The rest of the day flew by like a dream. Like some sort of whirlwind filled with idiotic highschoolers and lessons that droned on and dirty looks. A school lunch that she didn't even care to pick at; Fish sticks and mac n' cheese. It just smelled disgusting to her, to be completely honest.
Em's last class of the day was AP History. It just so happened that their regular teacher was sick, and so Mrs. McFague was subbing. The woman was aging and aging fast, with yellow-white hair that was permed to utter perfection, thick glasses with a pearl chain and stuffy looking suits that smelled of mothballs and old lady perfume. When she walked her heels were like firecrackers on the linoleum floors and she had this superior air about her. All in all, Em hated her from one look.
It didn't take long for role-call to commence. Mrs. McFague had this squawking, sort of warbling voice that was nails on a chalkboard to almost everyone in the room. Sure enough on the list was none other than Ben freaking Braeden.
Oh, that was just peachy.
Ben was right next to her. She got called up to the front of the class for the ninth time that day, and was called Emily-Rose for the ninth time that day. She cringed, sometimes visibly, every time someone called her Emily, let alone Emily-Rose. It made her skin crawl, made her stomach churn uncomfortably.
"...You know what?" Em finally snapped, after getting an additude from Mrs. McFague about not telling anything about herself. "I'm not going to say a damn thing about myself because there's nothing to tell. You want some bullshit sob story? You're not gonna get it from me. I don't really care what the hell you want me to say! So just fuck off, would you ya' old crone?" Everyone watched with wide eyes when she plucked a pen from the cup on her desk and snapped in in half.
"Oh, and by the way," she said much more quietly, her voice almost sickeningly sweet, peppered with her southern accent. "It's Em. Not Emily-Rose. Now have a nice fucking day."
From that moment on Ben Braeden was pretty sure he was in love.