Chapter 6

Aliyah's POV

I flinched because of how hard her question hit, but before my mouth could even find its way to falling open with an explanation, the door behind me was drawn open.

"What is going on here?"

The question came from Professor Skylar, and my heart found its place between my parted feet, crumbling with the realization that I had just made matters worse.

I spun around to face them, my eyes finding identical pairs of green as they stared back at me, each one brimming with questions. The similarities in their features were so mind-blowing that it made me stagger a step back.

My eyes somehow found their way back to Professor Tyler's, and he inched a single brow upward in a question.

"I... uhm... I needed to ask Professor Skylar some questions, but... I uhm..."

The words tumbled out in broken strings that carried both my emotional distress and... zero meaning.

I cleared my throat, ignoring the way my history professor was glaring at me. Tears beat at the back of my eyes, desperate to fall down my face now, but I forced them back.

"Professor Deville," I started, turning to face Professor Skylar and giving him all of my attention. "I needed to ask you a few questions and..."

"She was eavesdropping on a conversation you both were having," Professor Whyte cut in, deciding that waiting for my explanation was no longer worth it.

If I thought Professor Skylar had been glaring before, it was far worse now. His eyes met mine, dripping with such intense condemnation that my heart stuttered inside of my chest.

The feeling was so overwhelming that my attempt at a dragging in a deep breath shivered loudly in the silence of the space.

"You shouldn't be here," he said, voice loaded with ice.

I nodded. "I needed to talk to you about a problem."

"You can send that via email. You do not visit my office unless you've been explicitly permitted to. Am I clear?"

My heart ached inside my chest. I wondered what it was about me that angered him so much and made him hate my guts.

"It's something that's very dire and needs to be addressed in person."

"There's nothing I teach that's dire, Ms. Marcus. Are you insinuating that you're coming to me with a private problem?"

My eyes bulged, and I shook my head instantly. "No. No."

The look he was giving me was so intense I could.practically feel the accusation as it cut through my skin.

"I'm sorry, Sir." My voice came out smaller than I intended.

His head bobbed in a sharp nod. "You should be. Now leave."

I didn't wait to be told twice, I turned on my heels and fled, not daring to meet the eyes of the man who was both identical to the one I wanted, and who had given me the most special night of my life.

Tears started to spill down my face again, but I swiped it away angrily. My phone linged in my pocket, a text being announced.

I pulled the phone out of my pocket and unlocked it. A new text was sitting right there in my inbox, from the same unknown number from this morning - except, I now knew who it belonged to.

"Meet me at the fountain side in an hour."

*******

"Okay, everyone. The list has finally been revealed. These are the main characters in the new drama we're going to play out on the night of the annual ball."

Jude Thurnbull stepped out beside Professor Deville - Skylar - offering me a wink and a smile as he made the announcement.

I couldn't bring myself to look at the man that was standing beside him right now. My heart was already thudding dramatically in my chest, one wrong move, and it could topple down in shreds.

"You look pale. Are you sure you should be here right now?" Leah leaned in with a whisper.

We were sitting in the middle of the drama room, notes on our laps as we rehearsed lines and lines of different plays to dramatize.

I looked over at her with a smile. "I have to. I audtioned to play Cassandra."

Her smile was infectious. "Okay! I'm sure you'd get it. You've busted your ass off for this."

I smiled in response too, even though somehow uncertainty had started to creep in and make a mess of my head.

Jude continued from his place in front of the room. "Jude Thurnbull will be playing Edison, Sarah Stephenson will play Cassandra..."

Everything else faded to white noise the moment those words left his mouth. Surely I hadn't heard right. Sarah had only turned up here last month. How was she already getting...

I shook my head, my palm darting up into the air as soon as I found a rhythm with my breathing again.

"Excuse me, Sir."

Silence descended over the space, and Professor Deville's eyes locked on mine from across the room, cold and unyielding. I almost backed out, but I somehow managed the courage to keep my hand up.

"Is there a problem, Ms. Marcus?" He bit out.

I forced a hard swallow down. "I auditioned for the role of Cassandra."

His brow arched in a 'so what?' manner. "And?"

"You gave the role to Sarah."

"Who also auditioned. Should the spot be reserved entirely for you because you auditioned?"

He looked like he was warring with his anger now as he responded, and it made me all that bolder. He didn't get to cut me out of something I worked my ass off on just because.

"I had been rehearsing for this role since the start of the semester. How does someone who only came a month ago get to replace me?"

"Doing it longer doesn't mean you've done it better, Marcus. And the next time you deem it necessary to challenge my decision here in the middle of the whole class would be the last time you set foot in this room. Do I make myself clear?"

Tears found their place behind my lashes again, and somehow, I found the ability to nod through the ache that was beating a path through my chest.

"Words," he commanded.

"Yes, Sir." I managed, my voice catching on the last word.

The rest of the rehearsal went by in a blur, and every time I came close to tears, Leah would grab my hand and give it a delicate squeeze.

By the time it came to an end, my heart felt like it had gone through a wringer, and I felt a lot weaker than I had at the start of the class.

Guess who had gotten her ass handed to her by the same man twice in the space of two days? How the hell had I even fallen for a man this cold?

My phone pinged again, and I pulled it out with shaky hands.

"My offer still stands. Fountain side. Whenever you're ready."

I heaved a huge sigh, confused to no end now. Leah must have heard the weariness in that breath because she leaned in and offered me a small smile.

"You've been acting weird, Ali. What's going on?"