Fall from Love

chair. “God, men are such idiots. They’ll find any reason to start throwing punches. So tell me, what happened?”
    Professor Langford saves me by walking into class, making the stares and murmurs die down.
    “We are so talking about this later.” Becca sits up straight in her seat and flips open her notebook, preparing to take notes. Just as he opens his mouth to speak my cell phone starts to ring, causing the entire class to shift in their seats and look in my direction. Shit .
    Professor Langford sighs. “It seems that someone has forgotten the rules. Cell phones are to remain off or on silent during class.” My face is on fire as I reach into my bag and fumble around until I have my phone in my hands. My heart pounds when I see Carter’s name flash across the screen. I reject the call and the class turns back around as the lecture begins. I turn the ringer on silent, but then an overwhelming need to leave class and call him back takes over.
    “Becca,” I whisper through my teeth.
    She leans over and tilts her head in my direction, but keeps her eyes focused on the professor who’s writing something on the board.
    “Can I get a copy of your notes later? I have to leave.”
    She turns to face me and gives me a please-tell-me-you’re-kidding-me-right-now look.
    “It’s kind of an emergency,” I continue.
    “Um, so is this class.” Her voice is barely above a whisper. “He’s about to go over what will be on the test... you know, the killer ones.”
    I nod. “I know. Just take really good notes, okay? I’ll call you later.” I shove my notebook into my backpack and slide out of my seat as quietly as possible. The professor is facing the whiteboard and I’m only a few steps away from the door when he turns around and zeros in on me.
    “Do we have somewhere we need to be, Ms. Treadwell?”
    Shit , he knows who I am… so much for blending in. My body freezes a few feet from the door. I swallow a couple times and I can feel the entire class’s eyes on me.
    “Yeah, I have to leave. It’s kind of an emergency.” My knees are shaking now and I wait for him to threaten my grade, or tell me to sit back down, but he doesn’t. Instead, he stares at me for a short moment, nods his head and turns back towards the board.
    My legs move again and I hurry out the door before he changes his mind. Once I’m a safe distance from the classroom, I lean back up against the wall and place my hand on my chest. My heart is beating so hard, I’m afraid it is about to explode. Professor Langford knows who I am. He knows me by name and I just walked out of his class. The professor who has a reputation for flunking students for one freaking absence! The professor that gives out killer tests, the same tests that can totally cause me to not graduate if I flunk one. What the hell am I thinking? I’m so freaking screwed.
    To be honest, I’m not sure what drove me to get up and leave. I told both Becca and Professor Langford that it’s an emergency. Calling Carter back isn’t really an emergency, but I just know that I can’t wait until class is out to talk to him. When I get my breathing under control, I pull my phone out, scroll to his name and my thumb rolls over the call button for a second before I finally hit it.
    “Hey,” he answers on the first ring.
    “Hi.” I swallow back my nerves. “How are you?”
    He doesn’t answer me, but I know he’s there because I can hear him breathing.
    “Are you okay?” I ask, sensing something’s not right.
    “I’m—I don’t know what I am anymore.” His words are almost incoherent.
    “Have you been drinking?”
    He sighs. “Maybe.”
    “Where are you?”
    “Home. In bed.” His voice sounds muffled.
    “Is Josh there?”
    I hear a lot of static and then a loud clunk. “Hello?” Panic shoots through me as I press the phone harder against my ear.
    “Shit, sorry. I dropped the phone,” his slurred voice comes back over the line.
    “Are you alone?” I’m already outside and jogging down the steps, heading towards my car.
    “Uh, yeah. Why?”
    “I’m gonna come over.” I’m not sure why I just said that. I have no business going over there, especially when he’s like this, but for some reason, I don’t want him to be alone.
    “I don’t need a babysitter, Holly.”
    “I know,” I try to reassure him. “I’ve just finished up with school and… I, uh… I don’t feel like going home.” I roll my eyes and bite my lip at the poor attempt of