Debt to the professor

Chapter 3

Catherine’s POV

“I…I’m so sorry, I didn’t…” I barely had the words out before my shoulder slammed into something solid. Pain shot through my chest as I stumbled backward.

My sneakers skidded across the polished tile, papers went everywhere, a laptop tipped over with a loud crack, coffee spilled across my notes.

“Oh my god, oh my god,” I muttered, pressing my hands to the mess, my vision blurred by tears. Fluorescent lights stretched and warped, gray concrete walls melting into a haze. I hadn’t seen him… I couldn’t have.

“Watch where you’re going!” a deep voice said, calm but sharp.

“I…I didn’t see you,” I stammered, my hands shaking as I tried to gather the ruined papers. “I…this… oh god, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean…”

He didn’t let me finish . "You don’t have to be sorry," he said. His voice wasn't loud, but it was deep, vibrating with a cold, controlled authority that made the air in the hallway feel heavy.

I looked up, blinking back tears. He was older…late thirties, maybe and devastatingly handsome in a way that felt dangerous. His dark suit was tailored perfectly to a broad, muscular frame. He didn't look angry, instead he looked like he was calculating.

"You’ll pay for it," he said evenly, his piercing eyes locking onto mine.

"Sir, I... I didn't see you, I was just..." I tried to explain, my hands shaking as I reached for the ruined papers, but his gaze didn't soften. He didn't offer a hand to help me up. He just stood there, watching me crumble.

The panic and the humiliation from the lobby surged back up my throat. I couldn't do this now , I scrambled to my feet, ignored the stinging in my knees, and ran past him. I didn't stop until I reached the safety of my small apartment, slamming the door and sliding down against it until I was a ball on the floor.

My phone buzzed relentlessly in my pocket. It was Sharon. I answered immediately because she was my only friend and the only person I could talk to

"Catherine? Where are you?" Sharon’s voice was frantic the second I picked up. "I’ve been looking for you all over campus. I heard what Swizzler did... are you okay?"

The sound of my friend's voice broke the last of my resolve. I let out a jagged sob. "He humiliated me in front of everyone, Sharon... and he allowed Jasmine to hit me!"

"What did you just say?" Sharon’s tone shifted from worried to murderous. "Jasmine hit you? And what did you do to that b***h?"

"Nothing," I whispered, wiping my nose with my sleeve. "What should I have done?"

"Dammit Catherine!!! I told you I never liked Swizzler," Sharon sighed, her anger simmering into a frustrated pity. "I told you he was using you, but you didn't listen. You’ll be fine, Cat. I’ll see you on campus tomorrow?"

"I don't know... I don't know if I can face the humiliation."

"You better not make them feel like they broke you by avoiding them," Sharon said firmly. "You should be in school because we’re having a replacement teacher for our advanced seminar. Don't let them win."

The call ended too soon and I was alone again, the echoes of her voice lingering in my skull, a lifeline that felt too far away.

I crawled onto my bed, dragging the pillow over my head. I cried until my throat burned, until the tears ran dry. Images flashed in my mind: Swizzler’s smirk, Jasmine’s hand, and then…those eyes. The man in the hallway, cold and dangerous.

I couldn’t get them out of my head. I shouldn’t have even noticed him beyond the crash, but I couldn’t stop. There was something about him, a quiet threat that clawed at me from inside my chest.

Sleep came reluctantly, dragging me down into a restless haze. Even as my eyelids closed, I felt his presence. Even as I drifted, I could see him, the dark eyes burning behind my closed eyelids, the calm menace refusing to release me.

A voice whispered through the haze, low and measured, and it wasn’t a dream.

“You’ll pay for it.”

And even in sleep, I felt the weight of it.