Teachers Pet

12: Calm Composure

        "I'm sorry, I just have to bring it up." I looked up to Nolan, knowing that we needed to talk about the kiss. I thought when he came to work on extra credit with me he'd bring it up right away, but he hadn't.

       "Yeah..." I muttered. He turned Cassie's chair towards me, making sure we were eye to eye. Those beautiful charming eyes... It was hard to look away. Even now with everything I felt.

       "Let me talk to Mrs. Burns. I can get her to make me the male lead. That way you don't have to worry about Dean anymore." I felt the confusion on my face as the direction of the conversation was way off from where I thought we were headed.

       "You think she'd do that?" I asked doubtfully. Nolan nodded with that confidence I've become familiar with.

       "She might not like you- "

       "Hey." I playfully slapped his shoulder, feeling just the slightest bit insulted. He laughed as he leaned away a bit.

       "But she likes me. I can get her to change her mind." I sighed, knowing very well that Mrs. Burns would never do me any favors. If she knew I was uncomfortable with Dean being the lead, she would make it so that we both didn't have understudies. Then I'd be forced to do this play with him.

       "I think it's best we don't push my luck with her." Nolan thought about it and seemed frustrated. He nodded after a moment of thinking.

      "Seeing you this uncomfortable with him... I don't like it." Hearing him say those last four words did something to me. I liked hearing him say it. I wasn't sure why, but I liked that it bothered him. Feeling this way wasn't right. In my head, I was toying with Nolan. He didn't deserve this from me.

       "I appreciate the gesture. Thank you." Nolan kept his eyes on me, letting a smile slowly grow on his face. I couldn't help but smile back. "What?" He shrugged, still smiling. He moved his arm to the table and rested his chin in his hand. He continued to stare at me, making me more curious by the second. I nudged his foot with mine, wanting to know what was making him smile. "Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked, trying to hide my laughter. Nolan laughed too, nudging my foot back.

      "Nothing. It's just... " I waited for him to continue, but he just shook his head.

       "Just what?" I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to figure out what he was going to say.

      "I was trying to avoid the subject of our kiss, but now I feel like I have to bring it up." There it is. I was wondering when he would want to talk about it.

       "What about it?" I didn't feel as nervous as I felt earlier when he mentioned it. I think I wanted to discuss it. I wanted to know how he felt about it too.

       "Nothing really. I just think that it'll be just as interesting today as it was last time." He winked and I didn't understand why. He waited for my reaction to change, but it didn't. His eyebrows came together as he took in my confusion. "You know what I'm talking about, right?"

       "Can't say that I do. Did we schedule another kiss I wasn't aware of?" I laughed, but he just nodded.

       "Yes, actually."

       "What?" Nolan laughed, mostly out of shock it seemed.

       "Today we're rehearsing scenes again. We're going over the final scene. Understudy's and lead roles have to participate." His voice rose at the end of his sentence as if trying to question me on whether or not I really didn't know this. I didn't.