Affair with my professor

Brunch invitation

“You are hereby invited to the brunch party at the Zeta house. Do note the colors are lavender, rose, or pink.” The note was short and simple.

“Tatum,” I whispered to myself. How I never told you all how my meeting with Tatum went on the night of the welcome party. Let’s do a little rewind.

**Three weeks ago**

After our little introduction, I was curious about what she had to say. She moved away from the girls she was standing with and came all the way to my side to pick up a treat from the table behind me. She chewed on it before sighing out loud. I stayed still.

“I remember my freshman man welcome party. I stood around like some prude,” she scoffed.

“I could sense that you are a senior. It makes me wonder what you're doing here. I'm sure it has to do with us 18-year-old sluts.”

She glanced at me with a smile on her lips, almost as if she deciphered the pun in my tone.

“Yeah… It's embarrassing. Would you believe I came here for a guy?”

“Now I didn't expect that from a girl who looks like you.”

Her eyes widened, stunned at my judgment,

“Clearly, I mean you're too charming to be hung over by some guy. It's rookie behavior.”

“Believe me, I didn't expect I would be hanging over some guy too, but it's my boyfriend. We have an important matter to debate. Here I am, waiting.”

She sighed even louder and took a sip of her wine, which made me wonder where the wine came from. All I could see were exposed kegs and cans of beer.

“I can understand,” I nodded and sipped my beer too.

She took another good look at me, this time examining me further, which made me uneasy. I must say Tatum is a little difficult to read. Her blue eyes were inaudible, I could read people, but her composure seemed coy, so I did what I could, to depend on her words.

“What are your prospects?” she asked.

“Prospects? I'm confused, You mean majors? I'm taking romance literature,” I answered naively.

She laughed. “No, Barbie, I mean sorority. Don't tell me you came all this way just to study or be unrecognized…” Her words lingered, and so did her eyes over my dress. I could tell this time she was impressed by it. Thank God Anne lent me this dress otherwise, I would have been humiliated in this moment.

“Well, I don't know about sorority. I'm taking things one step at a time.”

“Understandable, but education isn't everything. Social life helps to balance it out, and that's what we are in Zeta, at least I try to keep it that way during my tenure.” She sipped her wine again, this time emptying her glass.

“Zeta? I've heard news about them since I arrived on campus. A prestigious sorority. It must be wonderful being its president.”

“Don't believe everything you hear, but that’s true in this case.”

Soon after, a group of girls called out, invading our conversation mid-way. “

“It seems my party has arrived” she said

I felt annoyed but concealed it with a fake smile,

“Oh that's good” Part of me wanted to continue our conversation. I felt like I needed to figure her out. Sometimes her tone was kind, other times unfazed.

“I gotta run, but you should come by sometime, Mia.”

**Present day**

I stood at the entrance to the Zeta house as the cab I took drove off behind me. NYU is a big campus, and we couldn't walk everywhere, especially in these shoes I had on, so I just spent my dinner money on a cab here.

A big duplex sat in front of a beautiful lawn where I could see the guests and get a glimpse of the Zeta girls. They were all what I expected, fake blondes, skinny bodies, sharp face contours, what we would describe as modern-day influencers. I approached the host who checked the invitations, and at one look at me, her eyes rolled.

“Servers go through the back door,” her fake baby voice cackled. I wasn't surprised. I've dealt with bitches like this all my life.

“I would assume servers don't arrive with invitations either.” A mocking smile crept on one side of my cheek as I handed her my invitation.

The cocky expression on her face would suggest that she didn't expect I’d snap back.

“Humm” she sneered.

Tensions rose as she examined it. The invite was undeniable, but then she smirked at this point my confidence began to wear out.

"Freshmen aren't allowed in here, whoever that gave you this didn't tell you that? And I know you are a freshman because a real Zeta fan would know that lavender is code for violet, and here you are wearing lavender…please leave,” she snapped.

I started to feel shame. This event was so exclusive and elegant, and a few started to stare. Not long after, two girls approached, all with disgust on their faces.

“Did you steal that?” one said.

“No, I got it from Tatum.”

They all burst out laughing. I was so confused at this point.

“Tatum? Our president Tatum offered you an invitation?”

One approached me, closing the gap between us. “f**k off, freshman, or I will do it for you.”

I was speechless. I felt numb. I haven't been humiliated like this in a long time. I turned away to leave with my dignity, and at that moment I caught sight of her, a figure on the balcony. It was her, Tatum, watching me get humiliated by her minions, and she did nothing. It almost looked like she enjoyed it. I was even more confused, so I walked away as fast as I could.

While I was in the cab on my way home, my phone glowed. A message came in from an unknown number. The message piqued my interest,

“Would you like to go out for dinner?”