Yes, but she's late and no one expected her

Rushing across campus, Lucy couldn’t help but tremble anxiously at the embarrassment she was probably about to endure. She’d never been late for class before, especially not over an hour late. Her flip flops slapped loudly across the asphalt paths of the campus, the light breeze dancing through her hair just enough to remind Lucy that she hadn’t showered after last night…

Cringing, the brunette knew she couldn’t slow down, but did what she could to try and sort out her appearance. Her head still ached and the mixture of her panic-fueled adrenaline and the effects of the **** from last night made Lucy dizzy. She knew she probably looked like a freshly-fucked mess, and blushed whenever she past another student, wondering self-consciously if they could tell... or worse, if they could see the collar…

“Goddamn it Max…” she muttered under her breath in disbelief that her boyfriend could’ve been so careless. She didn’t even want to wear the thing, to be actually locked in to it made it so much worse…

Hurrying into the science building, Lucy marched her away across the foyer towards the auditorium doors. Inside, she could hear the muffled voice of Professor Morris addressing the class, clearly way into her lesson. After taking a deep breath to psyche herself up, Lucy timidly opened the auditorium door, and stepped into the back of the room as quietly as she could. Below, Professor Morris had her back to the class, writing on the board as she spoke in the otherwise silent room.

Lucy felt her heart jump in her chest as she frantically tried to spot Kim or a free seat, her body immediately on edge as she watched more and more of the students at the back of the room slowly starting to notice her.

But she couldn’t see one, and amongst the sea of faces Lucy struggled to find Kim.

“Oh, Lucy…?” Professor Morris’ voice called from the front of the room, her voice dripping with genuine confusion, making the girl’s blood run cold. “I thought after our talk yesterday…”

“I… I’m sorry I… I’m late…” Lucy mewled helplessly, still anxiously looking for a free seat anywhere, but finding none. The moment she spoke it was like a wave passed across the sea of students before her, every single one turning to stare in her direction.

“Over an hour late... and you’re wearing… uh… c-”

Lucy cringed, her cheeks immediately flushing bright pink as she assumed the Professor was going to say ‘a collar’ … shit could she see it? Was it that obvious? The humiliated girl had no way of knowing Professor Morris was about to say ‘clothes’ but had stopped herself just in time.

“Fine…” Professor Morris sighed irritably, making her feel even guiltier, “If you must, you can sit at the front.”

The woman snapped her fingers sharply and pointed, making Lucy cringe… she was going to have to make a walk of shame all the way to the front?

Reluctantly the girl descended the steps towards the front, the room painfully silent. Her cheeks burning, mortified, she felt every pair of eyes in the entire auditorium staring judgmentally at her. She tried not to think about how many people could work out the outline of the collar around her neck.

I can’t believe Max would do this to me…

Unfortunately for Lucy, with every step she took the loose flip-flops slapped loudly against the floor, seeming to echo around the large room, drawing even more attention to the helpless girl by their obnoxious sound.

Professor Morris folded her arms, obviously irritated by the noise and unimpressed by the scene Lucy was making. The girl tried to step softer and quieter but the fact that she was going downstairs made it impossible, so feeling the scorn of everyone else in the room Lucy reluctantly slipped her feet out of the offending shoes to stop the noise. Meekly she picked them up and carried them on the rest of her walk, blushing at the feel of the cold rough carpet beneath her bare feet.

When Lucy reached the front she looked awkwardly across for a seat, her heart racing in her chest when she realised there wasn’t a seat for her. Horrified the girl looked at Professor Morris in meek apology and confusion, only earning an exasperated sigh from the woman.

“There… on the floor Lucy,” Professor Morris pointed to a place at the bottom of the steps at the end of the front row. Blushing, and just wanting the ground to swallow her up, Lucy stepped back over to the spot the woman had picked. The idea of sitting on the hard ground didn’t appeal to the brunette, but she knew the sooner she sat down and stopped making a scene, class could continue and the humiliating weight of being the center of attention would be over.

“Wait… give me those,” Professor Morris snapped, her hand out expectantly to take the flip-flops from Lucy. With a meek whimper she reluctantly handed over her shoes, unsure as to why Professor Morris was taking them but too **** not to make an even bigger scene than to argue.

Lucy couldn’t bring herself to make eye contact with anyone as she took her designated spot and sat down awkwardly, perched right on the edge of the bottom step, her bag at her side. Her bare toes curled into the rough carpet and though she was sure Professor Morris had resumed her lecture, Lucy could barely hear her over the sound of her the racing pulse roaring in her ears.