Her Professor wants to speak with her after class

The rest of the class passed agonisingly slowly for Lucy. She wasn’t exactly the most confident girl at the best of times and to have the entire class commenting on her breasts like that… suggesting she take off her clothes…!

Every time she thought about it her cheeks grew another shade of crimson brighter. She knew she was probably overreacting, nothing had really happened, but still, something just felt… off somehow…

By the time the lecture was over Lucy gathered her things hurriedly, she just wanted to get back to the privacy of the dorm, but her plans were halted when Professor Morris called out, “Lucy stay!” which caused the girl to freeze, jumping anxiously at her uncharacteristically authoritative tone, “I’d like to speak with you after class.”

“I’ll wait outside,” Kimberly said with a shrug before she left, leaving Lucy to stand awkwardly while the rest of her classmates filed out past her. Only when the auditorium doors finally closed and they were alone, did Lucy reluctantly approached the front.

“You, wanted to see me Professor?”

“Lucy,” Professor Morris smiled, her voice soft and almost motherly, “have you ever considered dropping out of college?”

Lucy frowned in confusion, “Um… No… Professor, uh, why?”

“Well I just think it might be best for you.”

Lucy froze, completely stunned, was she failing? She had always thought she was doing okay, maybe not top of the class but still not at the bottom either... Dropping out for any reason hadn’t even crossed her mind! She could feel a tide of panic suddenly rising inside her,

“Are my grades…?”

“Oh no, your grades are fine. You’d have definitely earned a pass,” Professor Morris said calmly, which only confused Lucy even more, “I just don’t think you should continue with classes anymore.”

“B-but I don't understand if I'm not failing... Did I do something wrong?”

Professor Morris smiled and shook her head, “You haven't done anything wrong Lucy, honestly you've always been a very good girl... we just have to think about if being in class is really the best place for you going forward...”

“But I want to come to class!” Lucy protested desperately, bottom lip quivering in panic. After what had happened earlier, she wasn’t sure that was 100% true right now, but that didn’t mean she wanted to give up on her education! She didn’t understand, if her grades were good, why she being told to quit? “Professor please… are you kicking me out of your class? I need to graduate!”

“I’m not kicking you out Lucy; if you want to keep coming to class for now then you can... You just don’t have to, that’s all. It's not a bad thing!” The professor circled around her desk and approached Lucy with a warm smile, causing the brunette to take a tentative step backwards away from her, “You’re dating Max Sinclair right?”

Lucy blinked trying to keep up; she wanted to ask what the woman meant by ‘for now’ but was immediately distracted by her next question. To have her suddenly ask about Lucy’s private life felt like an even more unnerving curveball, “Uh… yeah...” The girl stammered.

“Well, have you ever thought about a life at home with someone like him? I imagine it would certainly be easier; you could lounge around all day… be dependent… I think it's going to really suit you” Professor Morris spoke wistfully, like she was describing some perfect utopian dream, “I mean honestly you won't even need to wear clothes!”

Lucy balked. She’d always imagined Professor Morris to be one of the staunchest feminists on campus, what she was saying was completely out of character! It sounded like the woman was suddenly suggesting she drop out of school and be nothing more than Max’s trophy wife? Sure she had let herself imagine some far off future where she and Max might get married, have kids… she could’ve stayed at home then… but still, she resented the idea that that’s all she might be good for and was horrified that it was Professor Morris that was advocating it!

“I… I don’t want to be a housewife Professor… I want to study…” Lucy stressed.

“Oh! No, definitely not a housewife!” the older woman laughed while Lucy just stood in silence, feeling hopelessly lost. After a pause Professor Morris opened her mouth to speak and then immediately stopped, like she was biting her tongue before she said something she’d regret. She coughed to compose herself, “Well, just think about it…”

“I’d like to keep coming to class…” Lucy said, as firmly as she could even though she was trembling.

“If you insist, I mean you’re so well behaved I can hardly object…” Professor Morris sighed but nodded, “Okay Lucy, you can go… I will see you next class.”

The girl didn’t argue, she was just **** to escape the confusing conversation as quickly as possible. Lucy felt like she was seeing a completely different side to Professor Morris and it shocked her; was she dreaming? Unsure as to what had even just happened, Lucy took off, wanting to get as far away from here as she possibly could. Had Professor Morris gone mad?

With her bag clutched protectively to her side, she quickly hurried out of the room, not sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.

Across town, Lucy’s boyfriend Max stepped out of his beat-up truck and strode across the lot towards the large pet-store. Tall with a loose mop of brown hair and light stubble across his square chin, the pre-med student carried himself now with the same effortless confidence that had attracted Lucy to him in the first place.

Inside he headed straight for the counter. While Max’s family had kept dogs when he was growing up this was a slightly different situation and he knew he was probably going to need help finding exactly what he was looking for.

A bubbly young red-head smiled broadly at him as he approached, her green apron looking a little over-sized for her height. “Hi there, I’m Laurie and welcome to Pet-Zone! Is there anything I can help you with today?”

Max drummed his fingers on the counter, “I hope so… I need a collar, uh, one that can be locked securely… for long term, preferably permanent wear.”

Laurie nodded along brightly, “Sure! We have collars in all sorts of shapes and sizes, for what size animal?”

“Oh well, it’s for a girl…”

Laurie frowned, her face dropping before Max held up his hands defensively, “It’s for Lucy Carpenter.”

Laurie’s entire demeanour suddenly flipped, her face lighting up in understanding as she laughed, “Oh my god! I’m sorry, for a second there I thought you were crazy!”

Max shook his head and matched her laughter, “Oh! No, I just need it for this, you know how it is.”

“Absolutely!” the red-head giggled, before she looked thoughtfully out across the store, using the counter to hoist herself up a little higher, “You know, I think we have something in stock that will be just perfect…”