Page 75 of Begrudgingly Yours
“Our dumbass professor—” he starts to say but a growl emits from his chest. He’s on the verge of freaking out, too. It must have been one tough rehearsal.
“What did he do?” Dax asks, trying to push out his semi-calm cherry scent as much as he can to soothe them.
Jett shakes his head, indicating that he doesn’t even want to repeat it.
“Rory,” I whisper, trying to get her to look at me. “What happened?”
She huffs out a frustrated breath. “He’s just always getting onto me. Every rehearsal, he and Nicole are always teaming up on me, implying that I’m notsoft enoughfor an omega. Notdemure enough. What the fuck do they know? I’m the only omega in the entire class and they’re always mentioning it, like I should be grateful that I’m an omega because it’s the only reason why I’m playing Juliet.”
Dax blanches a bit at the mention of his sister, but doesn’t say anything. He looks over at Jett. “How long has this been going on?”
Jett winces. “The entire time, really. Nicole was always jealous of Rory getting the part, not to mention she’s never really been nice to her from the beginning. But Professor Chapman is another story. He’s just really harsh with his critiques and the way he directs. Unprofessionally so.”
I give him a certain look, one that says‘Why didn’t you say or do anything about this?’
The look he gives back tells me everything.I have, I’ve tried everything.
I meet Rory’s gaze. The angry tears have stopped but her cheeks are still stained from them. It tears something inside of me to see her this troubled.
“When’s your next rehearsal?” I ask.
“Class is on Friday,” she responds. I nod my head, already formulating a plan. She keeps talking before I can say it out loud. “Do you think Stacia would mind if I just went home? I don’t really feel like staying and socializing anymore. I just want my bed.”
Jett leans forward and wipes some of her hair out of herface. “Of course. You know Stacia doesn’t care about that, she only cares about whether or not you’re happy.”
“I agree. We’ll take you home, okay?” I add on.
She gives a weak smile. “Okay,” she says. “Can you guys… stay with me? We can eat instant ramen and watchIt’s Always Sunny.”
“Of course,” I answer, “That sounds perfect, I don’t want to do anything else.”
After Rory explains the situation to Stacia, she’s as understanding as we knew she would be. She practically pushes Rory out of the house herself. We say goodbye to everyone and make our way to Dax’s car.
As I’m driving off, I realize it was a good thing I didn’t have that second beer. Maybe there’s something to that instinct thing after all.
The drama departmentis a lot quieter than I imagined. There’s beautiful things all over the walls, but the light is a bit dreary and there’s no random musical numbers happening in the hallway. High School Musical definitely lied to us.
It’s been two days since Rory and Jett’s rehearsal and I’m surprised I was able to wait this long. Their professor’s office hours are at such an odd time, that I even had to skip my human behavior class—which is my favorite class. The way the brain communicates is fascinating to me. But I’d rather put this to rest as soon as possible, because seeing Rory in pain is unlike anything I’ve experienced in my entire life.
She deserves to be happy, always. Of course, I know that’s not always going to be possible. Toxic positivity is a thing and I definitely don’t want Rory to pretend to be happy whenshe isn’t. But if I can alleviate some of her stress, talk some fear into this unprofessional twit, then that’s what I’ll do.
The door to his office is open when I get there, though I do see the inscription of ‘Professor Charlie Chapman’ on the door, withdrama departmentwritten underneath. I’m happy to be in the right place as a beta with a very obvious toupee and wide set eyes looks up from his desk. He looks bored as he combs over (pun-intended) the paperwork in front of him.
“Can I help you?” he asks when he realizes I’m not a student of his. He looks at me, noticing my Bensen hockey shirt. “Are you in the wrong place, son?”
I squash down the growl that my alpha tries to push out, immediately annoyed by him. “No, I’m in the right place,” I say, flashing a smile as convincingly as I can. “You’re exactly who I wanted to see, Mr. Chapman.”
“Professor,” he corrects me, deadpanned.
Good, I want him just as annoyed as me. If I have to watch my omega as she cries because her professor is a discriminatory asshole, then he better have some discomfort too.
“Professor,” I repeat. “I’m here to talk to you about your unprofessional behavior towards one of your students.”
He blanches. “Excuse me?”
I shut the door of his office and then walk closer to his desk. “Rory Cromwell.”
He looks even more confused than before, but then he gestures towards the seat in front of him. “Please sit.”
