Page 45 of See Me After Class

She was like a train in the dead of the night, fleeting and powerful, cutting through my world with the precision of steel on steel. I realized there was much more to Dr. Davenport than the couture and the horrendously purple car.

My gut twisted, contorted by longing and the stark clang of those fucking bells. She was every cautionary tale made flesh, and if I wasn't careful, she would lead me to my ruin.

"Leave, Dr. Davenport."

Our eyes met another time.

Twin tunnels,I thought as I gazed into all that gray,leading into an abyss.

She nodded and slowly turned to walk to the door.

"Dr. Davenport?"

She paused. "Sir?"

"I don't want you seeing Leon Vincenzo."

The door shut with a soft thud as she left me to my thoughts.

Who are you, Dr. Davenport? What have you done to me?

17

Dessie

Istepped out of what had possibly been the most shameful encounter of my whole life and scurried to my room. As soon as I crossed the threshold, I dropped down on my threadbare bed and wrapped a beige stole around my shoulders. I was cold all over, like I'd just fallen into a massive bucket of ice water.

How had I enjoyed being humiliated this much? What the hell?

He had… he had literally ordered me to stay away from Leon. Normally, I would counter that. Today, I listened to him like a meek student and made a run for it.

My phone buzzed insistently. I sighed at the name on the screen before answering.

"Hello."

"How is my favorite detective?" The voice on the other end was slightly muffled, like it had just been warmed with a dose of expensive whiskey.

I stifled the smile rising to my lips. I had a lot to worry about. I focused my attention on the lectern at the other end of the room. Standing about waist-high, it was a comfortable little unit with a raised lip to prevent papers from sliding off. The stand was supported by a single, solid column branching into a stable, four-footed base with simple legs, splayed slightly for balance.

The sight of that slight curvature brought back thoughts of what I'd just done, bent over and splayed for Dr. Galbraith to fuck me. I blushed furiously.

"Dessie?" the voice asked tentatively. "Are you okay?"

Walking over to the lectern, I plugged in the cord for a string of fairy lights I'd found from one of my jaunts with Oswald. Each light, no bigger than a dime, was shaped like a tiny parachute, its translucent fabric catching and refracting the light like a miniature stained glass window. As I pressed the switch, the room, once shrouded in the bleakness of bare fluorescent bulbs, transformed.

A warm golden glow bloomed from each miniature lantern, cascading down the lectern in a gentle waterfall of light. The shoddy wallpaper, its once-vibrant colors now faded and peeling, seemed to come alive, bathed in the soft, golden aura.

The air itself felt lighter, imbued with a magic that had been dormant within the room's walls, waiting to be awakened. In that moment, the room wasn't just a place to speak but a sanctuary, a haven illuminated by a thousand tiny stars, and I had something close to Oswald returned to me.

A lump formed in my throat as I finally answered. "I'm messing things up, Hartley. I thought I was strong, but the people here…"

"They're two steps ahead?" he offered nonchalantly.

I choked back a resigned laugh. "You could say that."

"How are you coping?" he asked gently.

The empathetic undertone of his voice was the last straw. "Well…" I sniffled, looking around for a handkerchief I could use to wipe my nose. "My life is officially the stuff of missteps, the kind that could make even a sitcom writer cringe. Ever since I've set foot in thisdelightfulinstitute, my knack for turning situations into a chaotic mess has grown ten times more impressive."

---