"You got so jealous. You should have seen your face, Penny."
I put a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "Look, Tyler, I just broke it off with this jerk, and I feel like I'm not really in a place to date anyone right now. I'd love it if we could be friends, though."
"Yeah, I know."
"Wait, what?"
"Josh told me. I guess Melissa told him about it or something."
Damn it, Melissa!She had such a big mouth.
"I like you, though. So I hope you can forgive me, because I'm just going to keep trying. Besides, I've heard that you think my persistence is charming."
"Okay, Tyler."
"So what is your speech going to be about?" I asked him.
"Well that asshole stole my idea. But I think I have something else planned. You'll have to wait and see. What about you?"
"I have no idea."
Temptation - Chapter 18
Friday
I looked down at my notes. My hands were already shaking. I had chosen to wear casual clothes again today, jeans and a tank top. But I was probably wearing an inappropriate amount of eye makeup and I had taken the time to straighten my hair. I wanted Professor Hunter to listen to my speech and think I wasn't just some clumsy, flirtatious girl.
"Penny," Tyler said and grabbed my hand.
I looked up at him.
"Don't be nervous, you're going to rock it. And try to pay attention today. I think you're going to like my speech." He winked at me.
When Professor Hunter walked in I moved my eyes back to my notes. Seeing him would just make me even more nervous. I felt like I was going to throw up. Being nervous was way worse than a hangover. Professor Hunter called out the first name and made his way to the back of the room. Again, he sat down in front of Tyler.
I completely spaced out during all the speeches. I just stared at my notes, hoping that someone would pull the fire alarm. I even began to wonder if I should go to the bathroom and pull the alarm myself. Ultimately I decided against it because I figured everyone would be able to deduce that it was me.
Before I knew it, Professor Hunter called Tyler's name. My heart started racing. I was next. For a second I put my nerves aside so I could listen to Tyler's speech.
He didn't look at all nervous when he reached the podium. Tyler looked at me and began his speech:
"I've gotta be honest with all of you. I'm going to be incredibly sappy for the next few minutes, because I have met THE most amazing girl. She's sweet and funny and super cute."
I put my hands over my mouth and began shaking my head back and forth.Oh my God!
"And she is quite inspirational. Let me give you some examples. She usually says no when I ask her on a date."
The whole class started laughing.
"But it's okay, because she does laugh at all my jokes. She also kneed me in my junk that one time."
Everyone laughed again.
"But she's apologized. So that was nice of her. As you can see, she's a handful. Wow, now that I think about it, is she really that inspiring? I know it sounds crazy, but I really think so. And hey, at least she's inspiring me to be persistent."
His speech garnered a good applause. He walked confidently back to his seat. After he sat down, he leaned over and said, "You're up, Penny. By the way, your face is bright red."
Professor Hunter called my name a moment later and I felt like I was going to faint. I grabbed my paper and stood up. When I walked past his desk, I smelled his cologne and felt even more light headed. Forgetting to watch where I was going, I tripped over a backpack in the aisle and fell sideways into someone's desk. The desk screeched a few inches to the right and the girl sitting there looked like she had just been woken up. I was surprised she didn't scream.
