CHAPTER 15
EMMA
It’s close to the end of the spring semester, and I’m weeks away from being done dealing with Professor A-hole. His Shakespearean acting class has been enlightening, and after several months, it’s obvious why this class is paired with the writing one. While reading the Bard’s works is gratifying, they were meant to be performed, and I often find that the cadence of reading it aloud helps me work out the meaning when I’m having difficulty with a particular passage.
Our final assignment for the semester requires us to act out pivotal scenes with a partner. When I enter the classroom, my acting partner Jeremy is noticeably absent. I slink down into a desk, hoping to remain invisible for the rest of class. There’s not much I can do if Jeremy isn’t here, so I pull out my script and look over my lines.
“Miss Black, why aren’t you rehearsing?” Professor A-hole stops right in front of me. I can feel everyone’s eyes on me as I shrink in my seat.
“My scene partner isn’t here.” I try to keep the snark out of my tone, but there’s just something about this man that gets under my skin. I want to slap him in the face, but he’s also soattractive that I want to kiss him at the same time, and I’m not sure how I feel about all of that.
“Get up.” Several more heads turn our way at his command.
“What—”
“I’m going to fill in for your scene partner.” He gestures toward the small stage in the corner of the classroom. The layout of this room is much different from the lecture hall last semester, far more intimate. Most of the class has taken up spots around the room and in the hallway to rehearse.
“But I only have my copy of the script,” I protest, desperate for a reason why this shouldn’t happen.
“Don’t need it. I know that scene by heart. Played Benedick in college,” he volleys back, stepping up on the stage.
“That must have been decades ago,” I mutter. Holy frick! Why did I just say that out loud? I never talk back to teachers. I grimace, looking up at him to gauge his reaction. There’s a hint of a smirk on his face, but he schools his features quickly, his standard scowl back in place.
“Can we go out in the hall? Or maybe your office or another classroom?” Suddenly I’m full of nervous energy at the thought of my peers watching me perform this scene with my hot professor.
“Actually,” he starts in a voice that is way too loud to just be addressing me, “I think this is a great learning opportunity for the class.”
Kill me now.
“But you don’t know our blocking, and I only have one script,” I repeat, desperate to get out of this.
“Honestly, you should be off book by now, Miss Black,” he retorts, and my cheeks burn with embarrassment.
“I am… mostly.”
“And I’ll follow your lead on the blocking.” He crosses his arms tilting his chin up at me.
Gripping my script tightly in my hands, I can feel the papercrumple as I slowly inhale through my nose, nodding at him once I take my mark and begin.
“Lady Beatrice, have you wept all this while?”
I turn my back to him. “Yea, and I will weep a while longer.”
He takes a step closer to me, and I swear I can feel the warmth of his body. “I will not desire that.” His voice is rough, and I swear I can hear desire in it. This is nothing like how Jeremy acts the scene with me, and it throws me off guard.
“You have no reason. I do it freely.” I’m so used to playing this bit with humor, and I awkwardly wait for laughs that don’t come.
“Surely I do believe your fair cousin is wronged.”
“Ah, how much might the man deserve of me that would right her!” Our dynamic is off. I feel like a petulant child acting next to him.
“Is there any way to show such friendship?” He steps closer, my back to his front. The desire to lean back against him is strong and confusing. But there’s only one person’s touch that I crave, and it is not this man’s.
“A very even way, but no such friend.”
“May a man do it?” He grabs my hand.
Blood rushes to my face as I try to hide the shock I feel at his touch. There’s something exciting yet also comforting about the caress of his hand against mine. It took weeks of rehearsals and dozens of different excuses before I could get this far with Jeremy. Is it because I find him attractive? Or is it because I don’t see him as a threat since there’s no way he would ever date me?
