See Me After Class

romeo & juliet

insert this in your brain during the invasion of privacy sentence aoisdfngasdf

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the sound of my engine turned to silence as i turned the key and removed it from the ignition. several people looked in my direction, still startled by the roar of a diesel. my head hit the back of my seat as i let out a loud sigh. any motivation to do calculus could be found thousands of miles away, and a small voice told me to just skip class.

i knew better than this, though, and climbed out of my car and into the chilled october air. the weather continued to be cold enough to make everyone's breath visible, but supposedly it would warm up this week. i always hated when fall weather was either extremely hot or ridiculously cold rather than just in the middle.

twenty minutes before class, i took my seat and opened the last chapter of my book. mrs. thomas came into the room and announced that we would have a free period because we were ahead of her other classes. chatter instantly started up and filled the room. by the bell, i had finished the book and was writing down all of the pages that had lines i wanted to underline once my copy came in the mail.

everyone was slow to get to their flex periods, but i hurried to mr. spicer's room. when i found my seat, i started to read the other book that mr. styles had given to me. i barely got through any of it by the time i had to go to ap gov. sadly, betty made us take notes on an entire chapter, then assigned the next two for homework. i didn't get back into the story of the mirabal sisters until lunch.

mr. styles' class approached quickly, and i was only three chapters into the book. as he went from desk to desk checking the homework, he made small talk with every few students. when he got to my seat, he saw the book sitting open and got this look on his face that i couldn't quite decipher.

"how was your weekend, wesley?" he asked as he placed a checkmark by my name.

i had felt as though everyone's eyes had been one me, and i suddenly forgot how to speak. somehow, i managed to choke out a 'good' before he moved on to the next person. it was so frustrating how i tended to act like an idiot around him, especially whenever i was nervous. class moved on from there in a slow manor. it was a lecture day, and mr. styles was really going in-depth this time.

the bell rung and everyone fled the room, leaving me behind with mr. styles. he was grading an assignment when i cleared my throat to catch his attention.

"yes?" he asked. i could hear the smirk in his voice though it was hidden.

"i finished the count of monte cristo," i said as i placed the worn novel on his desk.

his head shot up and he looked at me questioningly. "how did you like it?"

i sat down and watched him study the book then replied, "it was incredible. i actually just ordered my own copy so that i could mark it up like yours. dumas wrote so many different lines that really moved me. i was in awe of how beautiful his writing was."

"i'm impressed," he breathed as he shook his head bewilderedly. "have you started the butterflies book?"

"well," i began, "it's good so far, but i have a feeling it's going to be a bit of slow read..."

"oh, well it is, but it's a brilliant story. it picks up speed when the sisters begin to get involved in the underground movements, but that's not until towards the end," he explained.

as i nodded my head, i stood up and walked behind his desk. up against the wall was a small, standard, teacher's bookshelf overflowing with both paperback and hardcover novels. the smell of old paper surrounded the shelf like a thick fog, and i loved it. my eyes scanned over the spines, looking for titles i'd be interested in, but then there was a chest in my face.

mr. styles had stepped between the shelves and myself, blocking my view. i stood up and tried not to react to how close we were standing. trying to not make it obvious, i backed up several inches.

"problem?" i inquired.

"i believe that's an invasion of privacy," he chuckled. "but, i assume you don't really care about that?"

"well, i mean, they are out on display," i retorted.

he stared at me with squinted eyes and an eyebrow cocked then replied, "touché."

we made our way back to our original seats and began to discuss the victories and tragedies of edmond dantes. conveniently, we didn't seem to disagree on much about the book. i almost asked about his markings on the pages but refrained.

it went quiet for a moment, but in a pleasant way. suddenly, mr. styles spoke up, breaking the silence.

"wesley, do you know the one thing you can learn from almost any situation in history?"

"no, mr. styles, i can't," i groaned, slightly annoyed that he had turned our pleasant conversation into school. i didn't enjoy his company so much when he was lecturing me.

"well, it's quite simple; appearances are everything and when they're misconstrued, it can lead to chaos. america declared war against spain because it seemed that spain had sunk the u.s.s. maine. troy thought that the wooden horse was a gift, and was defeated by the soldiers hidden inside. some women in salem, massachusetts appeared to be witches, and a scare spread throughout an entire town that caused twenty deaths and over two-hundred imprisonments. and, from a literature standpoint, romeo thought juliet was dead and killed himself mere minutes before she woke up from her sleep. certain outcomes came about solely due to the appearances that led them there," he elucidated.

"mr. styles, what's your point?"

"call me harry, please. and, my point is, our friendship may not appear appropriate. if people know that we're friendly outside of class-- outside of normal student/teacher guidelines-- it could lead to many problems; mainly for myself. what i'm asking is, can you keep this a secret?"

i hadn't ever expected those words to come from his mouth. so, clearly, we weren't allowed to be friends. at least, we couldn't be friends because of what it could have looked like. i allowed his words to sink in, then looked up from my lap.

"okay. i can keep quiet about this."

"good. thank you."

"so... what, were you a history major, too?" i joked.

he let out a light laugh and with a goofy grin replied, "i dabbled in it."

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a/n

lol unedited and a bit rushed so sorry if it sucks, but hey it's a double-ish update! s/o to all u wonderful people reading this. you're the reason i write.

xx. ashton