"Emmy! We're going to be late!"
Emelie squealed sheepishly, and she quickly shoved her books into her bag and slammed her locker shut.
"Emelie! Hurry!" Shelby shouted. Emelie pulled her backpack over her shoulder and ran towards her best friends.
"What took you so long?" Tessa asked. Emelie sighed heavily.
"I had to wait for that guy David to finish helping me with that stupid assignment. I had no idea what Carlisle was asking for!" Emelie complained. Georgina laughed, brown ringlets bouncing.
"I didn't even bother with doing it, I don't know why you did," she said. Emelie giggled.
"Well unlike you, Georgie, I actually
want
to pass this class," Emelie replied.
The girls laughed as they continued to tease each other, pulling the door open to the classroom. They took their usual seats in the left corner of the back row.
Mr. Carlisle walked in a few moments later, and everyone was immediately silenced.
Emelie's heart always raced with an odd, erratic tremor whenever Mr. Carlisle walked into the room, despite the fact that he'd been her teacher for almost a month now. There was just something so frightening and unsettling about him. From his deep voice to his cold gaze, everything about him filled her with nervousness.
"Settle down, all of you, and pass your assignments to the front of the class," he said, removing his jacket. Emelie reached into her hot pink binder and pulled out the worksheet she'd finished just minutes before. It was crumpled and rushed, and she hoped Carlisle wouldn't notice that there were clearly two distinct sets of handwriting on the page.
Emelie looked up and realized that David, the honors student who'd been helping her, was staring at her from the front of the classroom with a hopeful smile on his face. She'd been afraid of this.
She gave him a weak, friendly smile in return, hoping to discourage him from thinking he had any kind of chance with dating her, just because he'd helped her with one assignment. Emelie wasn't the kind of person to lead a guy on for
too
long, even if she could benefit from it.
She heard her phone vibrate in her purse, and Emelie's attention was immediately diverted. She crossed her legs and reached for her phone, giddily responding to the text she'd just received.
It was from a guy named Jake, a sophomore at the nearby state college. They'd exchanged numbers at a sorority party Shelby's older sister had snuck the girls into the Saturday prior, and Emelie had been anxiously waiting all week to hear from him.
"Is that Jake?" Shelby whispered. Emelie looked over to her friend and nodded, eyes bright.
"The college guy?" Tessa asked. She was the only one from the group who hadn't been able to attend the party.
Emelie feigned innocence and nonchalance as she shrugged her shoulders, eliciting excited and jealous squeals from her friends.
"Ladies," Mr. Carlisle said coldly. His low, deep voice made Emelie's spine stiffen in nervousness. The girls snapped to attention.
"Something you'd like to share with the class?" he asked. The girls all shook their heads quickly and simultaneously. Emelie noticed that despite the fact that he was addressing all four of them, his fierce gaze seemed to be locked on hers.
"Pay attention to the lecture. As I was saying..."
Emelie exhaled and rolled her eyes, continuing to text.
"That was close. He's so mean!" Georgina whispered. Emelie nodded in agreement.
"I know, and did you see the way he was staring at me? God, it's not like I killed someone," Emelie whispered back, opening her latest message from Jake. Her eyes widened in excitement when she read what it contained, and she couldn't help but smile in delight.
"What did he say?" Shelby whispered. Emelie looked at her friends, trying her hardest to contain her excitement.
"He asked me out!" Emelie whispered back, beginning to type her reply.
"Miss Woods," Carlisle said coldly. Emelie was engrossed in the conversation she was having with Jake, and didn't hear her name called.
"Miss Woods," Carlisle repeated, louder this time. Other students began looking to the back of the classroom at Emelie, who still remained oblivious.
"Miss...Woods," Carlisle repeated, his voice louder and deeper. Shelby hit Emelie's arm, and Emelie's head snapped up. She realized almost every pair of eyes in the classroom was on her. But no one's eyes compared to the cold, penetrating gaze of her professor.
Immediately, her palms began to sweat.
"Umm...yes sir?" she asked timidly. His face was cold, fixed, and hard.
"Since your intellectual aptitudes apparently merit a complete lack of attention to my lecture, perhaps you can dazzle the rest of the class with your brilliance. Stand up," he said. Emelie bit her lower lip, hoping he was joking.
"Sir, Iā"
"Don't keep us waiting, Miss Woods. Stand up," he repeated firmly. Emelie looked over to Shelby, whose hazel eyes were sympathetic.
Not knowing what else to do, Emelie stood up on shaky legs.
Mr. Carlisle removed his glasses and folded his arms, beginning to pace in front of his desk.
"No need to be nervous, Miss Woods, we'll start with something easy. Thoroughly identify this piece," he said. He pressed the button on the slim silver remote that operated the screen at the front of the classroom, moving his presentation to the next slide.
Emelie was completely stumped. She'd certainly seen the piece somewhere before, but in her current state of nervousness, she was incapable of thinking clearly.