Free Last Leaf on the Oak Tree by Adrianna Cohen Page A

Twinkie and a coke and was still almost late for class. Her English class was on the other side of the U of M sprawling campus, and she would literally have to run to get there. Good thing she was wearing her hiking boots.
    Paulie (her nickname) snuck a quick glance at her seatmate across the aisle. She sucked in her breath. Wow! The boy sitting next to her was gorgeous! He had long black hair braided Indian style, dark skin, and was built very well. He looked at her, and she blushed. He flashed a quick smile, and she smiled back.
    Paulie was so engaged by his smile she almost missed the dismissal bell as it buzzed in the classroom. Dr. Kincaid had lectured all the way to the end of class, so she was very happy that the syllabus had included all the homework assignments. Now to hoof it to the English building, a whole city block away. Paulie turned to pick up her books and stuff her backpack, noting that most students only brought a composition book or laptop and not a lot of other stuff to hinder their mobility.
    The guy with the killer looks glanced quickly at Paulie and noted she was dumping stuff into a backpack. Too late to chat with her and get her number, he thought to himself. He shrugged and jogged down the hallway to the side exit, unlocked his moped, hopped on board and zoomed to his next class, English. He arrived with time to spare and took the first seat on the front row. He noted that the seat behind him was unoccupied. He shrugged to himself, noticing he was the only obvious Native American in the class of thirty or so.
     

CHAPTER TWO

    The bell was ringing again as an out of breath Paulie sprinted into English class. Oh no! All the seats were taken except the front row, Again! Paulie slumped down in the chair and pulled out the English book. Professor Sartain closed the door and pointedly remarked, "Class will begin on time and end on time. This Class is English 3010, the plays of William Shakespeare. Although we will not study every play of Shakespeare, we will cover 14 of them. Turn in your assignments on my desk when you leave. Make sure your name is at the top, with your student number. After today, I expect every assignment to be typed with a header. The header will have your name and number on it in the upper right corner. The graded assignments will be on that file box by the door, in alphabetical order for you to remove as you leave the next class."
    Paulie was grateful she had typed her homework and had placed her name and number at the top already. She was lucky as she heard others murmuring they had not even read the syllabus or bought their books.
    Professor Sartain spoke again, "If your name's not on your homework I will not grade it. I do not accept late papers unless you have a verified hospitalization or death in your family. If you do not turn in your homework, you will receive a zero. Five zeros and you have failed my course."
    Paulie noticed that Beautiful Man was sitting next to her again. Maybe after class, they could get acquainted. Paulie pulled her hair to the side because now it was completely out of the carefully sprayed bun she started with this morning. What a doofus she was!
    Beautiful Man noticed Paulie the minute she ran back into his class. She was a knockout! He couldn't help but gaze at her svelte figure with the cute short miniskirt and long legs in the bright turquoise tights. He carefully examined the tights again while pretending to gather his English book. Those were Choctaw designed tights. He recognized them from the designs he was making in the art consortium for his tribe. He was part of a group of tribal members designing clothing for sale on the reservation. He KNEW those tights very well. He also knew at present the reservation was the only place they could be purchased, for they had not found an outlet for the native inspired clothing line. He wondered if the blonde had gone to reservation for the casino. He hoped she wasn't a gambler. His tribe had the casino,