Chapter 30

                                    

                                          



Classes the next morning were just as long and painful as I remembered them being but they weren't quite as boring considering the entire campus seemed to be surging with gossip about the whereabouts of Professor Duncan. Almost every room I walked into was filled with students, whispering and clustering together to share their personal theories about where the professor had gone,
                          
    "I heard he ran off with his sweetheart." One girl said.
                          
    "Nah, he couldn't handle teaching college kids." A boy argued. A smile spread over my face knowing that the rumors Rico and I started had made their way around campus. But it also made me question the intelligence of the university's student body.
                          
    It wasn't just those two rumors though, there were all kinds and people seemed to be forming groups according to which rumors they believed in. Some kids thought the professor simply switched to another school abruptly, taking a new and better job offer. Other students believed the professor was caught in some illegal dealings, which was closer to the truth than any of them could ever possibly guess. However, a majority of the students didn't take sides and continuously bounced back and forth between the different theories.
                          
    The staff and faculty of the university weren't saying anything about the subject. A student in my first hour class asked our professor about where Professor Duncan went and our instructor simply blew past the question without offering an adequate answer. Mr. Vasquez and my father must have spoken with the Dean of the school and ordered him to remain quiet on the matter as well as all the teachers at the university.
                          
    But I was content. The universities gossip had become solely focused on the absence of Professor Duncan. Long gone were the days when people recognized me as the girl who fell in the pool and I couldn't explain how relieved I was. Leave it to me to make a total fool out of myself before I even began attending a new school.
                          
    No one bothered me that day until I was halfway through my third class when a kid turned to me, "Kimber right? What do you think happened to Professor Duncan? If I remember correctly you two were kind of chummy."
                          
    Almost instantly I recognized the boy who spoke to me. He was one of the kids from the beach party, the night I was drugged. His name was ... Tyler, that's right. He was the one who basically forced me to take a shot of alcohol, which just so happened to be drugged, leading to a lot of bad incidents that night.
                          
    "We weren't chummy, I was just a good student. Something you wouldn't know anything about." I answered him, rolling my eyes and returning my attention to the paper I had been working on.
                          
    A snort of laughter sounded from Tyler as he turned back to his buddies, "Yeah sure, a good student. I'm sure you worked very hard for a good grade, made even a little extra credit huh? Late night 'study' sessions?" His friends laughed at what he was insinuating but I felt my anger growing. How dare he assume I'd ever degrade myself like that. On top of that, Tyler went on to say, "Guys, I just figured out what happened to the professor. Lucas must have found out Kimber was sleeping with the professor and he killed poor Mr. Duncan."
                          
    "You little piece of shit." I snapped, chucking my pencil at him. He ducked out of the way, laughing, but I pointed a stern finger at him, "You are such a pig. First of all, I have not, nor would I ever, sleep with a professor for grades though I'm sure you can't say the same considering there's no way you could have made it into college with how utterly idiotic you are. Secondly, Lucas didn't kill the professor you dimwitted asshole but he just might kill you after the things you've said to me. So if you're at all familiar with Lucas' reputation, which I know you are, then you should probably start apologizing."
                          
    Tyler's laughter stopped as soon as these words exited my mouth. His eyes narrowed at me, "You're bluffing. Lucas hasn't even been at school for the past couple weeks. What makes you think I'd be scared of a no show?"