Talisman (19 page)

Asshole
…

Ms. F
itzpatrick rose from her desk.  “Okay, everyone…I have my own special surprise for the class.  A dear friend of mine will be presiding over our lecture today.  He’s a professor of Geology and Mineralogy at the prestigious Yardley University.”

A few
moans erupted from the back of the room.

“I want every
one on his or her
BEST BEHAVIOR…GOT IT?
” our teacher advised in a sharp tone.

Everyone shut up
and rightfully so.  We could tell she meant business.

“Good,”
Ms. Fitzpatrick cooed.  “I’ll be right back.”  She sashayed out of the room, almost animated, but was back in a flash.  “Class,” Ms. Fitz announced, “I’d like to introduce you to Professor Tanner Grey.”  In a grand fashion, she gracefully waved her arm out for our mystery speaker to make their entrance.

No way!
No freaking way
, I thought as the beautiful stranger stepped through the doorway.  My eyes flared as he glided across the room, headed towards the lectern.  My emotions immediately started to churn the same way they had last night.  I scanned around the room to see if anyone else found our guest speaker as intriguing as I did.  Confidently, I observed his electrifying charisma had lit a spark within every female in the room, leaving them helplessly
spellbound
.

“I wonder if
Geologists
do it
in the
dirt?
”  Kara whispered to Erica Kelly, one of her friends who sat behind me.  They were both giggling like two horny little hoes — not even trying to be discreet about it.

That really struck a nerve with Mike.  If the glare in his eyes didn’t give him away, t
he sneer on his face sure did.

“
No
…They just sit around and get their
rocks off
,” he gruffly shot back to them.

After hearing his hostile jab, I c
ouldn’t help but grin.
Uh, Jealous much?

“Thank you for inviting me here, Ms. Fitzpatrick.  I’m actually in town doing some consulting work for Xcavare Enterpri
ses, but I’m always on the lookout for budding geologists,” Professor Grey remarked and flashed a dazzling smile in her direction.  By the look on Ms. Fitz’s face, I thought she was going to melt like an ice cube on a hot sultry day.

I found myself slumping down in my seat
while his eyes panned the room, trying to hide behind a bushy clump of long, curly hair belonging to Anna Cooper sitting in front of me.  From out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Katie was trying to get my attention.

I looked over to my right to see her mouthing,
“
He’s
sooo
DAMN HOT!”

She was right.  H
e looked quite dashing today in his tailored, dark taupe suit and blue shirt.  Not rugged or outdoorsy like he did yesterday (though he was pretty fine then, too).  Even the eyeglasses he was wearing gave him an intelligent and commanding appearance, but allured you in a naughty way. 
Extremely GQ
.

“I don’t have anything prepared, so I thought I’d just open the floor up to any questions you might have about geology.  Sound good?”
Professor Grey asked.

Most all the gals in the class simultaneously replied, “Yes,” like they were in a trance, but the guys remained silent, almost pouty.

“Who has the first question?  Don’t be
shy
,” Professor Grey replied flirtatiously as he sat down on the edge of Ms. Fitz’s desk.

Every girl in the class raised their hand.  Well, every girl except me, that is.  He acknowledged Anna Cooper’s first by saying, “The
brunette in the green shirt.”

I moved in unison with her body to maintain my cover, kn
owing he was looking this way.

Most of the things they asked were very general — “How long he had been a geologist?”, “What did he do for Xcavare Enterprises?”, and “What was involved in his fieldwork?”  A few of them were a little too personal (in my opinion) like, “How old are you?”  He just
acknowledged it with a smile, but
never
answered.  My favorite was, “Are you
single?
”  I was getting a little embarrassed by my peers’ interrogation.  Funny, none of the guys asked a single question.

I stayed hunched down behind Anna, counting the minutes until the bell would ring.  My neck and upper back were starting to ache, so I shifted slightly to my left.  When I turned my head, I spotted Ty Smith
—
staring at me
.  It wasn’t a casual glance.  By the way he was smiling, it was obvious he had been watching me “hide” for quite a while.  Evidently, he’d found it amusing.  I grinned back at him and quickly turned my head away.  I didn’t want
him
to see me blushing either.

Uh,
Awkward
…

Then it was Katie’s turn.  I grinned as I thought about what
she
was bound to ask.  Katie was so predictable.  She would undoubtedly try to impress him with her knowledge of gemstones, though limited as it was.  Katie really didn’t bother to learn any science or history behind them.  She only cared about how they looked placed in a dazzling setting.

“Professor Grey, I know Xcavare Enterprises also
excavates
gemstones
.  Is it possible they could find any in the mine around here?  Like, maybe diamonds or something?  Anything other than just…
coal
,” she added in a dismal, dry tone.  Most of the class laughed at her remark.  After all, they were sick of the dirty black stuff, too.

Professor Tanner Grey grasped both sides of the podium and grinned as he lowered his head.  Then swiftly, he turned around to the blackboard and wrote:

Why
can’t
the coal found in the mines

around here
become a
diamond
?

“Can anyone tell me why it’s
impossible?
” Professor Grey posed, waiting for a response.

Everyone remained silent.  For this to be a
“coalmining” community, no one seemed to know
ANYTHING
about how coal was formed from the earth.

Professor Grey remained at the blackboard with his back to our class and asked, “
Anyone at all?
”

From my vantage point, Ms. Fitzpatrick
looked frustrated, to say the least (the
very least
). The embarrassment she must have been feeling because not one person in her “top” senior class was answering (or even attempting a guess) was written all over her face.  I felt
awful
for her.  I turned to get a glimpse of the clock.  We only had a minute or two left of class, but I sat there wishing that the bell would ring —
right now
— to put Ms. Fitz out of her misery.  Anxiously, I twisted my little gold locket back and forth vigorously as a wave of guilt started to overwhelm me.  After all,
I
was a part of this class. Even Ms. Fitz must suspect that her “star student” had some inkling as to what the correct answer was. 
Ugh
.  That made me feel
even worse
.

What the heck
.  I collected my thoughts, summoned some courage, and cleared my throat.

“Even though the bi
tuminous coal found in our local mine contains carbon atoms, there’s not currently, nor has ever been enough pressure or hot enough temperatures to allow such a transformation to occur.  Even if the right geological processes were in place…considering the amount of impurities bituminous coal contains, it would turn into graphite way before it would ever become a diamond.  That’s simply why it’s an
impossibility
.”

“Excellent answer!
” Professor Tanner Grey exclaimed as the turned around from the board.  He looked straight into my eyes as he slid his glasses down onto the tip of his perfect nose.  “
Ms. Shiloh Wallace
,” he added with a sly grin while his eyes remained locked on mine.

I thought everyone was going to get a case of whiplash
by the way their heads whirled around to look at me —
all at once
.  I felt the surprise and envy of all the females in the room, including Ms. Fitz.  My cheeks started to feel warm, flushing just like they did last night.  All I could do was simply raise my eyebrows and flash an indifferent smile.

Thankfully, the dismissal bell rang.  I attempted an evasive departure.  I lowered my head and
dashed towards the door to avoid any further contact with our “guest speaker”.  I was more than relieved when I spied Kara and several other girls rushing towards him like helpless moths hovering around the edges of a flame.  That was the first time Kara’s hormones had ever worked to my advantage. 
What a happy coincidence
.

I felt a tug on my arm as I
hurried down the hall. 
Katie
.

“What was
that?
” Katie asked as her pace quickened, trying to catch up with me.

“A correct answer,” I replied irrefutably.

“No.  Not
that
.  How did he know your name —
Ms. Shiloh Wallace?
” Katie questioned, attempting to repeat my name in the same charming manner that Professor Grey had spoken it.

“I don’t know,” I replied casually.

“Did you meet him yesterday at the meeting?” Katie probed.

I had to tell
her something.  “Not
exactly
.”

Katie looked confused.

“I sort of
ran into him
out on Shiloh Ridge.”  That was more literal than she knew.  “But I
never
gave him my name.”

“That’s
weird
,” Katie speculated aloud.

I was amused by her cho
ice of the word “weird”.  If I told her about all the things that had happened yesterday, she would probably rethink the use of
that word
.

“No, I mean
…
REALLY WEIRD,
Shi.  What were
YOU
even doing out on the ridge?  I thought
‘Shi’
with a
‘Y’
would never go out there again?”  Katie knew all about my childhood experience and how neurotic I was about it.

“I thought I heard something and went to check it out,” I r
eplied coolly.  “No big deal.”

I wasn’t sure if s
he’d bought my blasé attitude.  I didn’t.  I thought to myself,
No big deal?  Yeah right!

“Nice to see you’re c
onquering those childhood fears of yours,” Katie teased and gave my back a playful pat.  “
Hey
…Let’s run downtown and grab something to eat.  I’ve got to help my dad inventory some new necklaces this afternoon, but he doesn’t know that school’s out for the day.”  Katie placed her finger next to her mouth and let out a secretive
“shush”
.

It sounded like a good idea.  I thought I might go into
work a little early, but then I would inevitably have to grab something from the Sterling Drive-In.  Their food was good, but I did get tired of eating it —
all the time
.

“Only if we go to
Anthony’s
,” I insisted.  “I’m in the mood for Italian, and I’m craving a thick, cheesy stromboli.”

“Agreed,” Katie replied
with a smile and locked her arm around mine.  After a quick stop by our lockers, we strolled out of the school and made our way down to the lower lot.

The ride
there took less than a minute.  Luckily, I found an empty parking place on the street, right in front of the restaurant.  The mouthwatering aroma of fresh marinara sauce aroused both our appetites as soon as we stepped inside.  Anthony’s was a charming Italian eatery that served some of the best food around.  The restaurant’s atmosphere was warm and folksy, with a touch of old world flair.  Even at lunchtime their tables looked impeccable, always covered in crisp white linens and all the candles wedged into their wicker-bottomed wine bottles were always lit.  Anthony’s wasn’t crowded at all when we’d arrived, so we snagged a great spot by one of their front windows.  However as we ordered our meal, the tables and booths began to fill up rather quickly.

I tried to steer the conversation away from anything remotely related to the mine or Lazarus Xcavare, but that’s all Katie wanted to chat about.  She even touched on the subject of Professor Grey. 
Maybe lunch was a big mistake?

Katie tapped on the table lightly
and motioned her eyes towards the counter.  “Look who just came in,” she whispered.  I started to turn my head when she kicked me under the table.  “
No
— Don’t
LOOK
.”