(DISCONTINUED)

○ 2.2 :: Again? ○

Dedicated to EcstasyMichael for being so damn cute :) :1 <3333456789

?¿dammit harry why must u be so deliciously flawless?¿

*

Harry never showed up to English class.

At first I had simply thought he was just late, but as time went on the minute hand on the clock hanging above Sykes continued to tick, it was obvious that he wasn't going to come, and I couldn't deny the disappointment that brought me. I'd even almost missed the question that I'd prepared for with Harry the day before. I had been in the middle of getting my phone out to text him when Sykes had asked it.

"Who can tell me," Sykes began, pausing unnecessarily in the way he always did, "what the tempest at the beginning of the play is an example of?"

It wasn't exactly the question I'd been wanting, but the two were linked, and I knew the answer. I placed my phone on my desk and chewed on my bottom lip, noting the lack of hands volunteering to respond. What if he didn't ask the follow-up question I'd actually wanted to answer in the first place? What if I answered and he asked the follow-up question to somebody else? I shut my eyes and hoped this would go right as I raised my hand.

"Ah, Katrina," Sykes smiled, his eyes locking on me. "What is the tempest at the beginning of the play an example of?"

"Foreshadowing," I answered confidently.

"Exactly," he agreed, writing the word 'FORESHADOWING' on the board in big, block letters and underlining it. "It hints at possible events, themes or tones that are to come within the story. Therefore, just using this storm, we can assume what?" A boy in the front row raised his hand and Sykes pointed at him. "Yes?"

"That the story will have a dark, tragic tone," he said snootily. "And we can see that tone manifested right from the beginning and throughout the play."

"Actually, no, we can't," I blurted before I could stop myself. Several people turned to me and I blushed, looking down at my desk. "Sorry."

"No, no," Sykes insisted. "Continue, Katrina."

"Uh..." I tucked a stray curl behind my ear, wishing Harry were here to distract me from the judgemental gazes fixed on me right then. I imagined that he'd lace his fingers through mine, or rest a reassuring hand on my thigh.

"Katrina?" Sykes repeated, bringing me firmly back down to earth.

I cleared my throat, shaking any thoughts of Harry from my head for the moment. "The use of pathetic fallacy through the storm does suggest that the story will take a dark, tragic tone, but straight after the storm, Shakespeare juxtaposes this idea by allowing all the passengers to survive - which insinuates conflict during the play, but a happy ending," I spoke clearly, mentally congratulating myself on not allowing my voice to tremble, even when a quick glance revealed that the boy I was disproving was glaring fiercely at me. It occurred to me then that I was seriously showing him up, but then again it was his fault for attempting to show off something he clearly knew nothing about, so I pushed on. "Plus, the fact that Shakespeare announces that nobody was harmed using a nude, tricksy spirit named Ariel gives the play a more whimsical feel, as opposed to a play like MacBeth, which also started with a storm."

The room was so silent I could've heard a pin drop; every student around me was looking at me in somewhat surprise, probably thinking about what happened the very first English lesson. The boy that had answered before me looked angry and more than slightly pink, but the pride in myself outweighed the little remorse I felt for throwing him under the bus.

Sykes stood there looking at me along with everyone else for a while, a slight smirk on his lips and a look I couldn't read in his eyes. "Thank you, Katrina," he nodded, retrieving everybody's attention again. I turned excitedly to my right, expecting to find myself looking into a pair of pitch black Ray Bans, only to find an empty seat where Harry should've been. My heart sank and I slumped in my own seat.