Please?” she pouted as she stuck out her bottom lip.
“You will be the death of me. I swear it.” She pouted more; this time she batted her lashes.
“Okay. Okay. I am there for you babe.” I pulled her into the classroom to find a seat. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. I met a really nice girl named Nicole in my English class. She doesn’t have any friends here, so I invited her to my dorm room to hang out tonight.”
“That’s cool. I met a girl too. Her name is Kat. She is from here and knows some awesome places to shop. I told her she could hang out with us tonight too. She said that the boy’s football team has a scrimmage game tonight. We should go watch. I mean, if you want to."
I immediately thought of Zen. I am going to have to see him. “Sure that’s fine.” We took our seats before class started. “Maybe we will meet some hot new boys,” we giggled.
“He is hot,” we both said at the exact same time, glancing at the Professor. We bumped fists. “Right on,” we said again, at the same time. Looking at him the entire semester would make this class a whole lot easier.
“My name is Gage Rothe. I will be the Professor for your Art History 101 enjoyment for the remainder of the semester. I also teach literature, so you may see me again. Lucky you,” he smiled. “You may call me Gage, but I will not answer to Professor. It makes me feel old, and that I am not. I am twenty five, and I know you are probably wondering how that is possible. I started college at a very young age, and that is all you need to know. Let’s get started.”
I was swooning over him. I needed a bib for the drool I was losing. The fact that he was talking about Baroque artists made no difference to me. He could have been talking about painting by numbers and still looked hot. Sam gave me an elbow to the ribs, snapping me out of it. Unfortunately, the Professor had asked me a question, and I wasn’t paying attention. Don’t I look like a flipping idiot? Now I will be the girl with the scholarship, not paying attention, because the Professor is hot on about nine different levels.
“I am sorry. Could you repeat the question?” I was utterly embarrassed. Most of the females in the room were laughing. They knew exactly why my attention was held elsewhere.
“I was wondering if you could tell me the name of this painting, and since you were a little distracted, I will now need the year and artist name.”
“The painting is The Girl with a Pearl Earring. The Artist is Jan Vermeer, and the date is 1665. I believe.”
I was beginning to second guess myself. He stared at me with a quizzical brow. I could not read his expression. For a moment, I thought I was wrong. I nearly pulled out the textbook to cross check myself.
“Your name, please?” he asked me.
“Avery Samuels.”
“Well, Miss Samuels, you are correct. Well done.”
“You may call me, Ava.” I mocked his opening speech, and his proper language. “Miss Samuels makes me feel old. I am not my mother, and I am not old.” I smiled at him. I couldn’t believe I was trying to get a rise out of him. I was flirting in front of the entire class.
He sat on the top of his desk, and nodded his head at me. “Very well then, let’s move on,” and he did. I would swear that he winked at me. But, I wouldn’t dare bring that up to anyone, because my mind could very well be playing tricks on me. I could imagine what, Sam, would say to that. She was already shaking her head at me. She stared like I had the plague. I am sure my face was the
Leslie Charteris, David Case