My mother's concerned face comes into focus. She's seated next to me and is still caressing my hair. Behind her, there's my dad and they're both looking at me with a frown on their faces.
"Honey," she whispers, "What's going on with you?"
Now, it's my turn to frown and I try to play it cool.
"What are you talking about?"
She takes a deep breath before continuing. "You haven't been yourself lately. I see the sadness on your face, honey, and it's breaking my heart."
"It's like you're an empty shell of yourself," dad adds, "We're worried about you."
Their words are causing fresh tears to flow, even though I try to hold them in but fail miserably. 
"Oh, baby," mom whispers when I fully start to cry. She situates herself so my head is lying on her lap and I can cuddle with her. 
Suddenly, I feel like a little girl again who's hurt herself in some way and comes crying to her parents. 
"I'm in love," I whisper, and dad's face morphs from concerned to understanding. 
"In love?" mom repeats, playing with my strands. 
"It's not like how it was with Matteo, it's so much deeper. I've fallen so hard."
"Love isn't supposed to make you cry, darling," dad tells me gently. "Not like this. Love is supposed to make you glow and feel alive."
"I did feel that way," I say and lick my dry lips. "Until it all went to shit."
"So I was right," mom says, "You were seeing someone. My gut never lies."
I roll my eyes, but a smile still tugs at the corner of my lips. "I was. And it was the best time of my life."
"Before we get to what happened, who is he?" dad asks. 
It gets silent for a minute, and that silence is filled with tension. 
"Here's the thing..." I begin and start to fidget with my fingers. 
Mom raises a brow at me while dad just continues to wait patiently. 
"He's my professor?"
If the previous silence was tense, the one that follows now is just deathly. 
"Your what now?" mom screeches, and stands up. My head falls off her lap and I scramble to sit up on the couch.
Even dad is looking at me weirdly. 
"I... I..."
"Your professor? Alyssa, are you serious?" mom nearly yells, and starts to pace around. "Did he make a move on you? Did he coerce you into this? We could sue him, or maybe the school as well. Honey, look..."
"No one forced me into anything," I blurb out and try to backtrack the situation. "He didn't coerce me, and he's only a substitute professor who's falling in for my previous one. I met him before that, even."
Mom still looks at me like she doesn't believe me.
"I made the first move," I clarify, and feel my cheeks start to be on fire. 
This is humbling and embarrassing. 
"Carbon copy of your mother," dad says with a shake of his head.
"What do you mean..."
"Nothing of importance right now," mom cuts in and shoots my dad a pointed look. 
Mom's hand raises to her face and she scratches near her eyebrow, a tic of hers that shows she's speechless or is contemplating how to approach the situation at hand.