Page 15 of Bachelor

Chapter Six

Rhys

––––––––

THE SECOND WEEK OFclass went by without a hitch. I lectured, assigned homework, and started grading the first assignments that were due. But with Whitney at the helm of my Sociology 101 class, I found myself with far more time on my hands than I anticipated. The freshmen were always the ones clogging up my office hours. I was unsure why, actually, given that most of them had no idea what they actually wanted to do with their lives yet. Generally I just talked to them, told them stories about my adventures, or offered them tutoring or other resources if necessary.

But the semester was still young, and as I tapped my fingers on my desk, I found myself with little to do and far too much time on my hands.

I’d already been to the gym today, too.

A knock sounded on the doorframe, and Dan poked his head in. “You busy?”

“Not at all,” I breathed, stretching my arms above my head. “What’s up?”

Dan looked behind him into the hallway before coming into my office and shutting the door behind him. He sat down in one of the chairs in front of my desk and leaned forward with his elbows resting on his knees. “I have Christian in one of my undergrad classes, and he came in looking roughed up last week. This morning, I overheard him talking about one of your graduate students.”

“Tyler Bakken?”

Dan pursed his lips and nodded. “So I imagine you heard they got into a physical altercation?”

“I was there for it.”

Dan’s brow furrowed as he leaned back. “You were there when it happened?”

“Yeah, I pulled them apart. Happened in the gym last week.”

“Did you go to the administration about it?”

“No, I didn’t. I didn’t want Tyler to get in any trouble. It wasn’t like Christian didn’t have it coming.”

“Was the fight about Whitney Dahl, by chance?”

A sinking sensation settled in my stomach as I leveled a look at Dan. “Yeah... It was. Christian said some pretty awful things about her loud enough for the people running laps around the pool to hear, and Tyler had enough of it. They got into it verbally before they started tossing each other around.”

“I didn’t like what he had to say about Whitney this morning either, and I’m tempted to go to the dean of his program about it, not that it’ll do much good. He’s the star of the lacrosse program and his parents have a habit of opening their wallets anytime that kid gets in trouble.”

“What was he saying, exactly?”

Dan waved a hand in dismissal. “Nothing I’m comfortable saying in public about a young woman, or anywhere for that matter. It was the first time in the seven years I’ve been tenured here that I threw a student out of class. He mouthed off to me in the hallway, trying to justify what he’d been saying about her. Said one of his old friends was trying to go after her and he ‘shut that down’ real quick, motioning to the bruising on his jaw. He had a real chip on his shoulder about it.”

“Then what happened?”

He blew out his breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “He threatened to sic his father’s attorney on me if I ever pulled him out of class again. I told him to shove it, essentially, and that he wasn’t allowed in my class again if he continues to make threats against other students and faculty.”

“Faculty—”

“You, in particular. He really has it out for you, Rhys. He doesn’t like how close you are to Whitney and now Tyler, apparently.”

My jaw flexed as I leaned back in my chair.

“Probably because you witnessed the fight. I didn’t know that. I thought it had something to do with Whitney at first.”

“Did he go into detail?”

“No, the kid was seeing red. He shoved past me and stalked down the hallway, knocking over a trash can on his way out the door. He needs to pass my class with at least a C this semester to graduate, and I’ve never been one to be bought out by students and their parents. I have a feeling I’m on his shitlist now too. Anyway, I just wanted to stop in and let you know, since Tyler’s one of your students and all.”

---