18
ELLA
The school had found out about us. I pushed East away, and it still happened. Exactly as I worried it might. I felt sick and anxious, as if I needed to climb out of my own skin. I couldn’t sit still, but I had nowhere to go.
When the dean called, I was between classes in the lobby of the sociology building, eating a sandwich I’d packed. There were tables and chairs for studying and more comfortable spots to sit and read. I was surrounded by other students, and yet the dean was loud in my ear, telling me I was up for an ethics violation, of a relationship with my professor in order to receive an improved grade.
I tossed my sandwich in the trash. What I’d eaten was lodged in my throat. Three years at the university and it came down to a math elective. It didn’t matter that I’d be
