Debt to the professor

Catherine’s pov “You were just a bet, Catherine… Nothing more.” I don’t breathe. For a second, I actually think I mishear him, because that doesn’t sound like something he would say, not Swizzler, not the same guy who smiles at me after class and leans a little too close when he explains things like I’m the only one in the room worth teaching. I stay behind the marble pillar anyway, I don’t move. I’m standing exactly where I always stand after his seminar ends, tucked just enough out of sight so I can watch him finish talking to his friends before I walk up like it’s casual, like I didn’t wait here the entire time just to see him. My fingers tighten around the strap of my bag, the chocolate is inside… His favorite, the one he mentioned once in passing like it didn’t matter, but I remembered anyway, because I always remember things about him. “Bro, you should’ve seen her face,” he says, and I can picture it without even looking. That stupid smirk he does, the one I thought was cute the first time we met. “She really thought I liked her.” My throat tightens. Someone else snorts. “So you never actually touched her?” Swizzler scoffs. “Hell no!!! You think I’m that desperate?” “Bro, you’re mad,” one of them says, laughing. “I’m serious,” Swizzler replies, and I can hear the grin in his voice, wide and careless. “Have you seen me? I’m literally the sexiest guy in this school.” More laughter erupts. “She was just… easy,” he adds, voice dropping like it’s a secret, like it’s something to be proud of. “Quiet and desperate for attention. I just said what she wanted to hear.” My stomach twists and I swallow hard, blinking fast, but it doesn’t help. My eyes burn anyway, I try to tell myself to move, to just walk away, pretend I never heard it, pretend I don’t exist the way I always do but my feet won’t listen. “And Jasmine?” someone asks. There’s a pause and then a softer laugh. “She’s the one I actually want,” Swizzler says. I don’t know what hurts more. The bet, the words or how easy it is for him to say her name like that. Like she matters and I never did. My chest feels too tight, like something is sitting on it, pressing down harder and harder, and before I can stop myself, I step forward. “Bro.” another voice adds. “Girls line up for you.” “Exactly,” Swizzler says, like it’s obvious, like it’s fact. “Which is why I had to switch things up a bit.” My stomach tightens because I don’t even understand what he means yet, but something about the way he says it makes my fingers curl tighter around my bag. “Switch things up, how?” someone asks. There’s a pause and then , he say it. “That whole Catherine thing? Just a bet.” Everything inside me goes quiet… I blink, maybe I heard wrong again but he keeps talking. “I mean, come on,” he says, his voice dropping into something mocking, something I’ve never heard from him before. “You really think I’d go for that?” Laughter explodes around him. I can’t breathe properly, but I’m still standing there, still listening like I can’t stop myself. “She’s always in those oversized sweaters,” he continues. “Like, does she even own anything else?” More laughter. “And don’t even get me started on her face,” he adds, and I feel something sharp twist deep in my stomach. “All that acne… it’s just a no no no .” Someone whistles. “Guy, you’re wicked.” “I’m just being honest,” Swizzler says, like it’s nothing. “She’s slow too, you talk to her and it’s like everything takes extra seconds to land. I swear, she’s so naive, it’s almost painful.” The group bursts into louder laughter and I hear hands slapping high fives. I feel it like something hitting me over and over again, even though no one has touched me. My fingers loosen and the chocolate slips out of my bag, I don’t even try to catch it… it hits the floor with a soft, dull sound. For a second, I just stare at it, like if I focus on it hard enough, everything else will stop being real. My hands start shaking, I press them against my sides, but it doesn’t help.My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat, in my ears, everywhere. This isn’t real, It can’t be. It has to be a joke or a prank. Maybe his friends don’t know, maybe he’s trying to impress them or maybe he’ll laugh and say, “Relax, I didn’t mean it.” Maybe he’s waiting for me to come out so he can explain…Yeah, that has to be it.I swallow hard and take a step forward before I can stop myself. My legs feel weak, like they don’t belong to me, but I keep moving anyway, stepping out from behind the pillar slowly. No one notices me at first, they’re still laughing. My voice comes out before I can think about it. “Swizzler…” Like it might break if I try to say anything louder. The laughter dies down, they all turn toward me… Every single one of them. The noise doesn’t stop because they feel bad, It stops because they’re surprised because they didn’t expect me to be there. I stand there, frozen, my hands hanging awkwardly at my sides, my glasses slipping slightly down my nose again. I don’t fix them this time, I just look at him. He’s leaning back like he’s completely relaxed like nothing just happened and then I see it… His arm wrapped around her waist, I hadn’t noticed her before but now she’s all I can see. Jasmine!!! She looks… perfect, her makeup is flawless, not a single mark on her skin. Her clothes look expensive, fitted in a way that makes her stand out without even trying and the way she’s standing, the way she leans into him like she belongs there, like she’s always belonged there… Her eyes move over me slowly, from my hair, to my glasses and even to my shoes . Her lips curl into a smirk. “Wow,” she says, her voice sharp and amused. “So this is your little experiment?” She looks back at Swizzler, then at me again. “Seriously?” she adds. “You went through all that stress for this?” She tilts her head slightly, still looking at me like I’m something strange. “God, you look like such a bozo,” she says. “And what is this?” She gestures vaguely at me. “Weirdo vibes everywhere.” The laughter starts again, louder this time because now I’m here. Now I can hear all of it, it’s not just behind my back and they were enjoying this. My eyes move back to him andI focus on him because if anyone can fix this, it’s him and If anyone can say something that makes this make sense, it’s him. I wait, I don’t even realize I’m holding my breath until my lungs start to burn. “Swizzler…” I say again, my voice barely steady. “Is… is this a joke?”