First Semester (Elton Hall Chronicles Book 1)

by Sarah Fischer

  I continued down the hall and eventually made it to the school store. Once inside, I went to talk to one of the clerks. There were two books that I couldn’t buy online so I had to come to the store. One was for my computer class and the other for my intro to literature class. Apparently, the literature professor had written a textbook and wanted us to buy that. Frankly, I thought this was a little ridiculous. It was like he was using the class to increase his book sales.

  “I really need the book that he wrote?” I asked the clerk as she went to a shelf in the back to get it.

  “Yep. He made it very clear to us that it would be a big part of the class. He is some new professor visiting for a year from England while finishing his second textbook,” the clerk said as she handed me a hard cover book with about three hundred pages. It was small but I had a feeling that smaller definitely meant we would have to know more of it.

  The clerk disappeared to get my second book and came back holding what could only be described as bookzilla. It looked like it ate ten of my literature text books for lunch and then had another five for an early dinner. It also cost three hundred and forty-five dollars. I could tell that my computer class was going to be my least favorite class. But it was a requirement for all freshmen so I had no choice but to suffer. However, I would not do it quietly.

  I paid and put bookzilla and the literature book inside my backpack and went to sit on one of the stone benches overlooking the garden. For a while, I was the only one there and it was nice to sit and relax. Then a man in a police uniform walked into the garden. He was built solid, like a football player, and he turned to smile at me. I waved politely back. The officer walked around the corner and handed me a daisy he had just picked.

  “Thank you.” I smiled and sniffed the flower politely.

  “Don’t mention it. I’m always around to offer nice things to a pretty girl.” He puffed out his chest a little and leaned a muscled arm against the wall.

  I was about to respond when my phone went off. It was a text from Annabelle. I was going to be late meeting her. “Sorry, I need to go, but thanks again for the flower.”

  “Wait,” the officer shouted at me as I was about to round the corner.

  I stopped and turn back to look at him.

  “Not a fan of daisies?” He flashed me a bright smile.

  “Uh, the flower is fine. I’m just meeting a friend.” I forced a smile and headed back to my dorm to meet up with Annabelle.

  ***

  As it turned out, she wasn’t ready yet so I took my make-up bag out and headed to the bathroom. After some time, the make-up started to have the desired effect. I put one more layer of mascara on and packed the bag up. I had just put the bag back in my room when there was a knock on my door. I grabbed my wristlet and opened the door to see Annabelle standing in front of me.

  “Ready for the meeting?” she asked with her tote on her shoulder.

  “Yep, let’s go.” I locked my door and we left.

  We headed to the castle. Apparently, EET held their meetings in one of the large classrooms on the second floor. If I had known that, I would have met her there, but a little exercise was always a good thing.

  I had never been on the second floor so I was hoping we didn’t get too lost. I was not exactly known for my directional abilities back home. In fact, my parents had even bought me a portable GPS for my birthday one year. Luckily, Annabelle and I saw two girls with EET staff t-shirts on. We figured it was a safe bet to follow them.

  They entered a classroom that could easily seat fifty. The desks were in a large semi-circle around the room, kind of like an amphitheater. It was welcoming and a little intimidating at the same time. There was nowhere to hide.

  The girls we followed walked over to the blackboard, which was the focus of the semi-circle. We took two seats on the left and looked around. There were around thirty other students sitting in desks, chatting with each other, and a couple other ones sitting on the outside who, like us, were clearly new to the party. I turned to Annabelle to comment on the crowd but was cut short. Someone else had just walked into the room and he had a British accent.

  “Oh shit, it’s Hercules,” I whispered as he turned around and his green eyes focused on me.

  “What did you just say?” Annabelle asked. Apparently, that last comment was not in my head.

  Hercules looked away and walked over to the girls at the blackboard. He appeared to be introducing himself to them. Unhappy with my lack of response, Annabelle slapped me on the forearm.

  “His name is Hercules?” she asked, trying to figure out what I was talking about.

  “No, well, maybe. I don’t actually know his name. Remember the guy from poker last night?” I said in more of a hushed tone, hoping she would follow suit.

  “Oh, right. But why do you call him Hercules?” Annabelle responded in a quieter tone this time.

  “Stop staring at him,” I chastised, hoping he didn’t already know we were talking about him. However, he took that moment to glance over at me. He quickly looked away, but not before he gave me a mischievous smirk.

  “I think he recognizes you too,” Annabelle said as she started to giggle. “Did something happen while I went to get drinks? Maybe a hand of strip poker or something?” She stole another glance at him while he was looking in the other direction.

  “Yes, I stripped in a room full of horny guys and no one noticed.” I rolled my eyes and tried not to smile. “We flirted a little and I kicked his ass in poker. I assumed he was a grad student or something and didn’t think I’d see him again.” I felt a blush begin to creep up my neck and settle in my cheeks.

  “So did he introduce himself as Hercules?” Annabelle asked. I had a feeling she would not let the nickname go.

  “Okay, don’t laugh at me. He never mentioned his name so I just kind of referred to him in my head as Hercules. You know, he looks like a god but is still human. I’m a giant nerd.” I dropped my head into my hands out of embarrassment. Once I heard the explanation out loud, I had to laugh at how ridiculous I was. Luckily, Annabelle seemed to be laughing with me and not at me.

  “That’s amazing. He really is good looking,” Annabelle added as she glanced over at him again.

  “I know! And he has a British accent. I’m such a sucker for that accent.”

  “Really? I am more of a southern twang kind of girl.”

  I was about to inform her that there was no way southern beat British, but one of the girls by the chalkboard cut me off to call the meeting to order.

  “Hi, everyone! My name is Natalie, or Nat, and I am president of Elton Entertainment Team. This is Clarissa, our treasurer, Trent, our late night entertainment director, and this is Professor David Berneli, our new faculty adviser.” Hercules was a professor. My mouth dropped. Well, so much for that idea.

  “Did you know he was a professor?” Annabelle leaned over and asked me.

  “No! I told you, I thought he was a graduate student,” I whispered back.

  “Well, this makes everything more interesting.” Annabelle giggled softly and looked at me. I rolled my eyes and tried to focus on what Nat was saying.

  “Professor, do you want to tell us about yourself?” Nat asked as she sat down on a stool in the front of the room next to Clarissa.

  “As Nat said, I am Professor Berneli. I’m visiting from Lockland University, which is located just outside of London. I will be teaching here for about a year while I finish up a project. EET’s faculty advisor retired last year and they asked me to replace her for the duration of my visit. I worked my way through university as a club promoter and talent manager so I have some experience booking and then handling the talent when they arrive. I’m available if you have any questions about what your role may be here. Clarissa, I believe you wanted to say some things now.” Professor Berneli then took his seat on his own stool next to Nat. She turned to him and gave him a giant smile before leaning in to whisper something in his ear.

  I tried not to be jea
lous and turned my attention to Clarissa, but I was having a hard time focusing on what she was saying. I was too busy replaying what Professor Berneli had said. Listening to him speak gave me a thrill. The way his tongue wrapped around some of the words excited me. It made me wonder what else his tongue could do.

  Annabelle slid a piece of paper in front of me, completely ending my fantasy. It was a sign-in sheet. I wrote my name on the paper and slid it to the guy sitting next to me.

  It was a little warm in the room, or maybe it was just my fantasy getting me all sorts of hot and bothered, so I slid my hair off my shoulders and pulled it up into a ponytail with a pen. I did that a lot but frequently forgot the pen was there. I looked back up toward the front of the room where he was sitting on his stool. As it turned out, he was looking at me too. I forced myself to look away and focus again on what Clarissa was saying.

  “So our meetings are on Tuesdays at four. If you have class, then just come afterward or maybe drop in before your class. We set up a big concert for the school in April but we have not started to work on that yet. The first thing we have to do is pick a comedian for our show in October. We have some ideas but we are open to suggestions.” Clarissa went to the blackboard and picked up a piece of chalk. Nat stood up and began talking again.

  “If you have an idea, just shout it out. We aren’t in class so you don’t need to raise your hand.”

  A couple students began saying names. I, unfortunately, didn’t recognize any of them. Apparently, I was not up to date with my comedians.

  “Do you have any idea who these people are?” I asked Annabelle, who also seemed to be mighty quiet.

  “No. I like comedians, but I can’t really name anybody. I’d still like to help though.”

  “Do you think we would get to meet the comedians too?” I asked, getting a little excited. “I’ve never actually met anyone famous.”

  “I don’t know, but I bet we could at least get in for free!” Annabelle said, and took a notebook out of her tote. She began writing a list.

  “What are you writing? I am sure that they have a secretary.”

  “I want to look them up later so we can have some idea who they are,” Annabelle told me as she copied down the names quickly.

  “That’s a good idea. You’re a thinker, my friend!”

  “I try.”

  The meeting continued with some more brainstorming and ended about twenty minutes later. Annabelle grabbed her bag and we started to get up when I heard my name. It nearly stopped my heart.

  I turned around and saw Hercules staring at me. When I met his gaze, his strong hand beckoned me forward. I reminded myself to breathe and walked over to him. When we were playing poker, I didn’t realize how tall he was. Standing next to him now, he must have been at least six feet tall. This did not help to calm me down, but rather accelerated my heart rate even more. I was determined to keep cool though. He could not know the effect he was having on me.

  “What can I do for you, Professor?” I asked as I put extra emphasis on professor. He smiled and I fought the urge to look away. Instead, I held his gaze.

  “So all those chips last night and you didn’t win the tablet?” Hercules asked as he continued to stare.

  “Yeah, I never win raffles. I don’t have that kind of luck.” I shifted my gaze down for a second. I looked back up at him slowly through my lashes. “Wait, how did you know I didn’t win?” I asked.

  “I notice things.” He paused for what seemed like forever but then eventually looked down at his clipboard. “Like I noticed you did not put your student ID number on the form. We need full information for our records.” He handed me the clipboard and his hand slightly grazed mine. I felt a shot of electricity flow through me. It was only there for a second but I could have sworn he felt it too.

  “Do you have a pen?” I asked, trying to keep my voice calm.

  He reached behind me and pulled the pen out of my ponytail. My hair fell out of the knot and slid down my back.

  “Oh,” I laughed, “I forgot it was there.” I looked down immediately, embarrassed at how ridiculous I was. How could I have forgotten I left the pen in my hair? I wrote down my student ID number. “Is there anything else you need from me?” I asked as I handed him the form. I was careful this time not to touch him. I wasn’t sure what would happen if I did.

  “That’s it for now. I guess I’ll see you on Tuesday, Violet.”

  One side of his mouth slid up in a smile and then he walked over to Nat and Clarissa. I was right about his tongue. His lips caressed my name like a man did his lover on a cold winter night. And I was left standing there trying to remember how to walk. Luckily, Annabelle took it upon herself to show up at that moment.

  “So you are never going to guess what just happened,” Annabelle shouted. She was practically bouncing with excitement.

  “Nope. You’re probably right.” I turned to face her and shook my head to clear the dirty thoughts regarding his tongue.

  “Clarissa noticed me taking notes in the meeting and said that their secretary quit last minute because she had a hard semester coming up and needed to focus on classes. So now they have a position open. Since the secretary ran unopposed, there was no one else to promote. They asked me if I had any experience in the position. I let her know I was secretary in student government for my senior year. That seemed to impress them and they offered me the position!” Annabelle looked as if she was trying hard not to squeal.

  “That was lucky! It is a good thing we know nothing about comedians.” I was truly happy to see her so thrilled and animated.

  “I know, right!” Annabelle cheered as we headed out the door. “Clarissa said the executive board meets a half hour before the meeting to prepare. Since on Tuesdays my last class ends at two thirty, I’m completely free.”

  “Aww, I’m happy for you! I guess we are joining EET,” I responded as we made our way through the castle.

  “You do want to join the club too, right?” Annabelle asked me.

  “Yeah, it sounds fun.” I tried to match her enthusiasm. I really did think the club would be a good time, but I was just a little concerned about having to see Hercules weekly. I wasn’t sure if my sanity or my libido could take it.

  “Oh, and Clarissa said we do get into the shows for free and we also get to meet the stars,” Annabelle informed me as we crossed the field.

  “That’s awesome.” I just hoped we could get to see some really famous performers. “Did you eat lunch?” I asked her as we were walking.

  “No, and I’m pretty hungry.”

  We headed to the cafeteria to get some food. It was after two in the afternoon so the cafeteria was pretty empty. We got our food and drinks and sat down at the table near the window. I was about to dig in to my salad when Annabelle spoke up.

  “So what did Hercules want?”

  I almost choked on a green pepper. I knew what I wanted from Hercules but I wasn’t sure if he wanted the same thing.

  “I forgot to put my student ID on the sign-in form and he asked me to fill it in.” I hoped I sounded nonchalant. From the look on Annabelle’s face, I got the distinct feeling that she did not believe me.

  “I saw the hair thing. I am pretty sure he wants a little more than your student ID,” Annabelle teased, waving her fork in the air as she spoke.

  “I just needed a pen to write the number is all. I should have grabbed it myself. I was just being dumb,” I said as I shifted my attention to my ham sandwich.

  “Yeah, okay! You just keep telling yourself that.”

  “He’s a teacher, nothing can happen with him anyway.” I shrugged my shoulders and changed the subject. “Do you want to head back to my room and look up those comedians, Madam Secretary?”

  “Yeah, that sounds like a plan. I just want to drop my bag off in my room first and change into sweatpants.” We finished our lunches and speculated about what the comedy show would be like.

  ***

  I told Annabelle to come over in
ten minutes so I could pick up a few things in my room. I took my key out of my wristlet and opened the door but I was not prepared for what I saw.

  Lying on a pink and lace bedspread was a shirtless guy reading a book. I closed the door instantly. I must have gone to the wrong room. Why would there be a guy lying on the bedspread, and who let him in? I looked at the number on the door—room two. Nope, this was my room. Was this my new roommate? I did not think the school had co-ed dorms. I shook my head and opened the door again. The guy had put his shirt on and was sitting on the chair in front of the desk now.

  “I’m not your roommate. My girlfriend is in the shower,” he said really quickly.

  I laughed and put my wristlet down. “Sorry, I was so confused for a minute. I thought maybe they had co-ed dorms and you had an affinity for pink.”

  “No, my name is Tyler. Lola, my girlfriend, needed a different room so they offered her this one.”

  “Gotcha. I’m Violet.” I walked over to him and shook his hand. Then I dropped my bag on the floor and texted Annabelle.

  Can we meet in your room in fifteen mins? I’ll explain later.

  I sat on my bed and waited for her response.

  Yeah. See you in a few.

  I pretended to be engrossed in my phone while I waited. I wanted to meet my new roommate but I didn’t want to sit around forever. Even though Tyler introduced himself, it was still a little weird.

  I was just about to head over to Annabelle’s room when my door, well, our door, opened. In walked a girl wrapped in a robe with her hair in a towel. She looked toward me and smiled.

  “Hi, I’m Lauren, but everyone calls me Lola,” she said as she crossed the room to my bed and we shook hands.

  “I’m Violet, nice to meet you,” I replied, and quickly looked away. She was in a robe after all. “I’ll let you get dressed.” I was about to get up but she stopped me.