Chapter 10. Don’t Be Afraid, It’s Me

Crystal screamed at the realization that she had been, for all intent and purposes, playing with Nathan’s genitals, and she pulled her hand away quickly, as a child might do after accidentally touching a hot burner. But, like a cruel mother who thinks that her child hasn’t quite learned their lesson yet, Nathan grabbed her hand and held it where it was.

“Who’s there?” Crystal shouted as she tried to withdraw her hand.

“It’s me,” Nathan replied, and then he began to laugh. “Who else would be wandering the hallway with their dingus hanging out?!?!?” Crystal stopped screaming and stammered in confusion: “Prof… Professor Davis?”

“Yes,” Nathan replied. “Don’t be afraid it’s me.”

Crystal began to calm down, and she was surprised by how easily Nathan’s words had settled her nerves. The feelings she got when he spoke were like those she’d had when she was climbing a tree as a child. When she got too high to come down, her grandfather had always stood under the tree,