Of course you ask the impossible! I really adore classic fantasy like Lord of the Rings and Chronicles of Narnia, but from a life changing stand point I’d place Night by Elie Wiesel at the top of the list.
Scarlet nodded as she listened, marking the knit of Holden’s brows with a smirk of her own; sitting up appropriately as he folded his arms. There was a line, and Scarlet knew not to cross it. Yes, she knew she shouldn’t, and she was certainly going to try not to. A pestering thought told her that her skirting at the boundary would inevitably lead to trouble, though. There was nothing wrong with it as long as she tried though, right? “Oh, really?” She chirped from the depths of her thoughts, flashing Holden a smile as he spoke of his own college experience, and intentions. “I intend to visit them all, of course. The last thing I want to do is end up in some dead-end college in the middle of nowhere,” she nodded singularly, before snorting a laugh. “Then again, that pretty much sums up Easton and I’ve still managed to have a good time.”
An almost relieved sigh passed Scarlet’s lips; her gaze dropping to Holden’s fumbling fingers as he loosened his tie. Oh, fuck – no, Scarlet. At this rate, that line she was well-aware of would be out the window. As she looked back up to meet her teacher’s gaze she smiled, shifting restless hands to clasp them in her lap. “Actually, I suppose you could say I’m abroad now. Native of England, all my family is over there,” she shrugged, conjuring up her famed, Cheshire accent. “I thought the Queen’s English would give me away,” an easy grin took the Riah’s lips, watching Holden through her lashes. She bit down on her bottom lip thoughtfully, lifting her shoulder in a shrug.
There was a moment of silence then, before Scarlet reluctantly moved her stare from Holden and slipped down from the desk; on to her feet – what an awful lot closer to him she suddenly felt. Dismissing the thought with small smirk and a childish blush, Scarlet reached for her bag, pausing just as she were about to scoop it over her shoulder. “Well, thank you for your time, Sir,” she mused politely, lingering for a moment, “I’ve… nothing else, certainly not better, to do, but I’d hate to keep you.” She flashed a daring grin, and her eyes seemed to ask him to keep her for just a little while longer; tempted him to find an excuse. Scarlet had played this game before, and as she pulled her bag over her shoulder, ready to leave, she tilted her head at Holden expectantly – whether she were waiting to be dismissed, or hoping to be halted.
“Well, yes,” he said, laughing quietly at her reference to her rather noticeable accent. “I just meant your friends,” he shrugged, maybe Scarlet didn’t have anyone at Easton that she wanted to stay close to. He glanced down at the floor before lifting his gaze to find her biting on her lip. For a very brief moment his breath caught in his chest, he could imagine his teeth biting down on her lips that way, her eye lids low as she looked down at him. He scratched the bridge of his nose, attempting to reign in his thoughts.
“Well it’s what I’m payed for,” He lifted himself off the desk, her movements pulling him out of his trance. “Oh no, go head, I’m sure there’s something much more entertaining for you to do than talk to your teachers,” and make them think you’re imagining them naked with your eyes. Holden smiled, allowing himself to be relieved that she was leaving as opposed to the disappointment he would have felt at a younger age in a different position.
“If you have anymore questions don’t hesitate to email me. I don’t have my own office, so it’s hard to catch me outside of class,” he shoved his hands in his pocket and smiled, his eyes flicking to the door she was meant to leave out of.
So, if I told you that I didn’t do the reading for English because it was the biggest sports game of the year, and I had to watch, would you give me a bad grade?
Lina, I’d give you a zero. Because you did have Friday evening and Saturday to do your work. But don’t fret over one small writing assignment, it isn’t going to ruin your grade.
It is the Super Bowl after all.
If presented with a good excuse, you never know how they’ll feel.
Scarlet grinned, folding a leg over the other. She watched Holden as he stepped around his desk to lounge in front of her, her head tilting curiously. “I looked in to it… briefly,” she laughed, hanging her head with the silvery chime before looking back up to Holden with a shrug. “I’m shit at college research. Its impossible to find what you’re actually looking for.” By ‘looked in to it’ Scarlet meant, of course, that she had Googled which colleges offered promising English programs, but she had looked, right? “I took a peek at NYU after you mentioned it, Princeton and Middlebury came up a lot, too.” Scarlet’s tone came with an edge that said perhaps she didn’t care about her further education as much as she should have. “I might go back to England, though. If I can do so without alerting my mother.” Another light snicker left the junior’s lips at that, a playful twinkle in deep eyes.
Scarlet finally planted her restless gaze upon her teacher then, fingers curling around the edge of the desk she was perched upon. “All I know is I want to major English. Literature, preferably. I doubt that plan will shift much between now and next year.” She nodded singularly, crystalline gaze scraping over Holden’s features placidly; a smirk that shouldn’t of formed shaping her lips. There was no denying how attractive the English aid was, Easton seemed to be cursed with good-looking staff. It was as if the academy looked to lure its students in to trouble. You’d think the senior team would make an effort to cease any distraction there might be, but as Scarlet found her mind misbehaving, she figured they just didn’t care.
“But that’s why I’m here, Sir,” Scarlet interrupted her wandering thoughts suddenly, “I’m in need of a direction to look in, because I’m pretty clueless.” Her smirk remained on her lips, dimples pressed in to her cheeks gently. Scarlet was very often unintentionally suggestive, and now reclining on the single desk, features softened around her piercing gaze was most certainly one of those moments. Perhaps it was just her body’s natural way of reacting to people she was unthinkingly attracted to, even if they were her teachers, or perhaps whore just ran through her veins. She figured it was the latter.
Holden let his head tilt to the side as he listened to Scarlet speak, she was in the exact place he was not too long ago during High School. He’d been more concerned with sneaking out and partying than with figuring out what he wanted with his future, not that College had changed a lot of that for him. He still partied, he just didn’t have to sneak out to do it.
“I’m actually going to Columbia for my masters this fall,” he commented, not that his sharing that fact was necessary. He mentally chastised himself, he’d been told not to share too much of his personal life with the students.
“Actually,” he scratched at the tip of his nose and crossed his arms, his body language doing what it could to protect him from the tempting gaze of his student. “That’s what I studied at NYU, my focus English Literature,” he smiled warmly, something he could not help upon finding a kindred spirit. “Really, what you’re looking at isn’t just if the school has a good program though. I chose NYU for the campus vibe, you should try visiting each school before making a decision, whenever you narrow down your choices that is,” the corners of his eyes wrinkled in a small smile, a smile he forced down as he loosened his tie a bit.
He couldn’t help but feel a slight twitch at her gaze, there was something in her piercing blue eyes that made him want to lean in, yet pull away at the same time. Something that held a massive amount of mischief. Mischief he couldn’t allow himself to get into, his acceptance to Columbia was tentative, he needed good reviews from Easton to get where he wanted to go.
“You don’t have to know the exact direction you’re going in,” he commented after a very brief silence. “Studying abroad could be wonderful, but at the same time so could staying in the states. Being a away from people who care about you isn’t as easy as you think it is.”
Nice smile.
Thanks you! Are you ready to see it bright and early Monday morning for class?
