Bimbo Builder Academy

"Being a professor doesn't automatically make me blind." I started with a joke, to try and ease the tightness that gripped my chest. "I try to see all students for their minds, of course, but every school has those attendees who are..." I struggled for a second. "Above average, if we consider their physical attributes."

Alternatively,

I thought.

We have Brighton Barnsworth. Where all the students could be supermodels.

I felt strange talking about this with Lena, my words fumbling and awkward, but the she just laughed softly. The beautiful young woman rolled over onto her side, shoving tangled blonde hair away from her face. "Obviously," she agreed. "I could tell you had a thing for Natalie since day one."

"Hmm..." I grimaced, and the girl immediately looked abashed.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, glancing away. "I was just trying to tease."

I blew out a breath.

It's not her fault you didn't have enough restraint to stay faithful,

I told myself.

Not Natalie's fault, either.

I swallowed.

Just mine.

"It's alright," I said. "I'm just... Going to tell you this story. I don't like thinking about it, so I'm going to make it as quick as possible."

Lena nodded, tucking some stray hairs behind her ear. It was a cute, innocent gesture, and now her green eyes rose back up to watch me closely in the semidarkness of the bedroom. The curtains were drawn, and I let myself sink down into the bed as I pulled up the memories.

"Juliana was a student of mine," I said. It was impossible to mention her without remembering the first time she'd walked into my class. Like Natalie, Juliana went for a classic schoolgirl vibe: plaid skirt, simple white blouse. She even wore those round glasses that amplified the whole effect.

I was older now, by experience if not by too much time, and I knew that I should have been more careful. From the first, I had recognized that my image of Juliana wasn't purely cold and professional. But I had been confident in myself. I knew I was good at my job, and I had assumed that because I knew how to teach I knew how to keep myself in check. I guess it was just a dangerous combination. My overconfidence, her beauty. Both of our desires to be the very best. That was what had brought us together, after all.

"The day after I passed back the first midterm tests, Juliana was in my office." My eyes slid closed as I slipped into the flow. "She was frustrated. With herself. The class was graded on a curve, and she hadn't scored well enough to be in the top 5%." It all seemed so silly now. Grades and tests and curves. I could imagine Juliana's curves, now. Those hadn't been silly. But I stopped myself. At the Academy, we were dealing with real problems. Scary ones. Matters of life and liberty and crime and... to some degree, slavery. It was enough to make me shudder.

The story,

I ordered.

Nothing more.

"She insisted that I tutor her," I continued. "Said that she would pay me for my time, generously, and that I could make sure she was in the top of her class. She would work hard, she said. She wanted to be the best, and she told me that she could tell I appreciated hard work and talent."

I felt the mattress move beneath us as Lena shifted her weight.

"It wasn't usual at Denton, for a professor to work one on one with a student, but there were no real rules against it. I knew that the school sponsored a peer-to-peer tutoring program, but I also knew that I was more qualified to tutor my own student than some mathematics grad student." I sighed, not opening my eyes. "I'm prideful when it comes to my work, Lena. Or at least, I was. I knew I was good, thought I was the best. It made me think that the rules didn't apply to me. And Juliana read me like a book. She said exactly the right things to get me to help her."

I hesitated, my thoughts jumping forward to the end of the story, and Lena kissed my shoulder softly. I opened my eyes, and her concerned face was resting on the pillow beside me.

"You don't have to..." she started to say, but I shook my head.

"I've been avoiding it for too long. It's good to say it all out loud. To someone who isn't judging. To someone who hasn't already made their judgements." I gave her a thoughtful look. "Unless you have...?"

Lena chewed her lip. "I know what I said last night at the party. But... I guess I was just trying to get a reaction. It seemed so normal, just to poke and prod people. To try and figure out how to make them upset. Like a game that I played." She frowned. "It doesn't seem very nice, now."

Her conditioning,

I thought.

She was trained to do it. She did it to Harrison. She did it to me. All part of her act. Just like Joseph Clayton intended...

But we were getting ahead of ourselves.

"I'm not judging you," Lena continued. "We all make mistakes. You're helping me, now. If you hadn't left Denton, you wouldn't be. I guess I should probably be grateful for whatever happened, really, instead of wasting time judging."

I swallowed.

Grateful...

I couldn't find it in myself to be grateful for what had happened. I nodded, though. "Thanks."

Lena shifted closer, closing her eyes. "I'm listening," she said gently, and her tone was soothing. "Just talk through it."

"Yeah. Okay..." I collected my thoughts again. "Things started off easy. In the classroom, things continued as before. At the end of my workday, Juliana would come by my office for extra tutoring. It was a great arrangement. Juliana's parents were extremely well off, and they had no issue spending money on tutoring fees. I got to spend a little more time on mathematics, make a bit of extra money and enjoy some time with a student who had an obvious passion. I had nothing at home I needed to get back to because Julia worked late often. So it wasn't like I was missing out on quality time." I frowned, trailing off.

Julia...

I coughed. "When I was home alone, I drank. Not a lot. But most nights, you know, I would have a beer or two." I shifted uncomfortably. "Well, maybe a couple more than that. But I was in good shape and work was going well, and Julia and I were happy. So I told myself it wasn't an issue. Drinking wasn't impacting my life."

I didn't like to talk about this.

Just get through it.

"Anyhow. It was a month or so into tutoring that Juliana first came on to me. It was a subtle thing, just a bit of flirting, but I did the right thing. Or so I thought. I ignored it, pretended I didn't notice. I figured that would be enough to make it go away."

Lena snorted softly at that, murmured. "Smart, Mitch." When I glanced over she rolled her eyes at me.

I sighed, then had to huff a chuckle as well. "Yeah," I agreed. "Obviously I could have handled it better. But I was enjoying the sessions. She was smart and interested and I got to talk about concepts that would have bored the other students to tears. Juliana was happy because her grades were going straight up. She was going right to the top of the class, and I think she liked feeling like she was the smartest. The best. I could tell, 'cause..." I shrugged. "Well, because that's how I felt, a lot of the time. It was like I had found a kindred spirit, of sorts."

And it was dangerous.

I hadn't realized it at the time, but the relationship I had been developing with Juliana was more than professional. I hadn't been interested in her romantically, but she was a great student. Attentive, bright, driven. And being easy on the eyes obviously hadn't hurt. When she'd started to express an interest in me, I'd been flattered. I should have been more cautious, but I assumed that it was just a momentary thing and after it passed things could continue as they had been — good. I should have known better. Throwing more variables into the equation inevitably makes things more difficult. And feelings are the most volatile variables of all.

"What happened?" Lena asked, as I thought about how differently things might have gone. "What finally tipped things over the edge?"

I nodded, adjusted myself on the pillows. When I continued, it was in a flat, emotionless voice. "It was the end of a long day of work. Juliana and I had a session that ended... poorly. We sat next to each other at the table in my office and she would lean up against me or touch my arm and shoulder when she didn't need to, lingering. I was flustered and tried to focus on the material, right up until she stopped working entirely. She turned to me and... she leaned in, fluttering those eyelashes of hers..."

I glanced over and saw that Lena was watching me carefully.

"I didn't do anything!" I felt like I was protesting my innocence, not for the first time, though the blonde's expression wasn't remotely accusatory. "I flinched back. Knocked my chair over, even. I told her that it was inappropriate for me to be working so closely with a student and that she should consider our sessions together... over." I looked away, not wanting to meet her green gaze.

"What happened next?" Lena's voice was soft and coaxing. It was such a far cry from how I'd come to expect her to act, and I wondered if this was who she really was. Without all the Brighton Barnsworth conditioning.

I swallowed. I told her, but as I did... It was like I was reliving it.

I fumbled out of my office, snatching up my things. I was shaken. It felt like I'd done something wrong, really wrong, even though I had finally put a stop to things with Juliana. I needed someone to talk to, to help me see things straight, but calling Julia went straight to voicemail. I knew she wouldn't be home, and I didn't want to go home. I went to a bar, instead.

I was three beers deep before I stopped to think. Why had this happened? Why did I feel so shaken? It couldn't have been because I was blindsided. I had known that Juliana had some sort of... crush on me. But I just couldn't get it out of my head, her frozen, embarrassed, flushed expression when I'd told her that we were done.

Another beer gone. And another. I was pleasantly buzzed, distracted from the confusing whirlwind of thoughts that tried to pin me down. I was in the wrong. I should have done something sooner. Stopped my student before it came to this. But I knew how to make it better...

"I was going to tell Julia what happened." I sank down into the mattress. "But first, I wanted to try and fix things between us. I was so scared, I think, that one of the reasons I'd let things go so far with Juliana was that I was craving some kind of... I don't know. Fun, flirtatious, something-or-other... Something that me and Julia had been missing. We both worked a lot, and she had her own... hang-ups. And I guess I wanted to prove to myself that we weren't broken."

I paused, and Lena's hand rubbed gently at my shoulder. Not teasing or flirting, calming. I relaxed into the pleasant sensation. "I was planning to send her some texts for when she got off work. Just to show her I was in a sexy mood and thinking about her..." I swallowed again. Just like I'd swallowed down my next beer. Or maybe it was a shot, at that point. It was hard to remember. Other events crowded out those memories. "I've always told myself that it was an accident, that I was intending to text Julia and my clumsy, drunk fingers accidentally hit Juliana's contact name instead. I had her number because sending emails back and forth to schedule every session was getting to be a pain. I

want

to believe that's what happened." I hesitated. I'd never told anyone this before. Not this part. "But... I can't be sure that it wasn't some sort of Freudian slip. Like I secretly wanted things to go further with Juliana..."

"I'm not judging..." Lena's voice was soft. "Just finish."

I nodded. "I went to the bathroom at the bar. I..." I cleared my throat. "I sent photos... Nothing over the top. Especially between a long-term couple. But from a professor to one of his students...?" I trailed off.

"Not good," the girl beside me filled in.

Yeah. Understatement of the century.

"Julia, somehow, understood my mistake." My voice was low and robotic again. "She made me promise to quit drinking, but she stuck by me. Trusted me. The school, on the other hand... I was out. Quickly. And it was only by some miracle that it didn't turn into a media shitstorm."

A minute of silence. Lena, I assumed, was absorbing everything I'd just said. I was marveling at it, once again.

God, Mitch... You're supposed to

solve

problems for a living. How do you keep creating so many of them for yourself?

"What happened with Juliana?"

I took a slow breath, then shrugged. "I haven't been in a room with her since I walked out on our tutoring session. Everything after that was done through intermediaries."

"Oh."

"Yeah," I sighed, my voice just a murmur. "Fucking disaster."

* * *

It was Lena who pushed herself up first, leaning on one elbow beside me. She looked over, her body model-slim and alluring in the darkened room. I knew it was probably late morning or early afternoon. But in the bedroom, with drawn curtains, it was like an eternal dark evening. Or a safe, quiet cocoon.

"Thank you for telling me what really happened." Lena looked sincere and earnest, her face drawn together into a concerned expression. "I'm sorry for pressing you."

I took a deep breath, grunted and rolled up into a sitting position. I pushed myself back until I was leaning against the headboard. "It's not your fault," I said, shaking my head. "It's probably good to tell the story once in a while. Let it out. Keep it from getting too heavy."

The girl nodded, then pursed her lips. She looked like she was about to say something, then stopped herself.

"I get it," I said. I forced a smile. "We can't just sit around. We have to do something. You don't have unlimited time. And neither do I. If we're going to actually do something about this, it needs to be sooner rather than later."

"Yeah," Lena agreed, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, Mitch. When I showed up at your place last night, I really wasn't intending all of this to happen. I didn't...

know

what was going to happen. I just knew that I needed to see you, after everything that had happened. I knew, somehow, that I would feel safer. And I

did.

" She hesitated, but didn't look away this time. "I

do.

"

I was kissing her before I realized I had moved, my hand gently holding the back of her head and pulling her toward me. She melted into the kiss, and I felt her soft lips moving against mine, her breath ragged. What she'd said... Maybe she was only saying it because of what I'd done to her with the LucidSpecs. But it was what I needed to hear. I needed someone to tell me I was the good guy, even when I felt like less than zero.

I pulled back a moment later, breathing hard. I stared into her face and saw the belief in her eyes. She trusted me, I realized. And that trust... it made me know that we had to get to the bottom of this. I

knew

, now, what was going on at the Brighton Barnsworth Academy. It was no longer a mystery. It was a concrete problem.

A problem that we were going to solve, step by step. We would stack fact on fact until we knew where we stood, and then we would tear Joseph Clayton's institution apart brick by brick. Because of what he'd done to me, and Lena, and Natalie, and everyone else he'd ever manipulated.

There was just a single thought, a niggling doubt in my mind.

If he doesn't stop you first.

* * *

"We can't go to the police. Or anyone, really." It was a reality that had to be addressed as I emerged from the comfort of the darkened bedroom. I had wrapped myself in a bathrobe, thick and fluffy white with an ornate R on the breast. "I don't know about you, but I can't talk about the Academy to anyone outside it."

Lena nodded hesitantly, looking worried. She followed me out of the bedroom in a robe of her own. From her blonde, shoulder-length hair to her pert breasts and her long, slim legs, she looked every bit the gorgeous runway model. I wondered if she had been a model, ever.

In a previous life?

I joked to myself. The joke soured when I realized that anything that she'd done before the Academy might as

well

have been a different life. I hurried to move on. "That means that it's down to us," I continued. "The only people who can bring down the Academy are the people who are already on the inside."

Lena blew out a breath, and her thoughtful expression was the same one she made in class when I had given them a particularly difficult question. It was cute. "So what are we going to do, Mitch?"

I chewed my lip, walking across the living room. My hangover seemed far away, crowded out by bigger problems. "First," I said. "I'm going to have a

lot

more coffee. Then, we're going to line up our problems and solve them. Simple as one, two, three."

I hoped that I sounded more confident than I felt.

* * *

I borrowed Lena's hoodie to go downstairs to the gift shop. We both needed new clothes, and I thought it might be a good idea if both of us had some alone time.

I stood in the elevator, shifting my weight and looking at myself in the big mirror on one wall. I probably didn't look like the usual clientele that patronized this establishment. My slacks were rumpled but obviously expensive, my dress shoes were the only ones I'd had the time to slip onto my feet when I was leaving my apartment last night, but the sweatshirt was slightly too small on my broad-shouldered frame. I definitely had a

business on the bottom, snuggle on top

vibe.

"Think, Mitch," I ordered myself.

"You have to solve this."

I juggled variables as the elevator

dinged

open and I walked through the lobby. It was a big, expensive space that matched the opulence of the hotel room, but I crossed it swiftly without looking left or right. I strode into the glass-walled gift shop.

The woman behind the counter was young, with dark hair that she had pulled back and up behind her head. Several strands fell around her face, framing pretty features.

"Hello," she said with a bright smile. "Can I help you?"

I tightened my jaw.

Not every woman with dark hair can make you think about Julia,

I scolded myself. But, still, I felt my stomach drop away and my chest tighten, and I couldn't speak for a moment as emotion welled up in my throat. I just swallowed and shook my head, grunting noncommittally. Feeling foolish, I turned toward the racks of blouses, polos, skirts, hats, jackets and other paraphernalia.

I tried to focus on the task at hand. Lena and I needed clothes if we were going to go anywhere and avoid looking out of place. Not that I knew where we would be going, or even... Abruptly, I realized that I didn't know what hotel we were in.

I walked in between several shelves, leaning down look at the writing across the front of one of the baseball caps.

Regent,

I read.

Huh.

I'd never heard of it before, but the place was obviously expensive. Checking one of the price tags, I nearly choked.

"Sir?" The attentive brunette's voice was tinged with a professional level of concern. "Are you alright?"

I waved a hand over my shoulder, then gave a thumbs up.

Suck it up, Mitch,

I thought. But all my brain wanted to do was think about the subtractions to my bank account. I shook my head, then made up my mind. I turned back to the salesgirl and she looked up brightly. I couldn't tell if she'd been waiting attentively for me to glance over or if she'd been working on something, but she gave me a look that simply oozed helpfulness.

"Um..." I swallowed. "Actually," I screwed up my face in what I intended to be a hopeful, yet concerned expression. "I want to buy a gift for my... ahem, girlfriend." Referring to Lena as my girlfriend felt so strange, but the woman seemed attentive, without judgement. I reminded myself that she didn't care one way or another about my reason for buying, just that I purchased something. "But I'm afraid..." I gestured vaguely at the racks and shelves of clothes. "I don't know how to put together an outfit. Do you think you could help me out?"