"Excuse me? Jane Austen was a brilliant writer." I rolled my eyes in Peter Goldman's general direction before continuing. "Her works were more than mere love stories. They contained commentary on the culture of her time- they still somehow manage to capture the spectrum of human emotion and motivation." I gripped the edge of my desk hard and willed myself not to glare. "The presence of romance doesn't invalidate everything else."
"Thank you, Melissa, for your input." My AP Language teacher, Ms. Russell, nodded tersely at me. I knew she thought I was a show-off, but I didn't much care. I just got so excited.
As Ms. Russell moved on, Peter leaned across the aisle. "Listen, Callgirl, just because you use big words doesn't make you better than me. Or smarter than me."
"Please stop calling me that."
Peter smirked. "Stop what?"
"Stop call-"
"Alright... Callgirl."
I flushed so hard I could feel my skin tingling. "Ugh! You-"
Ms. Russell looked sharply over in our direction. "Melissa, did you have something else to say?"
I glanced sideways at Peter, who was shaking with laughter in his seat. So was Jake. Lily and Carrie were smiling into their hands. Alex shot me a sympathetic look, And- Brad?
Brad was smiling. Faintly, but he was smiling.
I blushed and looked down at my hands. I didn't speak for the rest of class.
YOU ARE READING
The Silver Heart
Teen FictionWhen Brad from cross-country puts his arm around Melissa Call, he becomes her whole world. But as Melissa soon learns, giving all your attention to someone else means you haven't got much left for your own needs. And when everyone else seems to have...
