her do that was to feel that much closer to her tragedy.
I think I respected her even more now.
“Anyone have any comments on Senna’s essay? Do you think she covered all the elements that make a strong one?”
I looked around the room, full of the shocked faces of students who’d mostly elected to talk about the trips they’d taken and sports they’d played.
Goddamn, Senna was amazing.
“Okay. Who’s next?”
Chapter 19
PROFESSOR BENJAMIN ADLER
I spotted Jamie and Chase across the room at the Faculty Club and made my way over to them, my head down in the hope of avoiding anyone who might want to make small talk.
“Hey, guys. Sorry I’m late.” I grabbed the seat facing out into the room. It was the only one available that either wasn’t piled high with computer bags, or occupied by one of the guys.
“Why’d we have to meet here? You know I hate this place,” I said.
Jamie shrugged. “Put your big-girl panties on. You’ll be fine.”
Chase said nothing. As an adjunct teacher, he couldn’t enter the club without one of us guys. But I could see he’d dressed for the occasion—more or less—by wearing a collared shirt and his motorcycle boots instead of his usual flip flops.
“Oh, shit,” Jamie said under his breath.
I looked up to find Krishelle Abalone approaching our table and steeled myself for something unpleasant.
“Hi, guys,” she tried to say breezily. But there was nothing breezy about Krishelle. Everything she did was carefully thought out with purpose and cunning. There was nothing nice or sincere about her. Why she was still with the university baffled me. People saw her coming from a mile away and turned in the other direction to avoid her.
Unfortunately, that evening, there was no escaping her, pinned to our table as we were.
“Benno, I have one of your students as an advisee,” she said.
So what? She probably had a lot of my students as her advisees. The university was only so big.
“Um, yeah, I think you’re talking about Senna Duncan. She told me when we were discussing her work the other day. She’s a smart woman,” I added before I’d thought through my words.
But the mistake had been made. A dark shadow passed over Krishelle’s face.
Due to her own shortcomings as an academic and general human being, it was well known that she was intensely resentful of other women who were either attractive or had bright futures, both students and faculty alike.
In short, she was a witch.
She made a face like she’d smelled something bad. “Well. I don’t know about that. She doesn’t really seem like… Wellshire material.”
Fucking elitist. And to think she was so snotty when she really had nothing of her own going on.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Jamie asked, arms crossed.
Although we already knew the answer.
“It’s clear to me she’s not well-prepared for college level courses. I doubt she has the intellect, discipline, or resources to continue. I would be surprised to see her back here next semester.”
I wanted to jump across the table and wring her scrawny neck. Which she’d probably like since she’d been finding reasons to show up wherever I was since the day I’d started at the university.
I smiled at her. “Well, it’s a good thing, Krishelle, that it’s not your job to support her college career, and help her make good decisions about her path.”
“Seriously,” Jamie said, shaking his head. “Tell me, Krishelle, how many students did you shit on today? Shatter their confidence? Make them feel as useless a human being as you are?”
I could always count on Jamie to take things a bit too far.
She pursed her lips together, and lifted her chin, her poorly bleached blonde hair crunchy with the over-application of hair mousse. “You know what I’m talking about. Just wait. You’ll see what happens to her. And as for you, Jamie,” she said, looking down on him, “I… I’m going to report that comment to the provost.”
“Go for it, babe,” he said as she hurried away.
Chase shook his head. “Damn, Jamie. Don’t act like you want a career at the university or anything.”
He wrinkled his nose. “Fuck that woman. Why is she even still here? She got caught plagiarizing shit years ago, but they let her have an admin position? They should have booted her when they could.”
Jamie was right. Krishelle Abalone had no business at Wellshire University, much less advising students.
“We ought to check in with Senna and make sure that witch hasn’t done anything too permanently damaging,” Jamie said.
“I’ll check in with her,”