For Kayden, finals week had flown by in a blur, especially since she was able to take it off from her waitressing job to give exams and teaching assistant work her full attention.

Thankfully, exams went smoothly, both for herself and for her students. As much as she appreciated being able to get paid for helping in a subject she enjoyed, the four-month summer break was very much welcome.

To celebrate, she, Aisha and Vince enjoyed the end-of-year dance party Friday night beside the football field, embracing the thunderous bass as a handful of fellow students stood on stage spraying body-safe paint all over the crowd. Aisha wore a sportsy head covering that wouldn’t be ruined by the paint; Vince wore a secure cap to protect his kinky fro, and Kayden simply kept a zip-up hoodie in the car to cover her paint-soaked hair after the party.

After some hours of dancing, Vince, driving for their carpool, stopped at Aisha’s apartment first to drop her off. Aisha stepped out of the passenger seat of his two-door sports car, yanking the seat lever to let Kayden out of the back. They embraced on the sidewalk.

“Drive safe tomorrow and text me when you get home.”

Aisha patted her back. “Okay, Mom.” As she walked away, she turned to add, “Don’t forget to keep your Pictogram updated with church stuff this summer!”

Kayden waved back without a smile. “Yeah, yeah, I’ll be super enthusiastic about it, too.”

The short drive to her place was just enough for a single bass-filled song, played over Vince’s custom sound system. After pulling up the long driveway to Kayden’s unit, Vince shut the car off and stopped her from stepping out. “Hey, can I talk to you for a second?” It was less of a question and more of a demand.

Seatbelt undone and hand poised to flip the door latch open, she paused and peeked to her friend, who seemed slightly nervous, or maybe irritated. One of his hands rested on the stick shift, the other still gripped the steering wheel. He wasn’t looking at her, but ahead at the bushes. Kayden felt anxious as she replied, “Sure, what’s up?”

“I didn’t have a chance to bring it up this week, with finals.” He let go of the stick shift to slide off the cap protecting his hair and held it in his lap. “What’s with you and Kaiser?” He finally angled his head enough to meet her gaze.

Her eyes widened slightly before shutting as she slouched back into her seat with a sigh. The back of her hooded head slumped against the headrest. “Oh, that. So, you did think it was weird we played Battlefield together, then.”

“Anyone would have.” He watched her as she shifted before resting her elbow on the door’s armrest and leaning her temple on her knuckles. “I don’t mean to be a buzzkill, but I couldn’t say nothing, as your friend.”

She stared out her window. “It’s okay. I don’t really know what to tell you, Vince. We want to be friends. I know that’s a little weird.”

“It’s not just a little weird, Kayden... He’s a professor. He will be your boss.” Both his hands again gripped the steering wheel tightly as he glanced out the window to his left. “Also…I know you have a thing for him.”

She shot a wide-eyed look to him, mouth agape. “Seriously? It’s that obvious?” At his quiet, sympathetic grin, she sighed heavily and thumped her hooded scalp against the glass. “Aisha said the same thing.”

“We’re worried about you. I dunno what possessed you to ask for his gamer tag, but it was not a good idea.”

She sat quietly, nibbling her bottom lip and pondering whether or not to tell him that it was Misha who asked, and for her phone number not gamer tag. That definitely sounds worse.

Vince must’ve sensed her hesitation as he stared at the side of her face. He watched her fiddling with her lower lip as she avoided his gaze. “…It was his idea, wasn’t it?”

Kayden sat upright and threw her left palm into the air in exasperation. “Okay, yeah, I know, that sounds bad, but we’re both full grown adults, and he’s not even that much older than me.”

His composure remained calm and quiet, as usual. “If we were in high school, wouldn’t you find it weird if our teacher asked to play video games with you?”

She met his eyes. He raised his eyebrows at her, pushing her to think about it. She pouted subtly. “…I don’t think it’s fair to compare an adult in a position of power over minors to what is going on here.”

In response, he simply lowered only one eyebrow. “Oh, really?”

“Yes. For one, I have way more life experience and I’m well beyond legal age. And, also, being a TA is more like being a… coworker, a teammate, than it is like a subordinate.”

He turned his head with a long, “Oooh”, rolling his eyes. He placed his elbow on his door frame, resting his temple on his knuckles as he side-eyed her. “Sure, I guess that’s technically true. But that doesn’t mean he won’t go asking for favors.”

Kayden could feel her heart begin to speed up, taking this as a personal attack. Anger bubbled with her sweaty palms, but she took a deep breath to calm herself, exhaling, “You and Aisha, both. Why? Do you know something he’s done that somehow hasn’t made the news?”

“Someone doesn’t have to get caught in order to be a bad person. Bad people get away with shit all the time, especially when everyone around them thinks they’re good people.” He stared out the window and added in a grumble, “…or when everyone thinks they’re hot.”

She felt her neck flush as she stared off into the small headlight-lit yard. Some gruelingly long seconds passed in silence as she fidgeted with her bottom lip. One arm rested across her abdomen defensively. Her gaze shifted down to the dark shadows beneath the dashboard. 

Vince was right: there were plenty of examples throughout history of people who seemed totally nice and normal but ended up being serial killers or worse.

She released her bottom lip and gripped her opposite upper arm with a sigh. “Okay, fair point. Thanks for being so blunt with me. I’m lucky to have friends like you and Aisha. But I’m still giving him the benefit of the doubt.”

He lifted his head to look at her again. “Just try to look at his behavior from the outside. If we can all see you have the hots for him, then there’s no way he hasn’t noticed. And, honestly, you’re beautiful. If he’s a straight man, he thinks so too.”

The grip on her own arm tightened as her cheeks flushed hot in both embarrassment and flattery. She avoided eye contact as she protested, “Oh my god, don’t say that.”

He snorted. “You know it’s true.”

“W-well… regardless… Part of being mature is being able to find someone attractive without doing anything about it.”

“And how’s that been working out so far?”

She stuck out her tongue at him. “It was working just fine for almost a year.”

“Uh huh, sure. We’ll see if it stays that way. Just be careful.”

***

Kayden began undressing immediately inside her front door, tossing her paint-soaked clothes into the stacked washer-dryer combination. Before starting the load, she gave herself a thorough scrub in the shower, deliberating over Vince’s words. The voice in her head that had been quieted was now back and sounded suspiciously just like her good friend.

What if he was right; what if Misha was hoping for more than friendship? Did it matter? Should she have avoided the job simply so she could pursue him sexually? It’s not like they would have a serious relationship anyway, so would it even be worth the risk?

Besides, which professor would she work for instead? Did any of the other math teachers need an assistant? Maybe she could demote herself to a grader position instead.

The work-study program was extremely helpful for paying her tuition, and while she could probably just take on extra hours at the diner in its place, it did technically pay more hourly, and even with the stress…she had to admit she liked being a TA.  Teaching was never her ultimate goal, but she felt a sense of fulfillment helping others succeed. She’d be dumb to throw away this rare opportunity for an undergraduate like her.

She stared at herself in the mirror, leaning on the counter as her wet curls dripped into the sink. The worry bubbled larger, finally pushing her thoughts to the most significant aspect of her conversation with Vince: what if Misha is the type to take advantage of his power and demand something immoral? If he was already so comfortable and confident to ask a student—his future assistant—for her phone number, what else was he comfortable doing?

More importantly: would Kayden dare say no? Would she even report him?

She sighed heavily, nibbling her lip as she realized she would be totally okay with it.

What am I thinking? There are plenty of men in this town I could fool around with without causing a scandal.

Besides, ultimately, a smart and successful man like Misha Kaiser would never settle for someone who doesn’t want to get married and have kids. All they could ever have is a fling. But then again, that’s what she was used to. That’s all she ever did. That’s what she was good at.

A grin crept over her lips as her mind wandered briefly, fantasizing about how they could manage a workplace tryst. They’d have to close the blinds on the window to the common area, of course, which would, in itself, draw suspicion. She imagined Misha sitting on the edge of his desk, bringing him closer to level with her height. She steps forward, nudging his legs apart with hers so that she can stand between them. Carefully, she unbuttons half of his dress shirt before grabbing the collar tightly to pull him in for a kiss. She strokes his chest hair…

Snapping back into reality, she sucked on her bottom lip, wondering what exactly he looked like under that shirt.

Her palm went to her forehead as she sighed. “Why do I do this to myself?” She knew that it wouldn’t be possible to take her fantasies into the real world… but surely a little daydreaming now and then couldn’t hurt, regardless of the flame it stoked. After all, fantasy was all she could have of him.

Besides, just because she got flustered at the mere sight of Misha didn’t mean he noticed nor had any intention of doing anything about it. He just seemed too genuine and forthcoming to be an insidious actor waiting to prey on her or anyone else.

Thinking of the day she met him—all stoic and reserved—she reached for her phone and began typing him a message, asking if he would be teaching a class again this summer, but she refrained from hitting ‘send’ as soon as she noticed the late hour. They weren’t that good of friends.

Were they? What if she did send it? What if he was awake, and answered right away? Or, worse, what if he saw it when he woke up and questioned why she would have been thinking of him at midnight?

The last thing she wanted was to come on too strong.

She pressed the home button to exit her messages and then locked the screen, finally finishing tucking herself into bed to drift off to a lewd dream world.