Disclaimer: Twilight is the property of Stephenie Meyer-this is fan fiction-just for fun. No sue.
Chapter 17 – Movie Time
The rest of the afternoon was spent in something of a daze. I barely even noticed the conversation as I followed May Li, Alyssa, and some classmates out to our Western Civilization class. The sun, which shone so brilliantly this morning, was now hidden behind cloud cover.
Western Civ was my only class in the Old Annex behind the school. It had formally been the parish convent, but now it held the school library, art studio, and overflow classrooms. As we passed through the gothic doors, I managed to pick up that the current buzz surrounded the mind-boggling hotness of today's history substitute.
It did not take much to rouse the Eastwood population, although I guess it was to be expected, considering the utter dearth of men.
May Li and Alyssa had given up on holding my attention. They were getting the scoop from the Udall twins as we walked down the hall.
I entered the classroom in my haze of Jake-induced happiness only to freeze instantly.
Crap. He was there, standing at the front of the class and conversing silkily with my drooling classmates. Black hair. White skin. Tall and muscular. Dressed in a perfectly-tailored tan suit. Small square glasses. Brown eyes with a strange mahogany cast to them. Olivier.
He fixed his gaze on me—an arrogant glare—before he let his eyes rest one at a time on the creamy necks of the sycophantic group in front of him. His eyes gave a final flicker to Alyssa, and then too fast for anyone but me to see, he licked his lips.
He was making it perfectly obvious what he intended to do if I left.
Once again I was trapped. I wanted to run but if I did—I left a room full of innocent girls unprotected, and I had no doubt in my mind that Olivier would have no qualms in snapping every single last neck.
I sat stiffly in my seat. I looked fixedly away from him, while still keeping his every move within my peripheral vision.
Alyssa seemed to be the only one in the room besides me that was unaffected by Olivier's magnetism. She was staring at the scene in the front of the class with wary eyes. She clearly had no memory of Olivier, yet she knew to fear him. I did find it rather fascinating how the human unconscious seemed to perceive what the conscious mind could not.
May Li, however, was clearly affected by Olivier. She was already drifting towards the front of the classroom. Her eyes were slightly unfocused.
I gave her arm a slight jerk.
"Oh!" She gave a little squeak and looked around as if suddenly comprehending she was no longer in Oz. She quickly sat at her table alongside Alyssa.
Despite his chat with the flock in front of him, Olivier missed none of this. He shot a pointed glance at May Li's neck.
I swore under my breath.
He grinned in response. The grin caused the girls in front of him to swoon such that they practically fell on the floor in front of him.
Olivier ignored them completely and called the class to order.
He sat elegantly on top of the teacher's desk at the front of the classroom. "Good afternoon, ladies. If you would be so indulgent, I would like to present myself. My name is Olivier Arent." He turned to the chalkboard behind him and wrote out his name in elegant script.
The girls in the front row seemed to be panting. Ugh.
"Miss Girard had a family emergency early this afternoon and had to leave abruptly. Thus, I had the great fortune of being available to step in for her."
I tried to hide my horror. I really, really hoped that Miss Girard was not dead in a ditch somewhere.
Olivier continued "Since your exam for this course is concluded and the holiday celebrations are nigh upon us, I thought you all might take pleasure in a little classic film. Miss Girard has quite the collection from which to choose."
The class positively tittered—partially because they were hanging onto Olivier's every word and partially because what he said about Miss Girard was something of a school-wide joke. It was well-known that Miss Girard was a lonely spinster with an unfortunate addiction to port wine and classic Britain. She droned on endlessly about the "scandals of the court"—even though our syllabus dictated that we were supposed to be focused on colonialism for the entire semester. I wanted to wretch all over myself, but I kept calm reminding myself that the rest of the class did not know that she might be dead at this very moment.
"I have selected two titles from her shelves—Sense and Sensibility (more girly tittering) and The Curse of the Werewolf—which, for a bit of trivia, is based off of what famous novel? Anyone?"
I clenched my fists. I was doing everything I could not to erupt into hysterics. Curse of the Werewolf? Olivier was nothing if not blunt.
He shifted his gaze to me, fake curiosity shaping his sharp features. "Young Miss, I believe I saw a flash of intuition in your eyes. Pray tell, would you favor me with the answer to my little trivia question?"
The eyes of my classmates were upon me. It was an uncomfortable feeling. I was rather used to being glance at or spied upon, but these looks were something different. Envy. Jealousy. Irritation. Dislike. Even May Li looked a little put out. It was quite astounding how a spot of male attention could completely transform the natures of otherwise affable girls.
Alyssa was the only one who appeared sympathetic.
I attempted to look as bored as possible. "Guy Endore's The Werewolf in Paris," I said flatly. Jake loved watching bad horror films—even better if they involved werewolves and vampires. Jake, Quinn, Embry, and Seth liked to pile up on the couches at Jake's and down beer and popcorn while laughing their tails off about the fake blood and bad costumes. Crap. Crap. Jake. Crap.
"Correct!" he exclaimed. "Vanessa Masen, isn't it?" Olivier minutely glanced at the clipboard with the seating chart on his lap, as if he was checking to be sure. Whatever I might think, his acting was spot on.
I nodded with my jaw set, and he continued, "Always a charm to see a young woman well-versed in the classics." He smiled at me again, earning me more nasty glares from my classmates. "Vanessa, would you would be so kind as to choose between the two?"
I refused to blink. "I would prefer Sense and Sensibility."
He smiled indulgently at me. He let his gaze linger for an unnecessary length of time. Jerk. A few of the girls around me began muttering nasty things under their breaths. Prima donna, nasty little witch, and… worse. Of course, Olivier and I caught every word. The edge of his mouth twisted in response. It appeared that he was enjoying himself.
He retrieved the video from his desk and began to ready the movie. This was my chance. I knew that I could not handle this situation alone. I needed Jake, my dad, or Alice. I reached for my mobile—no sooner had my hand retrieved it from my pocket than Olivier was clearing his throat loudly.
"Misses Masen, Li, Porter, and Udall, please convey your mobiles to my desk. I must insist that there are no further distractions during our screening."
I grabbed May Li's phone from her hands before she could even move. Carina Porter and Teresa Udall were near the front and already placing their phones on the desk in front of Olivier. Carina, while clearly affected by Olivier's façade, kept her eyes down as she set down her phone. Teresa Udall was not so shy. She gave a sly wink to her twin sister before slowly leaning down in front of Olivier, clearly intending him to get a full view of the long line of her cleavage, and she set down the phone. Olivier watched her detachedly—letting his eyes run down the front of her shirt, but not letting any reaction show.
Ugh. Yuck. Stupid human bimbo. She might as well bite down on an apple and lay herself out on a silver tray like a fatted Christmas pig.
I did not come any closer than necessary. I slid the phones on the desk so that they rolled toward Olivier. I quickly returned to my seat.
He collected the phones and threw them into the top drawer of the desk, and then he hit play and moved to the back of the room to turn out the lights.
Once the lights were out, the atmosphere in the room changed. Despite the sweet little BBC adaption playing on the screen, there was a sense of danger lurking in the room—as if now that the dark had arrived, Olivier's former façade no longer held sway. I saw a few girls turn as if they were going to look behind them, but then they stopped short, as if some alert in their brain told them to keep their eyes focused straight ahead.
Alyssa, May Li, and I were at the tables in the back of the room. Alyssa and May shared table to my left. There was an open chair at my table.
I heard it when Olivier silently slid into the chair next to mine.
Quick Author's Note: Yay! I'm finally back in my groove--I got a little lost for a while and wrote bad coffee shop dialogue for a while--and then finally realized (*Teacher Olivier*ding*ding*ding*) how to get the story pumping again without totally ruining all of the other plot lines--and yet still defining the villain.
Also pronunciation-Olivier is the french version of Oliver--so do not pronounce the R. (oh-LIV-ee-ay and then the last name Arent, same thing (Ah-REN). Much sexier name than plain old Oliver.
Should be updating soon!