Page 44 of Bend Him, Break Him

Isaac found himself aimless without Colton.

So much of his semester had revolved around Colton—controlling him, guiding him, screwing him, loving him.

Fuck. When had this hateful obsession turned into devoted dedication?

He knew the answer as well as he knew that Colton wasn’t wrong in suspecting him, doubting him, questioning if this was all some ruse.

How Isaac wished it were, how he wished he could take credit for something so heinous and vile.

Being a villain in Colton’s story seemed easier than a confused, unworthy lover.

Everything about their relationship was wrong and broken, and this terrible act was the final crack that would divide them. He could feel it in his bones as he lay in bed, unable to sleep, in every nervous breath he took the following morning outside the dean’s office.

“Morning, Mr. Parker.” Another administrative member of some overpaid board came along and ushered Isaac to follow.

When he reached her office, he found himself in a room with four other individuals, including another student whom he surmised belonged to the disciplinary student panel.

“Oh, fucking joy,” he muttered under his breath.

“I’m Mrs. Hyman,” the administrator said before introducing the rest of the panel. Isaac didn’t bother wasting the brain cells necessary to store their names. “I don’t wish to mince words with you, Mr. Parker, but these actions are not how we at Clinton University conduct ourselves.”

“Never.” Isaac scoffed. “The University of Clinton Lloyd Institute of Technology takes the code of conduct to the extreme.”

He recalled how many team building trainings he had to attend as an RA the last two years because of incidents similar if not worse than his own claim to fame through online amateur porn.

Hell, he recalled the lacrosse team incident his freshman year, which likely explained why the university acted quickly during any type of athletic sex scandal.

“This isn’t a laughing matter or a joke of any sort,” Mrs. Hyman said, flipping through a code of conduct book.

“Of course not,” Isaac replied, ready to be done with the pretense of this bullshit meeting. “Tell me, is it cause our sex tape didn’t include any CLIT merch? Or clits in general? Would you have preferred I railed one of the cheerleaders instead?”

A cacophony of offended noises escaped Mrs. Hyman and a few others.

“I was going to ease us into this discussion, but you’re clearly too hostile for civil conversation,” Mrs. Hyman snapped, eyes furious and locked onto Isaac.

“Oh, no.” Isaac shook his head. “I say pop the hymen, Mrs. Hyman, and just hit me with the bad news.”

“Because of this inappropriate behavior and misconduct, you are being relieved of your position as an RA. Filming sexual involvement is against any code of conduct—”

“I didn’t film it,” Isaac shouted, shouted the way he wanted to when Colton questioned him, when Colton’s paranoia made him doubt Isaac’s earnest devotion to him. “I had nothing to do with the sex tape. A terrible one at that.”

Isaac had watched it, watched every expression on his face, on Colton’s, the words they both grunted throughout, and he wished he could undo that entire night.

Maybe he should’ve just rejected Colton’s invitation to go partying.

Maybe he should’ve insisted on dragging him back to his dorm instead of the ridiculous afterparty at the apartment. Maybe…

Maybe he shouldn’t have dated Colton to begin with.

“Until you have proof otherwise, we have to assume your role in this incident.” Mrs. Hyman shrugged, a real ‘fuck you’ gesture. “Also, given the scandalous choices you’ve made with a student under your charge, you’ll be removed from your TA position pending an investigation.”

“Oh, fuck off,” Isaac said with bitter disgust rolling off his tongue.

Was fucking a student in the class appropriate?

Probably not. Was there a rule about it?

Nope. He’d read the handbook a dozen times over.

And he’d seen enough TAs banging freshmen looking for help in a class to learn that no one gave a fuck who fucked who on campus as long as it didn’t make the front pages.

And his relations had. Not by his doing, though.

“Since you’re no longer an RA, you’ll be required to remove your belongings and vacate the dormitory by the end of the week. Anything left in the suite will be seized and properly disposed of.”

“Get fucked,” Isaac hissed, then stormed out of the office.

The long trek across campus didn’t assuage his rage; in fact, every step only added to his fury when he got back to his building.

Anyone foolish enough to speak to him got a curt ‘fuck off’ comment.

When he got to his suite, he started tossing his things into garbage bags as quickly as he could.

They were cheaper than suitcases, and he never needed to waste space by storing them when he could buy a new box of bags for any moving needs.

It helped vent his anger, carelessly throwing possessions into keep and trash piles.

They’d allotted him a week to collect his stuff and vacate the premises, but he wanted to be out by the end of the day.

Every fiber of his being wanted to run away from this campus and never look back, but he didn’t know where to go.

He didn’t know if this scandal would follow him, or worse, prevent him from attending a new university.

With a deep breath, Isaac tried to release his hatred for the campus. It wasn’t the school he hated. It was the bureaucracy lotted out by a handful that he despised.

He grabbed his phone and texted Mina about crashing at her place since she was the only friend he had who lived off campus. Well, the only one willing to offer him a couch for who knew how long since he’d lost his job and residency all in one fell swoop.

Mina didn’t require an explanation. She texted back with her address and a time when she’d be home.

Since Isaac still needed to clear his head and had a few hours to kill, he texted Jazz to hang at her place.

Was it convenient that she lived in the same apartment complex as Colton?

Maybe. Was there a chance Isaac would see Colton?

Unlikely. Did Isaac want to be nearby just in case the opportunity arose? Definitely.

Jazz didn’t reply, so Isaac decided to be the obnoxious friend who showed up unannounced and knocked on the door.

“Dumpster diving?” a cool voice asked with a laugh.

Isaac turned to see his former friend, William, breaking away from a small group and sauntering over. There was an air of arrogance about him, a confidence, a bravado of excitement as he slinked around Isaac.

“How the mighty have fallen.” William smirked. “To think, you kicked me out of GSA over a scandalous recording that never saw the light of day, and now, ironically—”

“You’re a fucking moron,” Isaac said through clamped teeth. “First off, you don’t know a damn thing about irony, so don’t use pretty words you can’t define.”

Isaac dropped his trash bags of possessions and closed the distance between him and William.

“Second, I didn’t kick you out; we collectively got rid of your sorry ass.”

William sneered.

“Third, it was never about the video. It was the outing.” Isaac glared, seeing only red.

Every part of William looked breakable, and he wondered how much hate he could release by hitting him.

“Finally, and this is the most important part, I warned you that if you ever showed your face again, I’d rearrange it. ”

William back stepped. “That was for Pride.”

“That was for life, motherfucker. Do I look like the kind of person to tolerate casual mockery?”

William tripped over his own feet, and Isaac cracked his knuckles. Before he had a chance to swing, William scrambled to his feet and ran away.

A pity. Isaac really wanted to break someone into pieces until his frustration subsided.

Isaac grabbed his things and continued walking to the apartments. He waited for someone to leave and then slipped inside since the doors required a key swipe to enter. When he knocked at the door, he could hear scrambling on the other side.

The door swung open, and a breathless Mina answered. “You’re early.”

Isaac scrunched his face and eyed Mina from head to toe. She was visibly flushed, her braids were tangled, and her shirt was on inside out.

“I take it you heard what happened.” Isaac walked right on in without waiting for an invitation.

“It’s been all over campus.” Mina had an apologetic expression. “How’s Colton?”

“Needs space,” Isaac sighed. “In the meantime, I got kicked out of my dorm and pretty much got fucked by this whole situation.”

“Well, you’re welcome to my couch as long as you need it.” Mina gestured absentmindedly to the apartment.

“Thanks.” Isaac dropped his garbage bags for the time being. “You can tell Jazz to come on out.”

Mina’s expression turned to phony confusion. “Huh?”

“Didn’t realize I was interrupting you two.”

“I honestly have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Mina, do I really need to embarrass you?” Isaac side-eyed her as he opened the bedroom door. “Is she under the bed or—”

The closet door creaked, and Jazz sheepishly stepped out.

“Hiding in the closet?” Isaac tsked. “Shame.”

“Not hiding,” Jazz insisted.

“Yeah,” Mina jumped in. “We’re not hiding anything. We’re just taking it slow, like you and Colton did.”

“Well, you two clearly need to work harder.”

“Oh, please.” Mina waved a dismissive hand. “You just got lucky.”

“We’re in Jazz’s apartment.” Isaac blinked a few times at them, waiting for the realization to hit.

They’d been so dazed and delirious in whatever the fuck they were doing that they’d literally forgotten whose bedroom they were messing around in. It was such an oddity; Isaac couldn’t help but smirk a bit.

“I don’t know what kind of pussy power you two are laying down on each other, but y’all might wanna consult a doctor about the memory loss.” Isaac’s grin grew wider the deeper Mina frowned. “I’m happy for you both.”

“Thank you.” Jazz beamed. “But also, don’t say anything.”

“My lips are sealed.”

They stood in silence for a few minutes before Jazz asked for more clarification on what had happened.

She wanted everything, all the details. This wasn’t her being nosy; this was her sleuthing, searching for clues, checking for campus missteps.

Already, before Isaac got to the part about his meeting with Mrs. Hyman, Jazz was calling into question the ethics behind Isaac’s punishment.

If Jazz had it her way, she’d march the entire GSA and other club committees down there right this minute, but she stayed calm and listened to Isaac.

“The worst part is that I know this was all Leon,” Isaac said, glowering. “I just have no way of proving how he did any of this. I mean, he’s not going to admit to filming us, to uploading it. Hell, I doubt he’d even admit to picking Colton’s lock or knowing how to pick a lock, for that matter.”

“He wouldn’t need to,” Jazz said, grabbing her apartment room key and using it on her door. “See, my key.”

“Seriously, does pussy pounding cause brain damage?” Isaac asked Mina almost playfully, but he still got a hard smack on the chest and a wicked giggle from her.

Mina smiled. “Only if you know what you’re doing.”

“Now, watch.” Jazz walked over to her roommate’s door and used the same key to open it. “Cookie cutter keys.”

“Who the hell said you could open my door?”

Jazz slammed it shut as something crashed into it. “She’s in a mood.”

“Bitch is always in a mood.” Mina shot a glare at the closed door like she was ready to bust it wide open again and explain why a nasty attitude wasn’t wise.

“Wait. It’s the same keys for every apartment?”

“Not every apartment,” Jazz explained. “They vary from one apartment to the next, but most of the bedrooms inside an apartment have the same locking mechanism or one so close, a little jiggling is all it takes.”

“That’s fucked!” Isaac reached for his phone and prepared to text Colton the info before remembering he needed space. “Can you…um… Could you pass that along to Colton? He should be aware.”

“Sure thing.”

Isaac sat silently, absorbing everything that’d unfolded today, missing Colton and the sliver of happiness he’d carved out this semester.