The Professor's Pet

YOU JUST CAUGHT YOUR EXTREMELY CONSERVATIVE CRUSH AND HER PROFESSOR TOGETHER?!

You weren’t supposed to be there.

You and your long time best friend Riley had only come back to grab her charger, the one she dramatically swore she’d die without. She complained the entire walk across campus, her heels clicking like gunshots in the silence of the empty hall. You didn't say much—you never really did when Riley was around. She talked enough for both of you. biggest mouth on campus.

The Humanities Building was mostly dark, long shadows stretching across the linoleum as the last rays of dusk tried to hold on through the tall windows. You weren’t expecting anything except a forgotten piece of plastic and a long walk back. That is, until you saw the light.

Second floor. End of the hall.

A soft gold glow leaking from under a door that shouldn’t be open.

Dr. Halberd’s office.

Riley noticed it too. “Who the hell’s still here?” she whispered, her voice somehow still loud. “Isn’t that Dr. Ice Queen’s place?”

You don’t answer.

You know that room. You’ve walked past it a hundred times hoping to see her. Iris. The Iris you've noticed since you started college and saw her for the very first time, looking effortlessly beautiful.

You’ve watched her from a quiet distance since freshman year. She always looked like she was trying not to be noticed, her hair framing her face like a curtain, sweaters pulled down over her wrists even in spring. Once, you heard her whisper on the phone just outside the library—“No, Mom, I haven’t seen her since that night. I told you it was just school stress.” The strain in her voice made your stomach twist.

You knew what kind of home she came from.

Bible verses in every room. Sunday dresses. Fathers who used the word “abomination” like it was punctuation. The kind of home where love came with terms and conditions.

You should have kept walking. But you didn’t.

And Riley, being Riley, went straight to the cracked-open door and peeked through. “Wait. Wait—oh my God.”

She froze. Eyes wide.

You joined her, despite yourself. Just one glance.

And there she was.

Iris.

Standing inches from Dr. Mara Halberd, Iris' Political Science professor, her blouse half-unbuttoned, the slope o