Page 57 of Obsessed with my Temptation

For the next few days, it felt like I was walking on clouds. Travis and I were dating. Or not dating, but going ondates, and it felt a little crazy, a little too good, especially with the giddy feeling I felt knowing that Travis saw me for who I was. That even then, he still wanted to try doing this with me. I felt on top of the world.

My friends noticed the change. Even my parents did, smiling to themselves with narrowed eyes, but thankfully not saying anything just yet.

Was this what a proper infatuation felt like? Because I didn’t know how else to describe this overwhelming feeling in my chest every time I caught sight of him. Every time we snuck out to steal heated kisses, and the way my heart felt about to explode when he called me sweetheart. I thought the feeling would fade with use, but it didn’t. It only made me needier, somehow. Like I couldn’t wait to have his hands on me, for him to be everything I could see or feel.

We were obsessed with each other and it felt amazing.

But of course, my happy pink cloud couldn’t last forever.

“What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Mrs. Kent?” I asked one of my professors as I sat down in her office.

It was a homey space, with warm wooden furniture everywhere and a great window to the college lawn. By all means a lovely place to work.

Also a great place to have a conversation, if it weren’t for the dark turn it took.

“Well, Scott, I’ve called you here to talk about your grades.”

My stomach tightened.

“What about them?”

Mrs. Kent started giving me a long-winded lecture about how some students sometimes got derailed and lost sight of their goals when they reached their sophomore year in college, about the need to keep good and supportive company, and about a lot of other bullshit just to tell me that this was about a B.

A fucking B.

Yes, it had surprised me when I saw the grade on this particular essay, but so what? I was a straight-A student. A B wouldn’t hurt me.

But clearly, she didn’t think the same.

“Well, some professors and I have been talking and we think your lack of focus started when you began keeping some…unfortunate company.”

My heartbeat was beating loudly in my ears when I asked point blank, “What unfortunate company?”

Mrs. Kent blinked at my blunt tone. The Prince was not only popular among students. Professors and the like had always held me in high regard, not to mention held me to the highest standards. Just more pressure I hadn’t needed, but it just was the way it was, right?

Only I hated it. Right in this moment, I hated myself for being this way.

“Well, while you were participating in a charity event—a commendable effort, of course—you were always in the company of Travis Ashford, correct?”

“What about it?” Did I sound defensive? Probably.

Because I felt like it.

“Well, we think he’s a bad influence on you, Scott, and we want you to keep your goals at the forefront of your mind. You’re one of our brightest and finest and we wouldn’t want you to throw all of that away just because of a… temporary unfortunate friendship. It might hurt you for years to come, and you wouldn’t like that, would you?”

A temporary unfortunate friendship.

This was ridiculous. I felt two inches tall, in this bright and cozy office, beingchastisedas a sophomore for getting a B on an essay.

And I was being warned away from Travis.

Shame was rising through my chest and closing up my throat, leaving me speechless and almost dizzy. Helpless as I listened to her start to rant again.

Until I couldn’t anymore.

“I’m sorry, Mrs. Kent, but I don’t think my ‘friendships’ are any of your concern. I’m still a good student and I’m not in danger of failing anything, so I think this is an inappropriate admonishment on your part.”

Because that was what this was, wasn’t it?

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