Chapter 23: Confrontation

Professor James rolled his eyes, feeling annoyed that everything had to be distracted, most especially the fact that he was ready to face Lily. He did not mind making Lily his bad student, but he would not just let her humiliate him like that. 

"You came at the wrong time. So stand there, because you still get scolded for coming late to your first class ever. Your first time in university, your first everything, and this is how you do it. It's very wrong," he said. 

He turned to Lily and then back to Tricia. 

"Lily, what exactly were you saying? What did you mean by I did not give her community service? I actually gave it to her, but it seems as though she did not do it. So why exactly are you putting it down as my own blame?" he questioned. 

"I am not putting it down as your own fault. That's the truth. I knew we were going to do this. I knew you would do this. I knew you would twist everything and see she's not the one that did it. Isabella, stand up and prove to us that you did not do it. You are going to take us there. Me and you would go to the janitor and prove if truly Professor James had named that you would be one of the people to clean a particular place in this school. And if there is no proof, then you have just made the matter even more complicated," Lily insisted. 

Isabella stood up, no words to utter. She just stared at James and then back at Lily. 

"I don't know what you want me to do. Yes, I forgot about the community service because I woke up late, and not only are we going to go to the janitor to get evidence. I have somebody else who wants to help me. Alex. He wanted to help me, Prof, but because I woke up late, he left," Isabella said. 

Just as Lily had questioned her, the idea struck her that she could actually use Alex. Since Alex was persistent, wanting to know why she did not go for the community service, this was more than enough proof. At least this way, Alex would have no choice but to believe her. John stared at her and could not help but smile. Even though nobody's attention was on him, Isabella was staring keenly at him. She knew that John knew exactly what was going on but was just pretending and acting all innocent. 

Lily, at first, was lost in thoughts. No speech, no way to attack Isabella because now Isabella said she had not just one person but two people who could vouch for her that she was meant to do community service. She turned to Professor James and then angrily stormed out of her seat and towards him. 

She stood just a few inches away from him and muttered, "You need to stop this. I saw you last night. I saw the both of you last night, and I have proof. I am only trying to cover this up. Don't let me cover it up for too long; you are making it so obvious." 

Lily muttered before walking out of the class, leaving Isabella and everyone stunned. Isabella slowly sat down in her seat while James was still in astonishment. Does this mean that Lily was at the scene last night and heard everything he said? 

Now, with the little stunt that Lily had just played, everyone's attention was fixed on Isabella and then James. James felt so frustrated that he turned to John and angrily pointed for him to go and sit down. Same with the other girls that he was scolding. They all quietly walked away as most of them began to whisper to themselves. James did not care and started his lectures in that way. 

He got so frustrated and tired just because all he wanted to do was protect Isabella. But instead, he got himself into a very complicated problem. Not even at this moment when Isabella prioritized Alex more than him, it frustrated him even more. As he continued to scrub down words on the board, one of the students stood up as she called to him. 

He turned around with a frown. 

"What?" he questioned. 

"You have taught us this subject before and you are writing exactly everything from yesterday. Should we just jot it down, or do you have a reason why you are rewriting it?" she questioned as James looked at the board and noticed his attention was not there, and because of that, he had already scrubbed down rubbish. He took the duster and quickly cleaned it off as most of the students laughed like they were mocking him. 

He did not say a word because he knew he had fallen into the traps of manipulative students. All thanks to Lily. Lily would have to face him no matter what. But first, he would have to deal with Isabella. 

After the lectures were done, he went back to his office and brought out his phone. As he called Isabella, just then, he heard her ringing close to the door. She opened the door and, as she slammed it, she made sure to lock it immediately. James tried his best to stay calm, but as Isabella tried to corner from the table and come towards him, he pointed back to the chair opposite the table. 

"Go back and sit down. Don't come anywhere close to me," he warned. 

She looked surprised as her hands were still wide open in preparation to hug him. She slowly stepped back and went to the chair that he pointed to. 

"I am so sorry I could not make it yesterday. I explained everything to you. I just knew that you would not be able to understand me, and I really, really apologize for that," she said as James could not help but laugh. 

"Is that really what matters now? Is your desire the only thing that matters to you now? Did you just see what happened a few hours ago, or were you so daft to notice that everything was happening because of you? Everything that happened there at that moment. The reason why Lily's attention is on me is because of you. You still had the nerve to walk directly into my office after lectures? Don't you know that students will be lurking around waiting to see you come inside here just for them to make everything that Lily says be nothing but the truth? Do you know that Lily now would be seen like a hero trying to save them from me, even though you were the one who came to me? 

You tried to hesitate, but you wanted it, and you could not stand up for yourself when you knew I gave you community service which was not actually community service. Why couldn't you find something to do when you know that Lily is the kind of person who would always investigate and want to know more? Why are you just making things worse for me? You already told me yesterday you prioritized Alex over me. You kept him specially for yourself. I knew nothing about him, so I think it would be better if it stays that way. Let's give ourselves that little break that we need." 

James said to Isabella, who laughed. 

"Are you really for real now? Was our little charade actually going to lead to something? You never told me our charade was something special. I thought we were just using and dumping each other. All of a sudden, now it seems as though you are trying to put a name on what you are doing. It does not have a name, and you cannot just quit after everything you have done," Isabella threatened.