Page 286 of His Virgin Romance Series

GABBY

Music wasn’t just what I did. It was who I was. I played and composed not just because I had to but also because I wanted to. It was cathartic for me. It was a stress reliever and sometimes when I was sitting in front of a piano my problems didn’t seem all that huge.

I was in one of the music rooms on campus, and I was trying to figure out what my next move was. I didn’t want to stay with Mom, and I knew that I wasn’t really welcome at Seth’s apartment while Cory was there. Not that Seth had any clue about the subtle hints that Cory was leaving for me. She was always very careful about how she treated me in front of Seth.

I was still playing when I heard someone walk into the room behind me. I stopped playing and turned around to see Professor Milton. She was probably my favorite professor. Not only was she accomplished, talented, and passionate, but she was also kind and empathetic too. She had a way of getting to know her students and really investing her time in them. Around my second year, I had felt this intense pressure to keep up my grades, and I had worked myself into a near breakdown. It had been Professor Milton who had talked me off the ledge. She had made me see that failing wasn’t the end of the world. After that, I had felt the pressure lift, and I realized I had just been getting in my own way.

I didn’t have any classes with her this year, which I had been really bummed about, but I still stopped by her office every now and again to have a chat with her and get her advice on my music.

“Professor,” I said, whirling around to face her. “It’s nice to see you.”

“How’s my favorite student doing?” she asked.

I laughed. “How many students do you say that to?”

“Not as many as you would think,” she replied. “That was a nice melody you were playing… something you’re working on?”

“Not exactly… that was just my version of doodling. I just sit and play and don’t think about what I’m playing.”

“You should really record yourself when you do that,” Professor Milton advised me. “Then at least you can play them back and refine the melodies you create. That was beautiful music I just heard.”

“That’s a good idea,” I said. “I’ll definitely try and do it in the future.”

“I was actually hoping to run into you here,” Professor Milton told me.

“You were?” I asked. “What about?”

“I heard you were evicted from the student dorms.”

My face fell immediately. “Oh… you heard about that?”

“I did.”

I looked down, wondering if she would believe me if I told her I had nothing to do with the parties. “It wasn’t my fault.”

“I didn’t think it was,” Professor Milton said immediately.

“Really?”

“I know you, Gabby,” she said. “You’re not the type who’s into the partying scene. Why would you compromise your living arrangements for one? I told the dorm supervisors as much, but by then I think it was too late.”

“Thanks for sticking up for me,” I said, and I really was grateful. “I really appreciate that.”

“I assume you’re staying with your mother at the moment?” Professor Milton asked.

She knew almost everything about my family. She had been something of a counselor to me, especially in my first year after I had just moved out of Mom’s apartment. She knew that Seth was a firefighter who used to smoke pot. She knew that Mom had been a teenage mother who’d ended up with two kids from two different men who hadn’t stuck around long enough to contribute in any way to our upbringing. She knew about the fact that music had been my saving grace from all the stuff that had happened in my childhood and adolescence. She knew about the fact that I was struggling to make ends meet and that I would probably be drowning in student loans once my degree was done.

She had been the one who had helped me apply for the scholarship I had received. So it was no wonder that where Professor Milton was concerned, I was blind. She could do no wrong in my eyes.

“I stayed with her for a couple of days,” I admitted. “But now I’m staying with Seth.”

Professor Milton looked at me searchingly. “You’re upset.”

I sighed. “I just have a lot on my plate at the moment. I don’t want to stay with Seth longer than I need to either.”

“Your brother loves you; I’m sure he doesn’t mind having you on his couch.”

“Seth doesn’t mind,” I explained. “But Cory does.”

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