Michelle sat silently; head in hand as her fingers drummed distractedly on one of the many aluminum tables that filled her Psychology class.
This really was not on her top ten places to be at the moment. If she was generous, it might crack the top twenty.
Maybe.
As important as her education was, she simply couldn't force it to be a priority.
Her fingers stopped momentary as she made an internal note to stop sounding like Rick.
But really, there was just too much happening in her life right now. There was Drew to protect and Jesse to love and Danny� not that she wanted to do anything to Danny. Not at all.
How could school hope to compete�with Jesse that is.
Jesse.
Her fingers drummed with more determination.
This is all about Jesse.
This was not about Daniel Santos. She repeated the thought again; hoping it would work this time.
This is not about Daniel Santos.
Oh really.
He is a minor inconvenace.
There is nothing minor about him.
He is nothing but a footnote.
Uh -huh. Whatever you say.
If her professor ever got ahold of these internal voices she would have a field day. She was a regular class experiment in the making. And all because she couldn't get a nothing like Danny Santos out of her head.
Then why did that kiss feel like everything?
"This is not," Michelle growled under her breath, "about Daniel mamma's boy Santos."
"What's not about me?" a voice drawled behind her.
"Please let that be the voices," Michelle stumbled. "Please let that be�"
"And between you and me," Danny interrupted, pausing to bring himself first dangerously close to one side of her face and then the other.
"I am a mamma's man."
"What," Michelle breathed, forcing herself to remain calm, "are you doing here?"
Danny strolled slowly to the front of the table, knowing full well that Michelle was sitting and that it wasn't his face she would see as he walked by. Grinning at the distracted-in-spite-of herself daze on Michelle's face, Danny dropped a large textbook in front of the seat next to her.
Pausing for dramatic effect, he studied a printed piece of paper in his hand.
"I am here taking�," Danny paused, pretending to strain to read," Psychology 101 with a professor Elizabeth Hethington."
Michelle couldn't help it, her mouth dropped open.
Danny grinned.
"I am in the right room aren't I?"
"Yes," Michelle stumbled. "I mean no. No!"
"You are done with school. I know you are."
"Checking up on me I see," Danny teased.
"I am not," Michelle countered. " I know because everything you family does is in the paper. Good, and BAD."
Danny pretended to look hurt.
"Now really Michelle. That was cheap."
"Yes, it was. Certainly cheaper than you taking a college class just to hassle me."
"And now," Danny continued. "You flatter yourself. I am here taking the class on audit, to further my education.
He paused to look directly into Michelle's eyes.
"I my line of work it is sometimes good to get inside people's heads, to know what they are thinking."
"What are you thinking Michelle?"
She broke his gaze. "I am thinking that you need to leave."
Danny sat down in the chair next to her. "Now Michelle, that is not what I hoped to hear. I had really wanted to hear you say ' Yes Danny, I would love to be your lab partner.'"
"My lab partner? You're insane� " Michelle's voice faded as she looked around the room. Somehow as she had been sparring with Danny, the class had been forming pairs for the day's lesson. Already they were in the back, gathering materials. All that was left was her, Danny, and the empty room around them.
"You did this on purpose," she accused.
"If it brightens your day to think so," Danny smiled.
"Well we will just see about that," Michelle answered.
Head held high; she strode towards the front of the classroom and professor Hethington.
"Professor, can I talk to you?" Please?"
She looked at Michelle, obviously not pleased at the interruption.
"What is it Michelle? We are about to begin today's assignment."
"I need to talk to you about my lab partner. It�I mean he�is unexecptable."
"I wouldn't go throwing that word unexceptable around. Unexceptable is your focus in my classroom. Unexceptable is your work. So I suggest you make the best of your partner."
Michelle blushed red at her teacher's lecture.
"He seems to be a bright capable young man. And I am not going to make anyone switch partners now. I wouldn't even do it for a good student."
Michelle walked back to her desk seething. When she got there, Danny was standing, books in hand, a questioning look in his eye.
"You're not leaving," she mumbled.
"What?" Danny demanded louder than necessary.
"I said your not leaving."
"Oh," he grinned. " I am so disappointed, really. I mean, who wants such a poor student as their partner."
"I am not a poor student," she retorted. " I just have a lot going on in my life right now."
"Oh really," Danny answered, too quickly. "Tell me about it."
Michelle was saved by Professor Hethington's voice.
"Class, as you know from your readings ink blots have been much used, and much maligned over the past century. They have been used to access both personalities and IQs. Well, we don't need to access any IQs today, your presence in this room is an testament to your intelligence."
Her eyes lit on Michelle.
"So today we are going to attempt to gain insight into you partners personalities. How accurate or insightful these tests are is for you to decide."
"Just great," mumbled Michelle.
"Each of you," Mrs. Hethington continued. "Will receive the same inkblots. It will not take any of the bias out of the test, but it will make things interesting. I want you each to take notes on your partner's reaction, and prepare them to turn in at the end of the week. Don't think about what you see, just see it. Don't question yourself. You are to work until the bell rings."
With that she began to circle the room, hanging out a large vanilla envelope with three inkblots to each pair of partners.
Silently Michelle pulled out the first inkblot, staring at the back mass that nearly filled the page.
"This is silly, I don't see anything here."
Feeling her professor's eyes hard on her as she circled past her table, Michelle turned to Danny, trying to sound studious.
"What do you see Daniel?"
"I see�," Danny drawled, "Sex."
"Sex," echoed Michelle, shocked.
"You do not see sex."
"Oh yes I do," countered Danny. "I definitely see sex."
"And," he continued before she could argue. "I am not supposed to second guess myself. So, I see sex."
"Fine", she spat. "I see a bird. So write that down."
"Fine," echoed Danny, scribbling in his notebook. "Michelle, bird. Me, sex."
"Let's just move on to the next one, o.k." Michelle pleaded as she pulled out the next sheet of paper.
"I see, lets see, I see a tree. A very pretty oak tree in fact."
Danny's voice hummed next to her. "A tree. Very interesting," he replied in his very best you-are-lying-on-my-couch voice.
"Well", he continued, "I see a bed."
A bed thought Michelle. At least that was better than sex.
Bed. Sex. Danny.
She told herself to shut up.
Next to her Danny droned on.
"Definitely a bed," he said as he pointed to a large lump in the middle of the paper.
"And here," he pointed to another smaller lump. "That's you." "And there," pointing to another lump," that's me."
"And," he said with a Grinch grin, "we're having sex."
That was it.
"We are NOT having sex."
"Now Michelle," Danny mimicked Professor Hethington's voice perfectly. "Are you asking me to doubt what I see?"
"Yes!"
"I mean, no."
"I mean, I hate you," she growled.
She caught her teacher's disapproving eye from all the way across the room.
"Can we please move on?"
Danny motioned to her notebook. "After you write the part down about me having sex with you."
Frustrated, Michelle complied.
Next to her Danny whispered. "Don't forget the part about the bed."
"Fine!" Michelle forced out as she wrote furiously. "There," she said with a flourish. "Are you satisfied?"
"Very," Danny replied.
Now why did is feel like he was talking about something other than inkblots.
"Please," she pressured. "Can't we go one."
"I have no problem with that." That sexy smirk was back on his face. Sex, really, that word was popping up every where.
Cringing, Michelle removed the last inkblot. Heaven knows what he would see in this one.
Heaven help her she didn't have to find out.
The bell rang.
And before Danny could get a word in, edgewise or otherwise, she bolted from the room, the inkblots scattering to the floor.
Sex with Daniel Santos�I mean really.