Professor's Little Muse

Episode 3: Not A Woman

Ava Brooks

I woke up alone and sat in the huge hotel suite that I could afford if my parents hadn't cut me off from their lives. My entire body hummed with satisfaction from what happened last night.

I looked around, and the stranger from last night had left. I sighed under my breath and picked up my phone from the nightstand... What did I expect? To bond with a complete stranger just because he made me experience five orgasms in one night? Liam had barely managed to get me wet, by the way.

My phone rang in my hand, and the caller ID showed it was Mia, my coworker from the coffee shop, and also a student but in a different department from me.

"Why is your name and face all over the campus blog? You broke up with Liam Nourish? The Liam Nourish?" She didn't even let me speak before screaming into my ears. "Are you okay in the head? And to think you cheated on him?"

That was the statement that piqued my interest immediately.

"No, he cheated on me with Luna. The Dean's daughter. He cheated first." I corrected her immediately as I sat up on the bed. I hated that I had to return to my reality after a satisfying night. Thinking of Liam cheating didn't hurt that much anymore, and I could only wish that I had more of this experience.

"What the hell are you saying?" Mia wasn't convinced. "It's everywhere. With pictures and videos that have been put up. You were with a man last night. You've been having s*x with strangers for money."

"Wait, hold up!"

I checked the time on my phone and realised I was going to be late for classes today, but what I was hearing meant that Luna had changed the narratives. What pictures videos did they have? Was last night part of Luna's plan to break me and paint me as the terrible person.

"Can you repeat what you just said?" My heart began racing at the thought of everything that happened yesterday between the stranger and me, being out in public.

I don't think I'd be able to show my face again if that was the case.

"It's all there, Ava. You sent him the pictures and videos. He called you a lot of times but you never picked up." She continued. "Your best friend streamed everything live on the campus blog. Liam was broken last night the more he called, expecting a response from you while you kept sending pictures of that man's hands and back."

"Did they have a video of me actively having, uh, s*x, with this said stranger?"

That was all I wanted to know. I didn't care about any other thing again. I knew that Luna would do something worse, but I didn't expect Liam to stoop so low and join her in her games.

"Uh... No? Is there a video of that too?" Mia sounded cautious.

"No, Mia." I finally had the courage to respond, relieved that none of that had happened. "Liam has been cheating on me with Luna for a long time now, and I only found out yesterday. I think they are just changing the narrative to make me the bad person."

"Well..." Mia's voice was small. "I'll advise you not to step into school today."

"Why?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Just don't."

*

I came to school anyway. I received an email from the school, and I didn't have any other choice.

Dear Ms. Brooks — please be advised that due to your current academic standing, the Art Department has arranged supplementary sessions with the incoming faculty instructor for the Advanced Studio practicum. These sessions are mandatory and will begin Monday. Failure to attend will result in a formal academic review.

My grades were already slipping, and it was all because I was giving up my whole life to make Liam comfortable. My scholarship was currently at a big risk if this continued. Not anymore. I was broken, but I wasn't going to let him or anyone else see the extent of the wreckage he had brought on my emotional and mental health.

I donned the only fashion glasses I could afford and made sure my clothes were properly put together, unlike before where I threw on anything I could find. And I found out why Mia said I shouldn't come to school today.

"That's her. That's Ava Brooks."

"Look at the way she's strutting around campus after cheating on Liam."

"You needed to see how broken he was."

"Broken? He cried in pains seeing her with another man."

"And to think she purposely sent the videos and pictures to him to break him."

"She's a manipulative psychopathic b***h. Just look at her."

"She doesn't even deserve to be walking amongst us."

Everywhere I went, insults were thrown at me until it became something that turned violent. And it was proudly headed by Luna who was approaching me with a crowd forming behind her.

"You've got guts, you know." She began as she made her way towards me, but I wasn't even in the mood for this. I needed to go see my new art instructor so she could sign my papers and we could begin immediately.

"I don't have time for this Luna. You wanted Liam, you can have him all to yourself." I said it proudly despite the hurt that encased my heart. "You love ending up with things at the bottom of the trash, so enjoy being there."

A triumphant smirk filled my face when I saw her expression twist. The crowd behind her gasped at my words, and I took that as my chance to say my truth.

"Well, if you all want to know why I sent those pictures to Liam yesterday, ask Luna." I pointed directly at her. "She f****d him in secret for a long time, and now she's not even proud enough to stand beside him and claim him as hers now because we both know he's trash. " I was going to taint both of their images and make everyone doubt them. "I only found out yesterday, and I went to get f****d too. Is that a crime?"

"You're a lying b***h!" Luna yelled and swung her hand forward. "You—" She turned to everyone who had crowded behind her. "Are you going to side with this lowlife b***h? Didn't you watch the livestream yesterday? Did Liam look like someone who cheated?" She then turned to me, eyes blazing. "Do you think that one can fake that level of emotion for a woman who he never loved?"

The crowd began to roar in agreement, and I was too slow to react when something hard hit my forehead and splashed all around my glasses and shirts. Eggs. They were all pelting raw eggs on me.

Mia came up behind me and grabbed my shoulders, badly dodging the eggs that came flying towards us.

"Are you going to stand there or are you going to get inside the building?" She was dragging me away as she spoke. "They wouldn't dare enter the building with us."

And she was right. They didn't follow as we stepped into the hallways. Students wrinkled their noses as we passed by.

"You need a new change of clothes, Ava, but we can't go back out there. And my clothes wouldn't even fit." Mia looked disturbed.

"Why did you save me? I thought you believed what Luna said..."

"I've seen enough in this world to believe a b***h like her." Mia carefully guided me to the nearest restroom. "For now you need to clean this mess up for class."

"I don't have classes today." I told her as I stared at myself in the huge bathroom mirrors. "I need to meet the new arts instructor to get my schedule signed by her. Do you think she would mind me coming in like this? A woman would surely understand, right?"

Mia pursed her lips in a bid to disagree. "Yeah, it's not that bad." Even though her expression said otherwise. "A woman would surely understand."

But it wasn't a woman's face that came into view when I opened the door to the instructor's office. I don't think I was prepared, in any way, to meet the stranger from last night.