university | lrh

03 - wouldn't you say so?

Elise Halder
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I'd spent the remainder of the class wishing, for the second time, a hole in this damn room would open up beneath me so I could avoid being alone with Mr. Hemmings after class.

I thought about simply running out the door, but the thought went away when I realized how absolutely stupid and irrational I was being.

He was only going to tell me to be more punctual next time. It's not like he could scold me for calling him sir. It was actually quite respectful of me, in its purest form. But something gnawing in the back of my mind told me I was being naive.

I had looked to Cassie, for support, who simply put on a sly grin and whispered to me that I should get ready to be spanked. So I slapped her arm and scolded her for being a useless friend. She only continued to grin and shrug in response.

And now, as I'm still seated in my chair watching the last of my peers exit the room, including Cassie, who gives me a devilish wink before she disappears, the nerves I felt when I first arrived on campus were resurfacing, and I try to maintain my composure.

Mr. Hemmings doesn't wait a moment after the door closes behind the last student before he speaks up.

"Miss Halder." He hasn't lifted his eyes from the papers on his desk.

"Yes?" Sir. A voice in the back of my mind reminds me. I push it away.

At this, he finally looks up, and a blonde curl falls onto his forehead. I watch as he reaches up and brushes it back with his large hand, keeping his intense eyes locked on mine. "Come up here, would you?" He raises a brow, and I try to figure out if he's amused with the situation or not.

I gulp and stand quickly, leaving my belongings behind as I make my way over to the man watching my every move. When I reach his desk I stand in front of it without uttering a word, simply because I can't find any.

I'm a little stunned when he stands up from behind his desk as well, only to slip in the space between his desk and where I stand frozen, leaning slightly against it. He crosses his arms loosely and I finally determine that the man is in fact amused with this situation.

I still stand silently, lips parted ever so slightly, as I wait for him to speak. When he does, he shocks me once again.

"Elise, is it?" He says my name so deliberately and beautifully I nearly ask him to say it again. I don't, though, I'm not that big of a fool.

"Yeah, uh, yes! Yes, that's me, yeah." I want to smack myself across the face at my inability to speak a coherent sentence, just once, around this man.

He sucks his bottom lip between his teeth and I know that he's biting back a grin. Biting back from laughing at me, I note.

He lets his lip loose and I wonder low long I've been staring at his lips. I wonder why he hasn't called me out on it.

"Are you alright, Miss Halder?" He cocks his head to the side again and raises his brows in question.

Damn it, I scold myself, spoke too soon.

"What? Oh, no, I'm fine, sorry." Why am I apologizing? What is wrong with me?

"There's no need to apologize, Elise. I'm only asking since you seemed a bit-" He pauses and I nearly faint when I realize what he's going to say.

Don't say distracted, don't say it.

"-distracted, today." He finishes. I spot the corner of his mouth tug slightly upward and I grimace.