Chapter 73: Speculation
The biting cold of winter was finally drawing to a close. Signs of the approaching warm spring were everywhere—tender flower buds sprouting, the cheerful holiday coming to an end as well. Adults returned to their jobs, and students gradually made their way back to campus.
Wiping dust off desk chairs, plugging in computers, slipping clean covers onto bedding—the guys chattered away, sharing all the interesting things that had happened over break.
Caleb finished first. He turned and saw Noah leaning casually against the closet. Curious, he asked, "Noah, aren't you going to unpack? Where's your laptop?"
"My laptop's at my sister's. I threw the sheets in the laundry downstairs."
"You're washing them now? How are you supposed to sleep tonight?"
Ryan, who had just finished making his bed, poked his head out and reminded him, "Caleb, you forgot—last semester Noah slept at Professor Miller's the whole time."
"Oh yeah. So Noah, same arrangement this semester?"
"Depends on my sister. I just listen to whatever she says. I only came by to wash the sheets. I'll head over in a bit."
"You really are Professor Miller's good little brother, listening to everything she says."
Noah lifted his gaze to Caleb, lips parting as if he wanted to defend himself, but he couldn't put together a single confident word. His lashes dropped again.
"By the way, Caleb, isn't your sister a senior now?" Miles changed the subject. "College applications this year? Any schools in mind?"
"Have her come here. She can be our underclassman."
"Get lost. Your dirty thoughts are written all over your face."
"Caleb has a sister?" Noah looked up at them in confusion.
"You weren't here. We were playing ranked games and suddenly this super sweet girl's voice came through from Caleb's side—soft and cute. You could tell right away she was a pretty girl."
Caleb slapped the table and warned seriously, "Don't any of you get ideas about my sister. She's never even dated."
"None of us here have dated except Noah," Ryan said, curling his lip. "You're always saying how strict Professor Miller is, but you're not much better. The difference is Noah actually listens to her. Your sister might not."
"How do you know my sister doesn't listen to me? And brothers and sisters are different anyway. You guys without siblings wouldn't get it."
"What's so different? Tell us," Ryan asked curiously. Noah also lifted his head, interested in the topic.
"Generally speaking, brothers are super protective of their sisters, while sisters pretty much want to slap their little brothers to death. Noah's situation is special though—probably because they're not blood-related."
"Actually, my sister hits me sometimes too, and…" Noah remembered the last time they had teased him and swallowed the rest about her always spanking him.
Luckily none of them paid much attention to his sudden cutoff. They kept listening as Caleb went on, shaking his head with a sigh. "So yeah, Professor Miller really treats Noah well. I don't even take care of my own sister that much."
The three guys kept bantering back and forth, and somehow the conversation drifted toward his relationship with Professor Miller. Caleb's seemingly casual remark—"Noah, Professor Miller doesn't have those kinds of feelings for you, does she?"—made him tense up for some reason.
In the past, he would have seriously told them not to speculate about him and Professor Miller. His feelings toward her were mostly respect and gratitude. But now, when the topic came up, all he could think about was how to keep them from seeing through anything.
Even though he and Professor Miller being together wasn't anything shameful.
But she was their professor. Suddenly telling them their roommate was dating the calculus professor would just feel awkward and weird.
Noah thought about it—if he failed calculus later and the guys said, "Noah, ask your girlfriend to help us out," it would sound completely wrong.
And if word got out that the computer science department's calculus professor was dating a student, it would definitely affect her image among the other faculty.
In that daze, the guys' eyes returned to him. Seeing him spaced out, Miles called, "Noah, you listening? What do you think?"
"Huh? What?" Noah snapped back. Just as they were about to repeat the question, his phone rang. He checked the screen, stepped onto the balcony, and closed the door behind him.
"Hey, Eve."
"Not finished yet? I've got everything unpacked here already. Come over right away once you're done, Nate. I'll take you to dinner."
"Still waiting on the sheets in the wash. Almost done. If you're hungry, go ahead and eat first. No need to wait for me."
"It's fine. I'll wait a little longer. Come soon, Nate." Evelyn hung up after that. Noah went back inside. The guys' attention was still fixed on him, clearly determined to hear what he thought…
They were dead set on pairing him and Professor Miller together.
"I bet that was Professor Miller calling," Ryan said first, tone loaded with meaning. "During break you barely played games with us at all. My guess is either you were with Professor Miller the whole time or you got back together with Lila Vale."
"I had a summer job, okay?"
"You weren't even doing campus part-time anymore, and you're saying you had a summer job?"
"Plus you spend every day with Professor Miller, all lovey-dovey. Isn't that—"
"Alright, alright. Stop speculating about me and my sister. Why don't we keep talking about Caleb's sister instead."
"Hey, Noah's deflecting the crisis, huh."
…
The early spring evening wind was still bitingly cold. It rushed in through the wide-open window, leaving a faint flush across the woman's pure, flawless profile. Scattered lights reflected in her beautiful eyes, sparkling like stars.
Evelyn rested her chin on one hand while the other slowly turned a white medicine bottle. Her gaze swept over the dense text on the label again and again.
There were still some pills left in this bottle. She hadn't used it for a very long time. After the boy had become obedient and compliant, she had stopped resorting to this despicable method. The side effects were very real, after all, and they weren't good for his health.
Thankfully she hadn't packed the bottle when they left for winter break.
Otherwise, after seeing Noah return from his date with Lila Vale—that night when the girl had kissed him—she probably wouldn't have been able to stop herself from forcing every last one of those pills down his throat.
Sometimes she really felt irritated. He and Lila Vale had already broken up, and the two of them had even done that kind of thing. So why did they still have to hide it from everyone? Why not let Mom know?
Why not let Mr. and Mrs. Vale know, or the teachers and students at school? Why sneak around like it was something shameful?
Evelyn had always been a very rational person, even bordering on cold and ruthless. Only when it came to Noah did things become different. Of course she understood the consequences of making their relationship public, but she never cared. She never feared them. No matter what, anything was better than letting those blind, buzzing flies keep fantasizing about him.
This was a deep, secluded path hiding a devil's box. The woods grew denser, darker the further you went. But she had no other choice. For the rich fruit waiting at the end, everything was worth it.