After that first night, things took a surprising turn. I mean, I wasn't expecting Evan and I to fall into some kind of wonderful, blissful domestic situation, but I wasn't expecting him to keep his distance the way he had been.

"Well, welcome again," said Evan that first night as he finished his glass of wine. "It goes without saying, but make yourself at home."

With that, he got up, took his glass to the kitchen, and went to bed. I was left there all alone, not sure of what to do. Was it expected that I'd sleep in his bed with him? Just how real was this fake relationship going to be? I considered these questions as I sat in front of the fire, which was now a smoldering pile of embers. I spun my ring on my finger and bit my lip.

Finally, I decided to just go to my new bedroom, where I had a restless sleep. In the morning, Evan prepared a nice breakfast of French toast for Darla and me before heading into his office to work on material for the majority of the day.

"Can we go to the park?" asked Darla as she stood by the window, her eyes on the red and orange leaves that fell from the tall oak trees in the front yards.

"Sure," I said.

"Then to the pet store to look at cats?" she asked, turning back towards me with an excited expression on her face.

"I don't see why not, little lady," I said.

So that's how we passed the day. Luckily, I'd made the decision to get all of my hard classes out of the way in my first few years at school, so now all that remained were easy-peasy intro classes that weren't too demanding, giving me plenty of time to relax and spend time with Darla. We went off to the park, where Darla stomped and played in whatever leaves she could find, and afterward we went to the pet store, where she happily played with every single kitten that was there.

Afterwards, we decided to grab some sandwiches at one of the local cafes where students went to study. As soon as we walked in, however, I felt the heat of many pairs of eyes on me. Chalking it up to my paranoia, Darla and I went to the counter to order our food. In the kitchen, I spotted a girl that I'd had an English literature class with last semester. She looked at me sneakily before whispering something to one of the other cooks.

Once Darla and I got our food and started a search for an open table, I realized that the staring that I'd been imagining was not at all in my head. The students in the place were all stealing glances, taking quick peeks and whispering to one another. My skin felt hot and my stomach felt tight.

I knew that they could only be talking about one thing.

Darla, of course, was oblivious to all of this. Happily munching on her sandwich, she recounted the cats she'd played with, constructing a list of cuteness.

"That's her," one of the students whispered.

"That's the girl that fucked Professor McCall," said another.

"That's her?" said a girl. "I wasn't expecting her to look like that."

I could barely take it. My food sitting untouched in front of me, I was overcome with the urge to leave.

"Hey kid, what do you think of taking off?"

"Fine," said Darla. "I only have the crusts left anyway, and they're gross."

We hurried out of the place and headed back home. After putting on a movie for Darla, I sat down at the kitchen table and thought worriedly about my circumstance. I wanted to talk to Evan, but he ended up being distant that entire weekend.

The next week, my first back on campus since moving in, was just as bad. Students gossiped everywhere I went, and the few friends I had one campus were avoiding me so they wouldn't get caught up in what was going on with me. And every night I'd come home to Evan being distant. Whenever he'd talk to me it would be in the tone of a professor speaking with a student in office hours who was asking him for clarification on one of the subjects covered in class. The warmth between us seemed to have vanished, and I didn't understand why. My time with Darla ended up being one of the only happy points of staying at Evan's.

A few days into the week, I found myself tossing and turning in bed, restless and unable to sleep. I wondered just what I'd gotten into, and if it was something that I'd even be able to bear.