Free A Girl by Any Other Name by Mk Schiller Page B

interrupted.
    I turned toward her, trying my damnedest not to scowl. “One minute, please.”
    When I turned back, Sophie Becker was gone.
    I spent the next twenty minutes listening to Melanie Adams drone on about poetry and the great
    American novel. She plied me with compliments about how much she was enjoying my class and all
    the things she had learned. Damn, the girl could talk. I nodded when appropriate and added my own
    comments, but my thoughts kept drifting to Sophie Becker, Sylvie Cranston and of course…Lenore.
    * * * *
    She didn’t come to class, but her essays appeared in my mailbox. The one on The Raven was a
    train wreck and gave me no clues whether she was my Lenore or the raven tapping at my door. It was
    as if she was throwing the assignment. Her papers on Moby Dick and the Hardy novel were much
    more detailed, but provided no real insights. I wondered if her absence was due to the exam
    scheduled for today. Did she think I might recognize her slanted handwriting on the essay questions?
    It was a stretch to think that way, but it didn’t stop me from glancing at her empty seat or the
    closed doorway of the classroom. About an hour into the two-hour class, a knock came that had me
    springing from my chair as if it was a hotplate.
    I sighed in disappointment, staring at Roy Adkins and three other boys I’d nicknamed the
    Asshole Alliance.
    “Mr Adkins, I’m afraid I’m very busy right now proctoring an exam. I believe you boys received
    an invitation to attend. Is this your idea of fashionably late?”
    His lip twitched into a tight grimace. “We’re sorry, Professor…er… Mr…”
    “Cal, just Cal,” I said not hiding my irritation.
    “We just ran late.” He made a move to come into the classroom, but I blocked the door. The
    arrogant sense of entitlement they exhibited pissed me off, and I was already in a bad mood.
    “You are over an hour late. You don’t have enough time to take the exam and I don’t have the
    inclination to let you.”
    He stood back, a slight sneer forming on his pimply face. It was clear the Asshole Alliance had
    no respect for me, my class or their education. I’d worked hard on my elocution. It was necessary in
    my profession, especially living this far north, but occasionally my Texas shone through. Funny,
    women found the accent charming and sexy. Men, though, thought it signaled stupidity. These boys
    were no exception, often responding with snickers and eye-rolls when I let a Texasism slip through
    my lecture.
    “It wasn’t our fault,” Roy explained, acting as the group’s spokesperson.
    “I’m sensing a story here, but I’m afraid I do not have the time to indulge you.”
    “Just a minute, please.”
    Curious, I closed the door and stepped out into the hallway. I glanced at my watch. “Sixty
    seconds starts now.”
    “We were on our way, but this old lady was stuck on the side of the road. We stopped to help
    her. Her car battery died. She had an old car so it took us a while to jump it, but luckily I took
    mechanics in high school and all of us know cars.”
    “Well, I guess chivalry is not dead. Goodbye.”
    “Wait, sir. Please. What would you have done? Are you honestly punishing us for being Good
    Samaritans?”
    I glanced at the four of them. Did they really think I was dumb enough to believe that it had taken
    them an hour to jump a car? Or that I’d missed the stench of stale beer on their breath, and the red-
    rimmed eyes they all sported, indicative of a night consisting of heavy partying?
    “So y’all drive together?” I asked, emphasizing the y’all.
    “Yes, yes we do,” he replied with hope. The other boys all nodded and murmured in agreement,
    making it clear they either thought they were superior in their intelligence or I was gullible in mine.
    “And were you able to help her? The elderly woman?”
    “Yes, we were. She’s safe and back on the road. Can we make up the test?”
    “Mr Adkins, the syllabus, and I know you’re