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Would the entire semester be taught in mime?

Nodding in acknowledgement, I took out my calculator and opened the pop quiz on my desk, the smallest motions met with passive-aggressive throat clearing. At this rate, I was on track to get kicked out for breathing, so asking to use the bathroom was definitely an offense.

After skimming the questions, centered on stats (which I assumed was to make sure we understood the basic fundamentals of econ) I returned to the first problem: Create a value table then graph the result. Easy.

My brain went as blank as the whiteboard.

Pencils scratched around me. Mine hovered above the paper. An eraser tapped, and my foot moved with it. Numerical signs spotted my vision—looking at economics equations had the same effect as staring at the sun. In my mind I knew the Voices wouldn’t come, but my body still tensed and flinched at the tiniest noise as if they’d show any minute. I must’ve wasted fifteen just untangling my senses to find some sort of groove.

True to his word, Mr. Hess’s alarm rang not a second past the allotted time. I plugged in the remaining coordinates, barely having enough time to finish writing my name at the top before a mottled hand ripped the booklet out from under my pencil tip.

“Time is up, Miss Harlow.” I’d honestly have been happier if he taught in mime, then I wouldn’t have had to contort my upper body to avoid the spit from his dramatic over pronunciations.

He addressed the class. “We’ll break for ten and go over the answers when you come back.” No one flinched. “Or we could start now and fit in a review of supply and demand?”

Despite the sarcasm, I was sure he’d be more than happy to oblige. Everyone seemed to feel the same, our chairs skidding against the floor as we jolted from our seats.

“And if you’re smart, you’ll be back by the ninth minute!” he called after us as he went to lean against the front of his desk. “Um, Miss Harlow? Where do you think you’re going?”

I careened to a stop. The remaining students filed around me into the great outdoors—or the quad. Hey, it was better than nothing.

“Are you forgetting? You already had your break this morning when you were seventeen minutes late to my class.” He stroked his goatee. “You’ll be staying and reading the syllabus.”

Sunshine slipped in as the last student left, teasing me with its warmth. The door clicked shut, taking the buttery rays with it. I scowled at the flickering frosted lights above my head.

“Yes, Professor.” I sat back down, letting out an exasperated sigh.

Mr. Hess stared at me with a tight-lipped smile. Condescending ass.

I lowered my head and pretended to read, flipping the pages every now and then for emphasis. It satisfied him enough that he finally left his post to write the next part of the lesson on the whiteboard, and I went back to my not-reading.

When the door opened, my ears perked up, and I shot a glance over my shoulder. A guy with a fade and matching slit through his eyebrow crossed the threshold, carrying a disposable cup. Steam billowed from the lidless top—there must be a café close by. Dimples punctured his cheeks as he held in a smile, making me keenly aware of my own expression, which had slipped into a frown. It took too much effort to correct my resting bitch face, so even though I wasn’t mad, it stayed.

A slender redhead wearing a fringe vest and rose-tinted glasses, with a fresh daisy tucked behind her ear, strode in behind him. I bet she took a lap around the community garden—I had thought I saw tops of sunflowers during my mad dash through campus.

A pair holding hands came next, lips swollen, clearly fresh out of a make-out sesh. One of the girls popped her collar to conceal a reddish mark stamped onto her neck.

My fingers drifted to the same area on my body, tracing the spot Javi had nuzzled into during Grad Night after wishing me a happy birthday. I shivered, banishing the memory from ever resurfacing again. That was fine, because an image of Ryder replaced him, lips suctioning the sensitive skin below my earlobe. Oh my God. No. No…One wasn’t right, I needed two for this job, one on each side of me. Javi reappeared and trailed simultaneous kisses…I shook my head and the fantasy dispersed just as Mr. Hess cleared his throat to bring order to an already orderly class.

My faced burned. There couldn’t be a more inappropriate time for either of them to pop into my thoughts like that. Intercepts. Origins. Numbers. Numbers. Numbers. I reached for the boring, formulaic, and not sexy at all to quiet the pent-up lust twirling in my gut.

Beet red, I slunk lower in my chair and wrapped my arms around my stomach, as if that could contain my questionable urges.

I never did get past that first sentence of the syllabus before the monotonous voice of Mr. Hess interrupted my daydream. Well, if I needed a buzzkill, that right there did the trick. At least his droning was good for something.

When twelve o’clock hit, I wasted no time, just up and walked out.

Mr. Hess’s final words faltered on his lips as the rest of the class joined me in leaving, his glare trailing me until I reached the sanctuary of the courtyard.

Taking a moment, I slipped on my headphones. A balmy breeze tickled my bare skin and parted my hair, the fresh air fanning the nape of my neck. The temperature must have risen to at least ninety degrees during that four-hour lockdown, and sweat was already dotting my inner elbows and knees. I’d love nothing more than to ditch the rest of the afternoon and post up in the heat with Javi, but as my luck—or lack of it—would have it, duty called me elsewhere. Work.

Nothing sounded worse than whipping up frappes at Kona Koffee. Ugh, I wanted to be a customer, enjoying the day, the one ordering a complicated drink. As if on cue, Javi texted me his sympathies with a selfie on the beach.

Damn him.

And to damn me even more, the ocean never left my field of view as I trudged towards the street, sparkling blue peeking out around corners of buildings and massive oak trees.

The bus pulled to the curb as soon as I got there, hissing as the brakes engaged and the doors squeaked open, revealing a compartment full of people packed like sardines.