Page 36 of Where We Met

She stands up from the corner of the room, sticking her chest out way too eagerly for everyone to see. Is she just an attention whore, taking it wherever she can get it?

"Okay, class." He looks around the room with a smile, not making eye contact with me. "The winner of the Italy trip, who gets to experience first-hand what it's like to make a deal internationally, is…"

The envelope gets torn open, and then he pulls out a piece of paper folded in half. My hand grips my pen so hard I can feel my nails start to dig into my skin.Don't be a pretty girl, please don't be a pretty girl.

I won't be able to handle knowing he's going to spend an entire week alone with some other young college girl.

He opens the piece of paper and looks down. The grin on his face disappears for a moment as he blinks down at it, but he catches his hesitation and plasters the smile back on.

"Savannah Davis," he says then looks over at me. "Congratulations, you've received the highest grade on the paper and therefore will be accompanying me to Italy next week."

My girls are hooting and hollering around me.

"Shit, girl." Shannon pushes my shoulder. "I'm so damn jealous of you right now."

I smile the brightest smile I can muster, but even I know it's a weak attempt. How can I be excited when he looks horrified?

"My assistant will be in touch with you to iron out the details, Savannah."

I nod my head as my fingers still grip tightly to my pen. When I look over at Rebecca, she’s staring daggers at me. Does she recognize me as the girl she called out for having acute crush on the professor? Now I'm going to be alone with him in Italy for a week, and she clearly isn’t happy about that.

I could be projecting all of this onto her. For all I know, she’s a sweet person and really did think my behavior in front of Luke was cute. Maybe she has resting bitch face and isn't actually glaring at me right now.

Well, resting bitch face or not, it's making me uncomfortable.

"Well, that concludes everything we needed to cover for tonight. We'll pick back up again on Wednesday."

"You're going to freakin' Italy." Aubrey shakes me with excitement. "Why the hell aren't you more excited?"

"I think I'm just in shock," I lie.

"This calls for a celebration. Come on, let's go to Mac's for some drinks," Tricia says.

"Totally! We need to celebrate the fact that this time next week, our girl is going to be flirting her ass off with some sexy Italian with an accent," Shannon says.

"I actually need to get back to Bailey. She hasn't been feeling well," I lie again, immediately noticing the disappointment in their eyes. I’ve started to resent this part of me that can't just say what's actually going on in my life. I don’t know when I became someone who had to keep so many truths from my friends.

"I hope Bailey feels better," Aubrey says as they start to file out. "We'll see you around."

As much as I want to see Luke right now to talk about what happened on Friday, I have no interest in Rebecca making me feel like a child again. I grab my things then shuffle up the stairs and out the door.

The weather is finally starting to turn from winter to spring. My jeans and sweater are enough today, no winter coat or gloves needed.

I take my time walking to my car, enjoying the fact that it’s not blistering cold. As I make my way, it hits me that I’m going to Italy.Italy. Holy shit. Despite the shock on Luke's face when reading my name, I smile.

It's a dream come true knowing that I'm going to be in Tuscany this time next week. So me and Luke had a little slip up and kissed… It's not the end of the world. I’ve realized I may have been unfair to him, thinking that just because we got carried away on our video call, he owed me something.

He's my professor, after all. Everything about us together is wrong. And who knows, maybe after the semester’s over, we can revisit the possibility ofus.

Funny what a trip to Italy can do to one’s perspective. Turns out, I just needed something to look forward to, to pull me out of this funk I've been in.

I open the door to my car to get in, shuffling my bag off my shoulder.

"Savannah," Luke's deep voice calls from behind me.

I turn around and see him jogging my way. Ugh, this all would be so much easier if he weren't so good-looking.

"Savannah." He breathes heavily when he reaches me. "I'm sorry."

---