like him.
He parted his lips to say something when Miss. Leslie came into the room and looked around. When she saw him sat, she gave him a satisfied smile and nodded. Ryan smiled back and waved softly in silent greeting. The teacher have barely put the material on the table and was already talking excitedly about the lesson plan for the semester. Looking away from the front of the room, he looked to the side and saw Mandy ignoring him and writing down everything the teacher was saying. Still, he didn't give up on striking up a conversation with her.
"Have you been dancing for a long time?"
"Yup." - Damn, she's still monosyllabic. That’s no good.
"For how long?"
"Since the age of 5." - She turned to him, who saw a different sparkle in her eyes, quickly covered by a cloak of indifference. - "I'm sorry, but I'm trying to follow the class." - Her tone sounded annoyed.
Ryan looked away and took a notebook from his backpack.
"Sorry, Cinderella. I just wanted to get to know you better." His voice was low and a little harder than he expected, but he couldn't help feeling frustrated. What was wrong with her? Or worse, with him?
With big green eyes wide, Mandy opened her mouth to answer, but the teacher, who was talking about the semester's project, turned to them and said:
"Ryan, Amanda can be your partner on the project."
The teacher looked away from the two, continuing to randomly split the class into pairs and Ryan looked back at Mandy, who looked dissatisfied.
"What is it, Cindy? Didn't you like having to do the job with me?"
Her tone was scathing.
“No. I wanted to do it with someone who liked to study, not one who would leave the job behind me. And my name is Amanda, not Cindy."
Whoo! The fox has claws! And sharp ones, he thought to himself.
Unable to hide his smile, he leaned in and whispered very close to her ear. Adrenaline shot through his body and he felt challenged to prove to that girl that he was a hard worker.
"But who said I don't like to study?" - From where Ryan was, he could see the light hairs on her arm, which was resting on the table, stand up. - "You can be sure that this will be the best work of the class on ..." - Ryan looked quickly at the whiteboard to read the project theme. Jane Austen? Ah, damn it! - "Hmm... Jane Austen" - completed, feeling a little less secure. - "And I know your name, Amanda Summers. The girl's eyes widened slightly when she heard her last name. - "Cindy is my nickname for Cinderella, since I think you won't be happy if someone hears me call you that."
"I don't like silly nicknames," she replied so quietly, that if he hadn't been so close, he wouldn't have heard. Then she lowered her head again, concentrating on the notebook in front of her. - "All I want is to get a good grade, without having to kill myself to do the project alone."
"Be cool. I will not let you do anything alone. We will do it together, like two good partners." - He smiled. - "And the nickname is not silly. I am not to blame if you are my Cinderella."
"And what are you? Prince Charming?" - Mandy couldn't keep the ironic tone. "You think you are, don't you, Ryan McKenna?" - she couldn't stop her voice from being full of poison.
He looked at her, surprised by the hostility.
"What do you mean by that?"
"That you must be full of yourself just because you are the captain of the basketball team and the girls fly around you like bakery flies. But you don't have to pretend to be interested in me, as I don't fall for your conquering heartthrob chat."
Ryan raised his eyebrow and opened and closed his mouth a few times. She managed to leave him speechless. He knew that most people treated him with privileges because he was the playmaker and captain of the team, and the girls really flirted with him, but he had never seen himself in such a distorted perspective. As if he was a bad guy for being popular.
He was about to reply that she was wrong when Miss. Leslie called out their names again.
"Ryan? Amanda? Your book is Pride and Prejudice " - the teacher spoke and continued to indicate the book for each pair. - "You should make a project, showing the cultural differences of the time when the book takes place in comparison with the present, the difference in love relationships, always comparing past and present, without forgetting the theoretical basis through the authors who are part of the readings referenced for our discipline. I will make the prerogatives of work available on our class forum on the internet."
Pride and Prejudice It couldn't be a better book. Ryan would make the Cinderella pleaded swallow the prejudice against him by the end of the semester. Now, taming that aloof girl was a matter of honor.
At the end of class, Ryan stood up and rested his backpack on his shoulder, smiling at Miss. Grumpy.
"Bye, Cindy. See you. But, I already want to set up our meeting at the campus library, to start our work. I'll see you on Saturday at nine in the morning."
He bowed to her as a period nobleman would have done to a lady - perhaps even Mr. Darcy to Elizabeth - blinked and headed for the exit. I was sure that if I looked back, she would be open-mouthed, surprised.
Chapter Four
Upon seeing Ryan leave the room, Amanda exhaled audibly. The impact of the strange conversation hit her and she felt her body shudder. The memory of her rude words made her face flush and warm. Oh, my God. How could I be so impolite?, she scolded herself. She leaned forward, running her hands over her face. If she were sincere, she would admit what had happened. The shitty insecurity, associated with shyness, spoke louder and she reacted in the worst way possible.
Dammit.
The girl sighed and started to put the material in her backpack. The room was starting to fill up for the next class. As she finished packing her things, Mandy thought about how much he surprised her by appearing beside her and striking up a conversation.
She closed the backpack carefully so as not to be embarrassed again. She rested the strap on her shoulder and headed for the exit. In a few seconds, she quickly crossed the hall to chemistry class. She barely crossed the living room door when she saw May waving at her.
"Mandy! Here! I saved your place!"
She went to her friend, still shaken. She couldn't stop thinking about the strange morning. Had Ryan McKenna really stroke up a conversation or was she dreaming? And had she really reacted so badly to his presence?
"Mandy? Friend?" May shook her shoulder and Mandy looked at her with a start. - ""Honey, what happened?
“Huh. Nothing” - she replied quickly, looking away.
She couldn't tell anyone that, not even May. She felt embarrassed by her behavior and, at the same time, a little ridiculed by Ryan's joke, when he called her Cinderella. Because that could only be a joke. A guy like him would never look at her any other way. But, in a sneaky way, the other side of her, that romantic and dreamer murmured: “What if he really liked you? What if he's interested in something else? She took a deep breath, not knowing what to think, as her pessimistic side protested vehemently:
