Hidden (House of Night Novels)

than the first.”
    “Big surprise. So, I’ll walk you to the dorm. Okay?”
    Shaylin met his eyes. What could it hurt? “Okay,” she said.
    Erik
    “I think I agree with you about the lesson plan stuff. It must be super boring to have to figure out what you’re going to teach—write it down—turn it in—then teach it. Talk about overkill,” Shaylin said.
    “Tell me about it,” Erik said dryly. “We’re going into Shakespeare. I love the plays, but it was a lot cooler when I just got to act and didn’t have to be a damn robot for the school’s High Council. Yeah, lesson plans are boring. Writing them sucks.”
    He had to keep reminding himself to stop looking at Shaylin’s boobs. Okay, but in his defense, she was wearing a white T-shirt that was sheer enough that it was obvious she had on a hot pink bra under it. And that bra had little black bows in the middle part and on the straps.
    “So, which play will you teach in the Shakespeare class?” she was asking him.
    Look at her face and concentrate! “Shakespeare class?”
    She gave him a look that said she thought he was an idiot—and he had to agree with her because when he forced himself not to glance at her pink-bra-ed boobs he got all distracted by her thick mane of dark hair that curled and waved and looked like it would be soft as silk if he just—
    “Oh, yeah, Shakespeare class. Definitely a comedy. There’s way too much tragedy in the world today.”
    “Which one?”
    She looked honestly interested, so he heard himself admitting, “I’m torn. My favorite is The Taming of the Shrew , but when you think about it and really look at Kate’s last speech, it doesn’t go with the matriarchal belief system of the House of Night, and the last thing I need is to piss off Thanatos. So, I’m thinking about doing As You Like It. Rosalind is one of the Bard’s strongest heroines. That shouldn’t cause me any hassles with the administration.”
    “Isn’t that kinda like caving, though?”
    “Probably, but teaching isn’t as easy as you’d think. There’s a bunch of crap that goes on behind the scenes, and that’s not counting the battle with Darkness that seems to be, like, never ending and the annoying fact that professors keep getting killed, and more and more fledglings are getting Marked, so we’re short staffed.”
    There was a long, uncomfortable silence, then Shaylin said, “Yeah, it must be real inconvenient for you that professors have been disemboweled and decapitated and gored. Not to mention all the new red fledglings you have to teach because we haven’t died for real. Yet.”
    Erik frowned. He hadn’t meant it like that. Not really.
    “I think that came out wrong,” he said.
    “And I think I need to remember that peas do not turn into pretty turquoise sea foam and an untouched beach.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?” She was really hot, but Shaylin totally messed with his head and confused him.
    “It means I needed a reality check. Thanks for giving me one.” Shaylin picked up the pace, and Erik was still trying to figure out the peas and turquoise comment when they were suddenly stepping from the winter grass of the school grounds to the sidewalk that ran into the front of the girls’ dorm.
    “Um, you’re welcome?” he offered as they came to the wide cement stairs that led to the porch of the dorm.
    Shaylin was still a little ahead of him, so she reached the first step before him. Standing on it, she was almost at eye level with him, which was weird because she was so little.
    “No, you don’t need to ‘you’re welcome’ me,” she said, sighing. “I really wasn’t thanking you. I was just reminding myself of something.”
    “Of what?” he asked, honestly interested.
    She sighed again. “Of the fact that what the eye can see is not what’s actually the most important thing about a person. The most important thing is what’s hidden inside.”
    “Only with you, it’s not really hidden at all, right?”
    “Right.” She spoke softly.
    “I really didn’t mean what I said before. I was just venting. You know, girls do it all the time,” Erik said.
    “Erik, you’re not making it any better by being a misogynist.”
    “Misogynist … that’s bad, right? Nothing cool, like a gynecologist?”
    “Erik, maybe you should try not to speak.” Shaylin sounded annoyed, but he could see that she was struggling not to laugh. And then a little giggle did escape from her pretty pink lips.