leeching off a long string of rich ‘friends’. Now she was claiming her current ‘friend’ was here to stay. I thought she was joking but I was obviously wrong as they were engaged. I looked through my phone and saw the dozen missed calls from my mother – the only person on my contact list apart from Rene. I deleted them all without hesitation and stuffed the phone in my back pocket.
Drama with Mr Sachsen was better than I expected. He wasn’t boring like some of the other professors, and he wa s much friendlier. Mr Sachsen was quite young for a professor and though he was a bit camp, he was married to a Mrs Sachsen.
‘Right, we’re going to do silly warm up exercises,’ he said, ‘and then I want you to get into groups of three.’
I wriggled my hands and my legs. The exercises got more ridiculous until most of us were laughing. My eyes rested on Jack’s and the smile immediately dropped from my face.
I joined a group with two skinny boys with glasses, only because I thought they wouldn’t give me a hard time. I was right. They were harmless, if a bit flirty.
‘What school did you go to?’ Scott asked me, the better looking of the two. His mate, Matt, unfortunately suffered from a severe acne disorder. I tried my best not to stare at his face, but then I realised in trying not to notice it , I was being rude. I decided to treat Matt as if he was Rene. If my best friend had horrible acne, I would have no problem in maintaining eye contact.
Matt smiled at me and I smiled back before I answered Scott. ‘Just some local school,’ I said vaguely.
Neither of them pressured me to state which school I had attended. Apparently Scott and Matt weren’t up to date with the gossip. Luckily for me, that meant I could put my guard down for once and just be myself.
'Hey I've got an interesting fact for you,' Matt said. 'Did you kn ow that some species of sharks have to keep moving or they die?'
'Don 't they need to sleep? I asked, perplexed.
'They do, but not like we do. They have active and inactive periods. Half of their brain is shut off allowing rest, and the other half controls their movement.'
Matt was just a big ball of facts. He was cute in that dorky sort of way. He caught me staring at him. 'You've changed your mind haven't you? You want to go out with me.'
Scott chortled like it was the funniest thing ever.
'In your dreams,' I s aid. I knew he was just playing around. If I had any inkling he was serious, I would have let him down gently.
'Burn,' Scott said, laughing harder.
Midway through the class, Mr Sachsen came up with the idea to mix up the groups. Jack and Jennifer ended up joining me, Scott and Matt. Scott couldn’t take his eyes off Jennifer, and she couldn’t stop glancing at Jack. Unfortunately neither could I. I’d had a crush on Jack Daniels; in fact he’d been thirteen, the same age as me, and his sister, a year younger than us. With our history, I’d expected nothing to linger of my long ago crush, but obviously there was something still there and I needed to stamp it out before it grew into something bigger. I ignored the butterflies in my stomach. I reminded myself Jack hated me and would always hate me, but not as much as I hated myself for the role I’d played in his family’s tragedy.
‘Ri ght,’ Mr Sachsen said, 'You lot can show the class what you can do. I want you to read off this script. It was written by none other than moi,' he added, accompanied by a wrist gesture. Mr Sachsen sounded quite proud, as he should be. It was quite the accomplishment. Mr Sachsen handed each of us a copy of his script.
We began our impromptu performance without delay. Jack and I played a married couple who were sick of each other, but stayed together out of habit. Jennifer, Scott and Matt were our three grown children who had left home, but came to visit every weekend.
Jennifer's acting skills were amaz ing. She was actually nice to me, something I thought Jen would never be able to
Drama with Mr Sachsen was better than I expected. He wasn’t boring like some of the other professors, and he wa s much friendlier. Mr Sachsen was quite young for a professor and though he was a bit camp, he was married to a Mrs Sachsen.
‘Right, we’re going to do silly warm up exercises,’ he said, ‘and then I want you to get into groups of three.’
I wriggled my hands and my legs. The exercises got more ridiculous until most of us were laughing. My eyes rested on Jack’s and the smile immediately dropped from my face.
I joined a group with two skinny boys with glasses, only because I thought they wouldn’t give me a hard time. I was right. They were harmless, if a bit flirty.
‘What school did you go to?’ Scott asked me, the better looking of the two. His mate, Matt, unfortunately suffered from a severe acne disorder. I tried my best not to stare at his face, but then I realised in trying not to notice it , I was being rude. I decided to treat Matt as if he was Rene. If my best friend had horrible acne, I would have no problem in maintaining eye contact.
Matt smiled at me and I smiled back before I answered Scott. ‘Just some local school,’ I said vaguely.
Neither of them pressured me to state which school I had attended. Apparently Scott and Matt weren’t up to date with the gossip. Luckily for me, that meant I could put my guard down for once and just be myself.
'Hey I've got an interesting fact for you,' Matt said. 'Did you kn ow that some species of sharks have to keep moving or they die?'
'Don 't they need to sleep? I asked, perplexed.
'They do, but not like we do. They have active and inactive periods. Half of their brain is shut off allowing rest, and the other half controls their movement.'
Matt was just a big ball of facts. He was cute in that dorky sort of way. He caught me staring at him. 'You've changed your mind haven't you? You want to go out with me.'
Scott chortled like it was the funniest thing ever.
'In your dreams,' I s aid. I knew he was just playing around. If I had any inkling he was serious, I would have let him down gently.
'Burn,' Scott said, laughing harder.
Midway through the class, Mr Sachsen came up with the idea to mix up the groups. Jack and Jennifer ended up joining me, Scott and Matt. Scott couldn’t take his eyes off Jennifer, and she couldn’t stop glancing at Jack. Unfortunately neither could I. I’d had a crush on Jack Daniels; in fact he’d been thirteen, the same age as me, and his sister, a year younger than us. With our history, I’d expected nothing to linger of my long ago crush, but obviously there was something still there and I needed to stamp it out before it grew into something bigger. I ignored the butterflies in my stomach. I reminded myself Jack hated me and would always hate me, but not as much as I hated myself for the role I’d played in his family’s tragedy.
‘Ri ght,’ Mr Sachsen said, 'You lot can show the class what you can do. I want you to read off this script. It was written by none other than moi,' he added, accompanied by a wrist gesture. Mr Sachsen sounded quite proud, as he should be. It was quite the accomplishment. Mr Sachsen handed each of us a copy of his script.
We began our impromptu performance without delay. Jack and I played a married couple who were sick of each other, but stayed together out of habit. Jennifer, Scott and Matt were our three grown children who had left home, but came to visit every weekend.
Jennifer's acting skills were amaz ing. She was actually nice to me, something I thought Jen would never be able to
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