There had to be more to this man but if there was it was buried too deep within him for Holly to find it.
Excerpt
The man had to be insane. There was no question about it any longer. While she had been building him up to be some poor misunderstood individual, he had been doing everything within his power to open her eyes to just what a horrible person he truly was.
Two weeks. That was all that was left before the semester was over. All she had to do was to last through his many manic mood swings and degrading insults for just two more weeks. She had enough inner willpower and strength to withstand whatever he could dream up to try and bring her down to his level of sheer misery. She had made all A’s on every paper and exam. She didn’t have a clue what there was about him that reduced her into a blundering idiot every time he asked a question but she wasn’t going to let him bully her into dropping out. Whatever she needed to do to last him out she would do it. If he wanted meek then she would give him meek. If he wanted bold then she would give him bold. She hadn’t put up with his crap for over three months to quit at this late stage.
“I’m impressed.”
Of course he looked anything except impressed, but she hadn’t been able to read him correctly all semester so maybe he really was impressed.
“You’re impressed with what?”
He waved in the direction of the notebook now lying in the floor in the back of the classroom. “Most people would have run from the room screaming and crying after having something thrown at them. You didn’t even flinch.”
He stood and walked over to the nearest window. He stared at the campus grounds for a moment before turning his attention back onto Holly. “But then you never do whatever other people expect you to do. I wonder why? I don’t know if that’s because you’re just too stupid or it’s because you think yourself hopelessly in love with me.” He crossed his arms and waited for an answer.
Holly never dreamed that their conversation would take such an abrupt turn so her immediate response was to stare in stunned silence. When she finally regained control over her senses she snapped her teeth together and inhaled a slow steady breath and tried to calm down. “That’s the most ludicrous thing I have ever heard. If you want to talk about how I’m doing in your class, I’ll be happy to discuss my performance and grades, which by the way are excellent. I can’t help not being able to utter an intelligent response to your questions because each and every one you direct toward me is always prefixed with some type of a deliberate insult. I’ve done nothing to deserve your dislike. I have completed every required assignment. The fact is I have gone above and beyond doing them because I know how much you loath me, but I will not have you making such ridiculous accusations against my character. Your ego is totally out of control if you believe for one moment I could ever be in love with you.”
Holly stood and collected her books and then even gathered enough courage to go back and pick up the thrown notebook. It contained the entire semester’s notes and she would never pass the final exam without it. She could feel his stare but tried to pretend he wasn’t even in the room. When she finally had everything together and was ready to make her exit she braved last attempt at trying to fix the wrongs she had committed against him. “I apologize for the drawing. It was immature of me to do it. As an authority figure you deserved more respect than that from me.”
Alec wiped at the end of his nose as if in deep thought. He then jammed both hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “You really do want to jump my bones don’t you?”
All rational thought fled in the face of such an arrogant remark. “You really are just as bad as everyone has always claimed you to be. I never wanted to believe them because I thought that deep down there had to be some good in you. Everyone has something good in them, right? Even in the face of all of your criticism I never believed you were that person, but you really are. You don’t need the power you have over impressionable young minds. You are just a delusional ogre in need of professional counseling to try and find a cure for your delusions of grandeur.”