iris next to me nudged my side, gesturing to the paper in my hands, confusion written all over her face. I shrug, then looked around if anyone else saw.

My eyes fell on Daniela, leaning in front of her desk. Her eyes burned through my soul, and then looked at the paper in my hands that Cameron threw. She looked at him, then at me.

Shit she saw.

Shyly, I look away.

I did want to open it and read what's inside, but if I do, Daniela would come over and take it right out of my hands.

What if he finally made a move, wanting to ask me out?

If Daniela sees that, Adeline officially won and broke her for the millionth time.

So, I pretend to scrunch the paper ball even more up and bury it in my pocket like trash.

Hope Cameron didn't see that.

I looked back at Daniela and saw her sigh. Relief flushed over her and she walked around to her desk, sitting down.

And like my wishes came true, it was only a few seconds later when class ended.

I leaned closer to Iris as we both packed up. "Hey, I'm going to go talk to her again." I said quietly so that nobody else hears.

Iris look up at me, putting her books in her bag. "Alright. I'm catching Carol at the coffee shop on campus."

I wanted to nod before I frown confusingly and a tiny smirk on my face. "Carol?" I bit my bottom lip, hiding my grin.

Iris smiled as if she's been caught. "Okay, okay, you were right. She's not like the other pretty blondies, okay? She's... not that bad."

I giggle as we both stood up from our seats.

My eyes automatically land on Daniela, catching her staring at me. That didn't make her look away, and her gaze even got more intense.

My heart skipped a beat.

Then I heard footsteps behind me, and as I turned around, Cameron was standing right there.

"Hey girls." He sent his sweet smile. "Are we going to get something to munch on?" He asked, looking between us.

He didn't hesitate to stand directly next to me.

Iris looked at me, knowing I had other plans with a certain someone. So, she covered for me, swinging an arm around Cameron's shoulder. They always do it, swinging an arm over each other's shoulders. It's a way I know Iris feels comfortable around him.

Iris began dragging him away and I could hear her talk to him about joining Carol and her for a coffee.

I stood there and watch them disappear out the door and close it shut before I slowly turn my head back to look at Daniela.

It was just her and I as we stare each other, nobody else in the class.

The longer I stared back, the clearer I saw the dark circles under eyes.

She obviously knew that I wanted to talk, waiting patiently with her one leg crossed over the other.

First grabbing enough courage, I walk to stand in front of her desk.

She raised her eyebrow at me.

I sighed, leaning forward towards her until my lips were next to her face.

"I miss you." I whisper shakily.

I pressed my lips against her cheek softly, and she didn't pull away. Instead I physically felt her shoulders relax against mine.

My eyes closed as I felt her soft skin while my lips linger there for a couple more seconds.

When I pulled away, her hand met the collar of my shirt.

Then before I know it, she pulled me and smash her lips against mine.

I immediately closed my eyes and leaned into her.

She pulled me closer and forced me to crawl over her desk towards her.

My backpack slipped off me.

I was now on my knees on her desk, my arms wrapped around her neck, and hers found my waist, holding me steady.

The kiss was a release of all our emotions, all the tension from the past few days. All my concerns and worries melted away under her touch, and it was enough to make me forget everything else but her.

A soft moan escaped from my lips, and she swallowed it.

She listened as my breathing became unsteady and pulled back, giving time for me and herself to catch some fresh air.

I could feel her warm breath against my lips, and she probably felt mine too.

Her eyes moved to the door.

I also turned back to it and huffed out a breath. I visualized Cameron and Iris walking out like they did earlier. Her wink stayed in my mind, and I knew she did something to the door to make it stuck, locked even.

"It's locked." I said breathlessly, turning back to her. "Trust me."

She looked back at me.

"We need to talk." She said, like her breathing magically came back in seconds.

I wanted to run away at those words, but knew we needed to sort this out. So, trying to be responsible like her, I nodded. I sat back on her desk, arms falling off each other. But her hands returned on my thighs as I swung it over the edge, hitting her knee with my leg.

It was odd how quickly she switched back from being soft and gentle to serious. It was almost chilling, but I understood how important the conversation was.

I looked into her eyes, seeing all the hurt that I caused in them.

Her hands gripped at my thighs tighter. "What do you want, Victoria."

Her voice sounded cold, emotionless.

I bit my bottom lip nervously and looked away. "Whatever you want." My eyes met hers again that suddenly darkened.

"No. I asked what you want. Not what I want."

My words got stuck in my throat, feeling a bit intimidated.

So, she spoke for me.

I frowned as she reached into my pocket, but then she got out the paper ball Cameron threw at me. My heart started beating, and I closed my eyes, mentally cussing myself.

"Will whatever's written in here determined how you feel?" She asked, her, one hand still on my thigh like she's scared to let go.

Her other hand scrunched the paper ball up even more.

I opened my eyes and stared at the paper ball, and my concerns came back.

"No." I said, really hoping Cameron didn't say something stupid in the folded up note.

Daniela looked deeply in my eyes like she was searching for the regret, fear, guilt, shame, and all the other emotions in my eyes.

She used the paper ball like a stress ball, hesitating.

Then she sighed and turned to her trashcan all the way in the corner. Just like that, she threw it, and it landed inside.

She turned to me slowly.

"Then I trust you." She looked at me, and I knew she was trying to push whatever emotions she still felt, away.

I stared at her blankly, my heart sinking.

She says she trusts me after everything I done. But still has to be done in order to protect our reputations, and she doesn't even know about Adeline's plan.

Her other hand joined on my thigh again.

"I'm sorry for saying what I said at the beach." She said, her voice quiet, but hurt, "I shouldn't have said it, and... I'm sorry."

I admired her.

How can she be so mature?

Her apologizing made my heart ache even more, and my lips part, wanting to speak, but I didn't have words.

She lets go of my legs and stood up.

She placed a kiss on my head. "I should've taken it slower with you." She mumbled against my hair and my jaw dropped.

She gave me a weak smile, taking her coffee in her hand and some other stuff. I looked down at the coffee cup she had. It was our coffee we sell at the café. I didn't know she still comes to visit us, but knowing she still does, my heart fluttered.

"I'll be in my office going through some assignments if you need me." She said before moving away.

I sat there, not moving a muscle.

She was struggling to open the door, but with one hard tug, she opened it. I looked over my shoulder and saw her leave.

Iris' hairclip was on the floor.

And I sighed, a bit impressed with the way she lockpicked the door into literally locking.

Then my eyes wander to the trashcan.

I immediately jump off her desk and run towards it. I fell to my knees, starting to dig around until I found the scrunched up ball.

I open it, and read what Cameron wrote.

"Help, I'm struggling with question 1.10, 1.11, 1.12, 1.13."

He drew a sad face next to it.