© Christina Hadfield
SENIOR YEAR
Tess was a bit anxious about getting back to campus at the start of the school year. And yes, maybe part of that had to do with the fact that it had been over a month since she’d last gotten laid… last slept with Dr. Morgan, but a greater part of her anxiousness came from a text she got from Kai just a few days earlier. It said, ‘When are you getting back to campus? We need to talk. I’ve heard some rumors.’ And then Kai refused to elaborate over text.
Elle was already in the apartment and moved in when Tess got there, so they spent some time unpacking together, grabbed dinner off campus, and waited until Kai finally knocked on the door. Kai was an RA again, had been on campus for the past two weeks and assisted with Freshmen move in, already excited about the new baby bio students. After Kai dove into their leftovers, Tess demanded she spill.
“What are these rumors you’re talking about?” Tess questioned. “If there’s major tea happening on campus, I want to hear about it.”
“Yeah, me too,” Elle answered, always one for big gossip.
“Yes, there’s tea on campus and it’s about you, Tess!” Kai answered.
“Me?” Tess questioned.
“Yes, you! I’ve helped at Freshmen move in now three years in a row, including our own move in, and every year it’s the same old gossip: go to office hours, take care of yourself, the library is actually a really great resource, oh, and don’t run into Dr. Morgan because she’ll murder you.”
“Typical,” Elle declared.
“And this year all of the gossip was the same… except for the last little bit.”
“Wait, what are they saying about Dr. Morgan now?” Tess asked.
“She’s striking,” Kai stressed. “Snappish and hostile but alluring, and actually somewhat approachable because she’s sleeping with a student!”
“Oh my god!” Elle gasped with a slight laugh.
Tess reddened in the face and shrugged, feigning disinterest. “Okay, look, I know it’s true, but they don’t have proof! It’s just a dumb rumor!”
“Oh, I didn’t tell you the best part,” Kai continued. “Want to know who Dr. Morgan is sleeping with? Just some girl named Tess Stanford. I heard she’s actually pretty cool, a TA for intro bio—you should really take Dr. Kemper’s and Dr. Marlow’s class, they’re the best—and Tess is totally the coolest TA.”
Elle howled with laughter. “Are they really saying that!?”
“Yes!” Kai exclaimed. “I don’t know who found out and started telling people, but there are hordes of freshmen—for one, fighting to switch into Dr. Kemper’s and Dr. Marlow’s baby bio section—but two, dying to meet Tess and finally see this sexy evil goddess that runs the bio-chem department!”
“Oh my god, this is a nightmare!” Tess gasped.
It wasn’t exactly a nightmare. Professors that heard the rumor just pushed it aside, figuring it couldn’t possibly be true and was also just a weird infatuation of that year. And students, graciously, for the most part, didn’t make a spectacle out of things. There was, however, a horrendous round of applause—with whooping and hollering—when Tess simply introduced herself the first day of baby bio class, and after class on the first day was a bit weird too.
Several freshmen ran up to introduce themselves to Tess and casually inquire about how intro chem lab was going to be. Outside, walking down the paths the first day of the semester, several sophomores and juniors ran up to Tess and gave her a fist bump or a cryptic wink. But after the first day, things calmed down—for Tess, at least.
Tess fought to shove open Dr. Morgan’s office door, but found it was locked. After furiously struggling with it, Dr. Morgan graciously opened the door.
“Everybody knows!” Tess exclaimed, bursting into Dr. Morgan’s office, shoving Dr. Morgan aside. She fell back on the couch, holding her head.
“Good to see you too, welcome back,” Dr. Morgan stated sarcastically.
“They think it’s true, haven’t got proof, so I’ve just been playing dumb, but it is true, and everyone knows!”
“Yes, I’m aware,” Dr. Morgan stated. “I had several freshmen run up to me and try to introduce themselves to me! The gall! Had to nip that right in the bud. Got a few of them to cry, but I will admit they’re a bit more resilient than previous years. Oh, and look at this atrocity Amy forwarded to me this morning!”
Tess reached out, taking Dr. Morgan’s offered phone. She looked down at the social media app, frowning, until she realized it was a student created fan-page for students secretly admiring Dr. Morgan. Tess read a few anonymous admissions, which seemed tame enough, things like, ‘Her eyes are so mysterious… I always found myself wondering about them,’ and ‘She’s dark and alluring… always secretly enjoyed her strictness.’ But then, Tess read, ‘I want her to bend me over her desk and choke me while she fucks me,’ and Tess practically threw the phone back at Dr. Morgan.
“I reported the page to the dean, obviously,” Dr. Morgan continued. “It’ll be down by this afternoon, but I thought I’d show you while I could.”
“That’s disgusting!” Tess huffed. “I can’t believe they would just… would just objectify you like that!”
“I have to admit I’m rather not used to all this attention… Hence why my door was locked. I’m willing to bet it will die down though, especially after the freshmen see how I really am.”
Tess glanced over to Dr. Morgan smiling softly. “You mean how you’re a big sweetie who likes to cuddle?”
“No!” Dr. Morgan snapped. “You’re not helping this predicament!”
Tess smirked, stretching out her arms. Her smile only grew when, after a sigh and a roll of her eyes, Dr. Morgan came over to her and slid down on the couch, pulling Tess into her lap. Tess reached up and ran her hand along the other woman’s jaw before she slowly pressed up, capturing the professor’s lips in a tender kiss. When she pulled back, she didn’t miss the rosy tint to Dr. Morgan’s cheeks.
“Are, um, you still free Fridays?” Dr. Morgan questioned.
“Always,” Tess answered, “and some Saturdays, if…?”
“Some Saturdays would be… agreeable.”
“Fantastic.”
Tess knocked lightly on Dr. Kemper’s lab door. “Dr. Kemper?” she called into the room, glancing around. “You, um, you said you wanted to meet with me?”
Dr. Kemper came out from around the back corner of the room where a conference table was set up. “Tess, fantastic! I’m glad you could make it!” She turned back behind her before saying, “Jessica? Would you mind giving us a few minutes?”
The graduate student who worked in Dr. Kemper’s lab—Jessica—got up from the table where she was working and nodded. “Of course. I need to run some copies anyway and I wouldn’t mind grabbing some lunch.” She smiled at Tess as she left.
Tess walked into the room, the door automatically shutting behind her. When she rounded the corner, she noted that Dr. Marlow was sitting at the meeting table as well. Tess frowned slightly, wondering what could be happening. She didn’t think the two professors would fire her—she thought they had a good working relationship and she thought she was a good, rather great, TA—but the thought hit her regardless. She sat down across from Dr. Marlow, a bit hesitantly, and Dr. Kemper sat between them at the corner of the table, so they were all rather close.
“I’m afraid this is going to be a bit awkward,” Dr. Kemper muttered. “Kathy and I have tried to plan out what we want to say, but nothing we could come up with wasn’t awkward. We weren’t even going to bring it up to you—unless it came up naturally—but we’ve been hearing some peculiar things pass around this year’s freshmen class and well… we thought we probably ought to talk with you about it.”
Tess bit her tongue and swallowed hard.
“You aren’t in any trouble!” Dr. Marlow quickly spoke up, noting the paling tone of the girl’s face. “Nothing about any of this changes how we see you or how we feel about you. We still care greatly about you which is why we felt the need to talk to you. And you’re an amazing TA, now and always.”
Tess nodded, letting out a slow breath she didn’t realize she was holding.
“It’s about, um, we’ll you’ve probably heard the rumors,” Dr. Kemper stated. “It’s the um, well it’s the… the…”
“What Dr. Kemper is trying to say is that some of the freshmen have been mentioning that you and um… well that you’ve been…” Dr. Marlow stuttered after.
Tess, though uncomfortable, took pity on the professors. “That Dr. Morgan is sleeping with a student, right? And that student is me?”
Dr. Marlow and Dr. Kemper nodded.
“It’s um… it’s crazy what stuff gets thought up and passed around, right?” Tess shrugged, laughing slightly. “I mean, who would have started that, right? Super weird! But trust me, I’m playing it off best I can, and it absolutely won’t affect my working with the students, and well, if it does start to cause problems, I will let the both of you know immediately.”
Dr. Marlow cringed slightly as Dr. Kemper said, with a calm and even tone, “Tess, we know it’s true.”
“Wha—what?” Tess stuttered.
“We know you’re sleeping with Margaret,” Dr. Kemper continued. “I suspected something was going on between you two because I saw you leaving campus together a few times, but well, it was confirmed last semester when I saw you two kissing in the boardroom.”
“Oh… god…” Tess muttered. She buried her face in her hands, completely embarrassed.
“We talked to Margaret about it, or rather, confronted her,” Dr. Marlow added. “She confirmed our suspicions, explained what was really happening. We weren’t going to say anything to you about it, unless you brought it up, but then, well…”
“The rumors are a bit… intense,” Dr. Kemper explained. “I suspect it’ll die down as the semester continues, but with so much getting passed around and being said, we just figured maybe we ought to tell you that we know…”
“I… am so sorry,” Tess barked out, peering out at the two women from around her fingers.
“Why are you apologizing?” Dr. Marlow asked with a concerned frown.
“I… I don’t know. I just really admire you guys, look up to you, and for you to know about… and I just…”
“Heavens, you needn’t be embarrassed,” Dr. Kemper declared. “We’ve heard all sorts of things about Kai and her boyfriend, heck, met him at our last game night. You’re all in college, relationships happen, it’s entirely natural. You have perhaps interesting taste but—”
“Debbie!” Dr. Marlow gasped.
“You’ve really made an impact in Margaret’s life,” Dr. Kemper rectified. “If you think she was bad your freshman year, she was even more impossible before then. But now, we actually get things accomplished at our department meetings and you know what, she sometimes even says ‘good morning’ to us, which four years ago, I would have thought impossible.”
Tess nibbled at her fingernail as she thought and found she couldn’t help but smile. “She’s got a nasty temper and she’s kind of grouchy,” Tess admitted with a slight laugh, “but she’s actually really sweet once you get to know her.”
Dr. Marlow nodded. “We’ve realized we’ve let our bitterness get in the way… treated her with equal distaste and forgot that she was a person just like us, with her own feelings. I hope our own relationship with Margaret will improve as well.”
“That’s all we wanted to discuss with you,” Dr. Kemper concluded. “If you want to talk more, you’re free to stay, but we don’t want to keep you.”
“Yeah, I um, I’ve got a pretty big homework assignment to work on, so I think I’ll get going but…” Tess stopped and just looked at her professors. “Thanks for being cool about this.”
“Of course, Tess. We just want to see you happy and she does seem to put a smile on your face.”
Tess grinned even bigger at that. “Alright, I’ll see you two later.”
“Oh, and Tess?” Dr. Kemper called. “No more slipping out of our TA meetings early to meet with her.”
Tess blushed profusely as she slammed the lab door behind her.
Once Tess was gone, Dr. Marlow and Dr. Kemper just looked at each other. After a hesitant minute, Dr. Marlow questioned, “Are they really just casually sleeping together? Because—maybe it was just me—but there seemed to be something going on with Tess that read the exact opposite of casual.”
“I think there’s definitely something more happening here than just sex, yes,” Dr. Kemper answered. “Margaret’s realized her feelings. The question is, will Tess?”
“I really hope things work out because could you imagine if Tess just graduated and cut ties? And we thought Dr. Morgan was bad before…”
“Yeah… I hope for our sake they work things out…”
“Where are you headed?”
Dr. Morgan looked to her side, noting that Dr. Kemper was trailing after her. “None of your business,” Dr. Morgan answered. She shifted the box she was carrying in her arms.
“Here, let me help you with that,” Dr. Marlow said, suddenly appearing on the other side of Dr. Morgan.
“What is this?” Dr. Morgan questioned as the box was pulled from her arms. “You’re picking up bad habits from your TA.”
“We’re heading out. If you are too, we could walk together,” Dr. Kemper answered.
“And help you with this box. It’s a bit awkward to carry, huh?” Dr. Marlow added.
“I don’t need help,” Dr. Morgan replied, though she didn’t fight to grab the box back from Dr. Marlow. “If you must know, though, I’m going to the English building.”
“Why?” Dr. Kemper gawked.
Dr. Morgan glared at her.
“Okay, fine, keep your secrets!”
The three professors headed across campus. Dr. Morgan was very aware of the looks they were getting. Students still parted from her, but then they stopped and looked, eyes wide. Dr. Morgan was walking with two of the most lovable biology professors! And they seemed friendly, a willing exchange! Students whispered to each other and Dr. Morgan scowled.
“We have lunch with our TA’s the first Monday of every week. We usually just meet somewhere on campus, or someplace close. You’re welcome to join us next week if you’d like,” Dr. Marlow offered.
“I’d rather die,” Dr. Morgan huffed.
“Figured you wouldn’t be too inclined, especially to a friendly meeting on campus,” Dr. Kemper stated. “We’ve decided to meet at Fazoli’s off campus next week though, so there wouldn’t even be other students around to see. Plus, Tess will be there.”
“So?”
“You like her.”
“Deniable.”
Dr. Kemper rolled her eyes. “Just think about it, then.”
“Dr. Morgan!”
“Oh, speak of the devil,” Dr. Kemper stated with smirk.
“Hurry up,” Dr. Morgan snapped, picking up her pace and clearly ignoring the girl.
Several hundred yards away Tess stopped, hands on her hips, and pursed her lips. “Dr. Morgan, wait up!” she shouted even louder. She watched as the woman jerked ahead, barely flinching.
Annoyed at being ignored, Tess stomped forward. “Margaret!” she snapped. “Stop ignoring me!”
Dr. Morgan tensed at the use of her first name, but being defiant, continued on without looking back, scowling at any students passing by who gawked at the exchange.
“Margaret Elizabeth Morgan, you stop right this instance!”
Dr. Morgan flinched and finally stopped in her tracks.
“Margaret Elizabeth?” “Elizabeth?” the two bio professors gasped simultaneously.
Tess stalked up behind Dr. Morgan. “You have some nerve ignoring me like that,” she practically snapped.
Dr. Morgan spun on the girl. “You have some nerve shouting after me like that!”
“Your middle name’s Elizabeth?” Dr. Marlow questioned.
“Never mind that, Tess knows your middle name!?” Dr. Kemper gasped, fighting back laughter.
“This will not be repeated,” Dr. Morgan growled. “Look at the spectacle you’ve made of yourself,” she continued, gesturing wildly at the far-off students that had frozen in place, staring, whispering to each other before bounding off after Dr. Morgan’s glare.
“I’m not going to stop talking to you just because the majority of the student body thinks we’re sleeping together,” Tess declared boldly. “We’re friends, like it or not, even if you try to deny it.”
“Here’s your um, box back,” Dr. Marlow stated, shoving the box at Dr. Morgan.
“Yeah, we’re heading out. Do consider that invitation. See you tomorrow, Tess,” Dr. Kemper declared. “Oh, and lovely chatting with you Margaret Elizabeth.”
Dr. Morgan let out a howl of frustration as the two biology professors scurried off. And then, before she could further protest, Tess pulled the box from her arms and moved on, leaving Dr. Morgan to follow her.
“Where are you heading?” Tess questioned.
“To see Amy. The box is full of some books she loaned me.”
“Amazing, I was heading over to see her as well,” Tess answered. “Elle keeps asking about how she’s doing, but never seems to have the time to visit, and Amy asks about her too, so well, I thought I’d invite them both out for drinks. You can come too if you’d like.”
“Why is everyone suddenly inviting me out?”
“Oh? What other invitations did you get?”
“Your obnoxious biology professors invited me to your monthly TA luncheon.”
“Oh, you should definitely come! You’ll scare the pants right off the juniors!” Tess laughed. “I didn’t realize you’d gotten so friendly with Dr. Kemper and Dr. Marlow.”
“We, um, had a bit of a shift in our relationship after they confronted me about some things.”
Tess glanced accusingly towards Dr. Morgan. “Oh, you mean when you told them we were sleeping together?”
Dr. Morgan’s words caught in her throat. “I… didn’t tell them. Dr. Kemper knew, she caught us—”
“Macking in the boardroom, yes.”
“I—wait, how do you…?”
“They confronted me about it,” Tess declared forcefully. “Talk about an awkward conversation. I guess it’s good they know, though. Kai was bound to slip something out sooner or later.”
“Are… you mad?”
“What? No.”
“Upset then?”
“I… no,” Tess answered after a moment. “I’m embarrassed, terribly. I can’t believe Dr. Kemper saw us…”
“She could have walked in on much worse.”
“I know, and that’s mortifying. I will admit it was a bit worrisome when Amy found out, just because of how it all came together, but now, with these rumors going around I’m constantly hearing people talking about us and I just… well at first I was pretty adamant to deny it, but well, what does it matter if it’s true or not?”
“You… want everyone to know? The truth, I mean, confirm what’s being said?”
“Oh, I’d never say it so bluntly—not on purpose, I mean,” Tess replied. “It’s really none of their business. Unless… you want everyone to know?”
“Of course not!” Dr. Morgan scoffed. “As you said, it’s none of their business. They can have their rumors. We can’t stop that. But confirmation? They hardly deserve that. The important people know, and I mean… well it’s not like we’re dating so is it really even that important anyone knows?”
“Right, we’re not dating,” Tess mimicked forcefully.
“No.”
“So, it’s settled then. Glad we talked about it.”
Dr. Morgan nodded, though Tess’s tone felt harsh. She wasn’t sure what to make of it though, so she let it go, biting her tongue.
“Welcome everybody to your first ever TA office hours!” Tess beamed, addressing the full room of freshmen. Every year she got better at her job, drawing bigger and bigger crowds of students. She was determined to keep her attendance high, to cater a space of safety and learning. It was early, just the second week of classes, and they didn’t yet have worksheets or homework to go over. Instead, Tess hosted her hour like an information session, explaining what office hours were and talking about different strategies to succeed in the class. She had the students talk some, tried to commit their names to memory, and learned about their backgrounds as well and shared bits about her own.
At the end, with a bit of time to spare, Tess declared boldly, “Any questions? They can be about anything really, this class, college life in general, personal things, anything! I don’t mind.”
A boy in the center of the room raised his hand and Tess nodded towards him. He stated boldly, “Is it true that you’re sleeping with Dr. Morgan?”
Gasps broke out around the room. The boy’s buddies elbowed him, perhaps shocked at his boldness, and several groups of girls broke out into whispers.
Tess shushed the group. “What a terribly inappropriate question,” she scolded, though lightly. “That’s a very personal matter that should hardly be brought up in such a setting.” She paused, listening to the faint whisper passing between some girls near the front of the room.
“I told you that was her,” the one whispered.
“She’s cute, honestly.”
“Not as cute as Dr. Morgan.”
“No, Dr. Morgan’s breathtaking,” the one girl sighed wistfully. “What I wouldn’t give for her to kiss me.”
Tess’s nostrils flared slightly. She leaned back against the whiteboard, trying to seem casual. “Yes, an inappropriate question,” she repeated. “It doesn’t matter if a student and a professor are sleeping together, as long as it’s consensual. It’s hardly something worth such buzz.”
“Yes, but are you?” one of the girls stressed.
Tess crossed her arms. “I’m neither confirming nor denying it. What I’m saying is that it’s none of your business who Margaret chooses to bed. You’re dismissed.” Then Tess promptly exited the classroom, the clamor of hollering and whistling following her out.
“I don’t want to sleep with her.”
“Pardon?” Dr. Greenwood gasped, choking on the drink she was nursing.
“I mean, I do want to sleep with her, always,” Dr. Morgan struggled to explain. “It’s just that well… Every Friday we see each other and every Friday we sleep together—some Saturdays too—and I just… well I really treasure our time together when we’re not having sex. Sometimes I just want to… talk with her… experience things with her that aren’t entirely in the bedroom.”
“Yes, because you’re in love with her,” Dr. Greenwood hummed. “It’s perfectly reasonable that you should adore the time you spend with someone outside of sex, especially someone you’re in love with.”
“Do you… do you think she’d get offended if I suggested we didn’t sleep together this Friday?” Dr. Morgan questioned. “I don’t want her to take it the wrong way, to think that I’m not interested anymore.”
“I mean, you’ll need to be careful how to bring it up, how you explain yourself, but once you do, I’m sure she’ll understand. You’ve been bedding each other near constantly for over a year… it’s reasonable you’d want to take a break and just spend time together fully clothed.”
That conversation was how Dr. Morgan found herself Friday, just finishing putting the leftovers of their dinner away. Tess helped with the dishes as she always did before she retreated to the living room. Dr. Morgan watched her over the island, noting how Tess sat with her legs curled up under her, just staring at the turned off television. She seemed deep in thought. It was probably as good a time as ever for Dr. Morgan to bring up how she was feeling. She pushed the leftovers into the fridge and walked over, sitting down across from Tess.
“Hey, Tess, um—”
“Maggie?” Tess questioned, interrupting, but her voice sounded vulnerable and instantly Dr. Morgan was attuned to her.
“Yes?”
“Would… would it um… would it be alright with you if we didn’t sleep together tonight?” Tess questioned softly. “It’s just that I… well I’m on my period, and I know that hasn’t stopped us in the past, but I’m just not feeling the best and I just… well I don’t want to waste your time so I can just leave.”
“No,” Dr. Morgan declared, reaching out and pressing her hand against the girl’s knee, stilling her. “You don’t need to leave. We can just watch a movie or play a board game. You needn’t feel bad about not wanting sex all the time. It’s entirely natural and I’d never want to force you into anything you didn’t want. Thank you for letting me know how you feel.”
Tess smiled for a moment then she stood and walked to Dr. Morgan, falling right down into the woman’s lap. “I’d still like to cuddle though,” Tess whispered against her neck. “Cuddles are rather nice when you’ve got bad cramps.”
“Of course. Whatever you’d like.”
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