A Regretful Meeting

A few days later, Rachael was feeling bothered. Between her lowering grades and her fathers inquiries, she had been somewhat worried about her performance in class. If things kept going the way they had been, it wouldn't be too long before the secret got out that Rachael's studies and priorities were completely falling apart. As odd as she found it to be, Rachael couldn't get herself to worry too much about the changes in her life. Part of her was worried, sure, but it was being drowned out by the new part of her that was so carefree.

That said, there were still some things she was worried about, her parents weighing on her mind the most after the conversation with her dad. As far back as Rachael could remember, she had never seriously let down her parents. She had always been a straight A student, intelligent, reserved, and even a bit prude. Reserved and prude couldn't come close to describing the girl now, but on the outside her parents still believed her to be the most intelligent person they had ever met. Despite everything, Rachael did not want to let her parents down. She had always been smart, and she would continue to do be, if only for the sake of her parents.

Marching up to professor Christiansen's office clad in her exercise wear after an afternoon run, she knocked on the door that was slightly ajar. Following a sigh, the man spoke.

"Come in." Rachael pushed open the door and walked in, trying her best to remain confident.

"Ah, Miss Simmons. I'm surprised you would grace me with your presence, considering you have not made lecture a single time this week. What can I do for you?" Christiansen's tone was maliciously charged, and whatever Rachael had to say would be picked apart. The middle aged man almost seemed excited for this opportunity to humiliate the girl. Any confidence Rachael had when she entered was vaporized.

"Um, well I, uh... I was hoping we could maybe, like, discuss some extra credit?" The girl timidly asked, feeling small in front of the man. The unease she felt killed any attempts to hide her recently acquired airheaded speech patterns.

"Extra credit? Hah! Don't make me laugh." The man eyed the girl, seeing that, despite how flippant she had been with her studies lately, she was serious. "Why? You haven't been taking this class seriously at all, so why would I give you any opportunities? Even more curious, why do you care for extra credit when you haven't even been trying at all?"

"Well, I...I have people that I don't wanna, like, disappoint, you know?" Rachael's voice was meek.

"Still trying to pretend that you're an excellent student? Disciplined and intelligent. Well, can you prove it? Could you write a 10 page paper on a topic of my choosing in the next two weeks?"

Rachael hesitated to answer, completely unsure that she could write a satisfactory paper. Before, she could have said yes without question and written a noteworthy paper.

"No? Well, perhaps you could attend each and every lecture for the rest of the semester and write brief summaries of the lessons?" Again Rachael hesitated, hating the lengthy lectures which she now found boring.

"Well? You asked me for opportunities, and I just offered you one so simple that it's criminal." The professor seemed to be losing interest in the conversation, not sure how he could humiliate someone so reserved.

"There has to be, like, something I can do." The look on the girls face gave Christiansen a wicked idea.

"How about this? I have something I want you to say, or rather, admit." Rachael gulped, not liking where this is going. "Admit that you're just a dumb girl, and that you've always been one. Admit that you were never smart, that you are just a ditzy bimbo pretending to be something you're not."

Rachael was shocked by the mans words. She would never admit something like that, and the idea of being so humiliated gave her back some of her confidence.

"I, like, cannot believe you just said that! You can't talk to students that way mister!"

"What, do you not agree?" The professor was grinning smugly now, having gotten under the girls skin.

"Of course I don't! I didn't make it this far by being, like, stupid or whatever!"

"Despite that, you can't show up to lectures and your grades have been dropping substantially. You came in here asking for extra credit, but you wouldn't accept my offers. Why is that, again? Too difficult for you? Yet you vehemently claim that you are not dumb. Well, Miss Simmons, here's a hard truth. You certainly *are not smart*."

Rachael was stunned back into silence, those words echoing throughout her mind. She stood there dumbfounded, trying to resist the idea that Christiansen was right. No matter what she did, his malicious words would not stop echoing. She never should have come here. How foolish she was.

"Now, Miss Simmons, if you want some extra credit why don't you go ahead and tell me a truth of your own?" The professor had a cruel look on his face now, enjoying every moment of the girls suffering.

"I...I am just a dumb, stupid bimbo. I have always been ditzy and stupid, pretending to be smart..."

The professors face lit up with vicious delight, and a single tear ran down Rachael's face.