Page 11 of Get Even

I cut him off before he could continue telling me the ramifications this presentation was going to have on my grade. “Do you have a problem with lesbians?” Davis choked and the class fell silent, Nick’s eyes were wide and he frantically shook his head at me, clearly feeling that this wasn’t the time or place for this discussion. I smiled tightly, “No?” I asked when Davis remained silent. “What about women in general?” More silence. “My presentation is perfectly valid in its relation to the subject of war and I think the book itself sheds interesting light on the way war affected women and society. Of course, if you think Radclyffe Hall’s work is reductive then maybe you can go and tell the board exactly why that is – maybe even provide them with an alternative namesake for the college?”

The room was quiet and Davis was bone white, either from shock or anger I couldn’t tell. I flicked through the last few slides without commentary and looked out over the class before I moved away, “If anyone has any questions or wants to see the rest of the slides let me know. Thanks for your time.”

It was probably going to bite me in the ass. But what was the point in me spending time and energy on a project I had truly enjoyedandhad crushed only to be stopped half-way because of some derogatory bullshit? If Professor Dick wanted to hate me, fine. But getting in the way of my learning? Forcing the class to conform to his biased bullshit? I wasn’t going to just sit back and take that, even if it did get me kicked off the course.

I sat back down next to Nick and he gave me a grudging smile, as if to say he’d hated that I’d done it but was proud of me at the same time. I shrugged lightly and blinked when the lights flashed back on, I guess we were done presenting after the mini meltdown that had just occurred.

I shoved my laptop back into my bag and avoided the eyes of the class as I walked out. Davis didn’t stop me, didn’t even look at me and a kernel of dread took root as I imagined all the ways he was going to use this against me. He couldn’t kick me out for this alone, not least because I was right and he wouldn’t want to attract attention to it, but he would find a way to twist it, of that I had no doubt.

Nick fell behind as I charged down the stairs of the lecture hall and out the door, drowning in both anger and a helplessness that left me blind to everything else until I collided with a very hard, warm chest and nearly went sprawling.

“Hey,” a familiar voice called me back, gripping my forearms to prevent me from falling to the ground, and I looked up into blue eyes that somehow steadied me. “Are you alright?” I forced a nod and Ryan frowned, hands loosening on my arms as he instead moved them to my shoulders and he bent his head down towards me. “Take a breath,” he said and I did, then took another when he told me to do it again. By my fourth, the anger had receded and the tears starting to burn in my eyes had faded. “What happened?”

I blew out another breath for good measure and then started walking before the rest of the class started leaving through the doors behind us. “I got into it with my Professor when he cut-off my presentation mid-way through.”

Ryan frowned, “Aren’t you supposed to be winning him over?”

My hands curled into fists as I whirled on him, “This isn’t aboutme,it’s about him trying to warp fucking history with his bigoted–”

A hand clapped over my mouth and I glared in outrage, ignoring the swooping sensation in my stomach. I reined in my first instinct to bite Ryan’s hand and knew he had been right to stop me from ranting when Davis walked past, eyes flicking between me and Ryan before he hurried away.

“He’ll get what’s coming to him eventually,” Ry said when he released his hand from my mouth. “But for what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I sighed. “At least he saw us together. I wasn’t expecting you to meet me so soon after Saturday, can’t keep away?”

“Never could,” he said and I turned that over in my mind, wondering what it meant as Ry changed the subject. “If you want, you can do the presentation for an audience of one?”

I blinked at him, letting out a small laugh before I realized he was serious. “What?”

“You didn’t get to finish, right?” Ryan grinned cockily, “I don’t like to leave anyone feeling unsatisfied.”

I rolled my eyes but let the comment slide, “You don’t have to–”

“I want to,” he said, slipping his hand into mine and laughing when I jumped. My classmates started to pour past us, Nick waggling his eyebrows when he saw who now held my hand, and then the whispers kicked up again.

“I heard she had an orgy–”

“Can you believeshecheated on Aaron?”

“So fucking stuck up, imagine lecturing the lecturer–”

“Shut the fuck up,” Ryan said loudly and a few wide eyes ran over him standing at my side as a quick hush descended. If there was anyone the fangirls worshiped more than Aaron… A few people lingered close-by, mostly girls, waiting to see if any more drama unfolded and Ryan looked directly at them, mouth tight and jaw clenched. “Fuck off.”

I snorted and the girls practically fled, Ryan steered us in the direction of the doors and I dropped my eyes to the death grip he had on my hand. “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

He frowned at me, not bothering to answer, “Is it always like that?”

“Only recently,” I shrugged and his frown deepened, clearing only a little as the fresh air hit us. “You know, there’s not really anyone around right now, you can let go of my hand.”

The frown disappeared as he grinned, letting go of my fingers and slinging an arm around my shoulders instead, tucking me in close to his side. “Is this better? If you wanted to cuddle you only had to say so.”

I rolled my eyes but didn’t bother pulling away, he’d only find some other way to irritate me.

“So?” he said after the silence stretched on.

“What?” I asked, looking up at him in confusion and breathing in the scent of warm apples, like he’d been baking or something. It wasn’t fair that he smelled so… delicious. I wanted to shake myself and Ryan stared down at me like he’d said something, grinning a little when I remained quiet.

“Isaid,aren’t you going to tell me your presentation?”

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