Forward, Without Him Chapter 11

Forward, Without Him Chapter 11

Dead silence on the line.
Then her voice came back, different.
“You know?”
I didn’t deny it.
“Columbia tuition is probably not something you’ll be needing anymore.”
“What do you mean–”
I didn’t answer. I hung up.
Then I opened my email and sent a message marked urgent to Columbia’s Admissions Office and the Office of Student Conduct.
Subject line, short:
[Report] Columbia students Ethan Hayes and Lexi Brooks — alleged identity theft and unauthorized computer access
In the body, I laid out exactly what happened. I attached the screenshot of Ethan’s text confirming what he’d done. I also requested that the school pull the IP address audit log from my portal around May 1st of last year. And I included the screenshots of Lexi’s DMs.
The next morning, Ethan hadn’t gone back to New York.
I have no idea how he talked his way onto MIT’s campus. But there he was, waiting outside my lecture hall.
The second the professor dismissed us, he stepped forward and pushed a cup toward me.
“Taylor. Your oat milk latte.”
“I know we’re in different cities now. But I promise I’ll fly to Boston every single weekend.”
I threw the coffee in the trash without breaking stride.
I picked up my bag to leave. He moved to block me.
“Can I take you to lunch? Seafood, Italian, whatever you want.”
“Ethan.”
I stopped. Looked at him for a long moment.
“You don’t need to waste any more time on me.”
“If I were you, I’d go back to New York and start figuring out what’s left of your academic career.”
He didn’t catch what I was actually saying. Just looked at me with that wounded, sincere expression.
“No amount of time is wasted if it means getting you back.”
He had the look of someone being completely genuine.
Too bad the only thing I felt looking at him now was tired.