Bonus Chapter 7 — Neveah and Mikhail’s presentation

Nevaeh:

I’m nervous. I don’t know why, but I am. I look at Mikhail, who is slumped down comfortably in his chair, and roll my eyes. Of course, he’s not nervous. I swear my boyfriend is made of steel.

He gives me a crooked smile as he takes my hand and pulls me into his embrace. “Don’t worry, princess, we’ll do great.”

I shake my head. “Why aren’t you nervous? You do know that this presentation is a big part of our grade, right?”

Mikhail nods his head. “I know, but you’ll do fine. I mean, we’ve practiced every day this week. And some of those practices were really amazing.” He wiggles his brows in emphasis.

You might think he means that practice was great because we learned our lines, but what he really means is that somehow, we’d start practicing and end up in bed together. There’s just something about my boyfriend’s juicy lips that I can’t resist. He’s just too kissable.

He must see the desire in my eyes because his eyes soften, and his bored expression converts into a sexy smolder. “You need to stop staring at me like that because if you don’t, I’m going to drag you out of this room and into the janitor’s closet.”

I give him a thoughtful look. The closet isn’t far, and I can use some relaxation. His eyes darken further as he sees my intent. You can’t even see the irises. He’s about to get up when Mrs. Christiansen walks into the room. Her flowery skirt flutters around her, and her curls bounce with excitement. “Good morning, class! Is everyone as excited as I am to start our projects!” A giddy expression adorns her features as she waves her hands enthusiastically.

Several groans resound across the room, showing the students’ lack of enthusiasm.

Mikhail leans close and whispers in my ear. “We got this, babe. Easy peasy.”

I shake my head as I nervously strum my fingers across the table.

Completely oblivious of the class’s lack of excitement, Mrs. Christiansen begins to call each partner.

As we listen to everyone’s dialogue, my shoulders lose their tension, and I begin to enjoy the show.

It’s only Ms. Christiansen calls for me and Mikhail to get ready that my panic button goes off.

Heart pounding wildly, I snap up from my seat and almost stumble. Mikhail catches me in his arms and quirks a brow. “Relax, princess.” He mumbles gently.

As we slip into the rest of our costumes, I take several deep breaths. Mikhail is wearing a breastplate over his jeans and is holding a toy sword in his hand. I adjust my Cleopatra dress and wig as I clear my throat and prepare.

Mikhail and I take our places in front of the class, our eyes glued to each other. As I gaze into his opal pools, I can see his love clearly. My soul mate is everything I could ever ask for, and my heart flutters with pride as the words swiftly flow through my lips.

Cleopatra If it be love indeed, tell me how much.

Mark Antony There's beggary in the love that can be reckon'd.

Cleopatra I'll set a bourn how far to be beloved.

Mark Antony Then must thou needs to find out new heaven, new earth…

I don’t know how long we stand there citing our lines, but eventually, we finish with a kiss, which is pretty intense in its magnitude.

Once we break apart, we look around at the awed faces of our classmates. It’s so quiet that you can hear a pin drop. Mikhail and I give each other a questioning look, then turn to the class and awkwardly vow. As if on cue, applause breaks out across the classroom, followed by happy cheers.

A blush creeps up my cheek as I take another vow and give my boyfriend a happy smile.

“See, they loved it.” Mikhail arrogantly snickers.

Mrs. Christiansen claps loudly as she approaches us. Her eyes glow with pride as she pulls us into an overenthusiastic embrace. “My goodness, you two were incredible. I’m so proud of you.”

Mikhail pats her back awkwardly as he tries to extricate himself from her hold while I give her a warm smile. “Thanks, Mrs. Christiansen.”

After a moment, she releases us and gives us another beaming smile before she turns back to the class.

“Alright, who’s next?”

We take a seat as the next couple approaches but don’t stop holding each other’s hands.

Once Literature is over, we make our way to the cafeteria, our hands still entwined. Students stop us in the hallway and complement us, which confuses me a little, considering most of them didn’t see our performance. Mikhail simply shrugs it off.

Rowa and Jez join us at our table, both of them giving us sly smiles.

“So, I heard you and Nevaeh hooked up in literature class. I never took you for an exhibitionist, bro.”

Mikhail scowls. “Where did you get such a ridiculous idea?”

Rowan shrugs, but Jez is the one that answers. “We heard some students in your literature talking about you two. Something about a steamy scene.”

A chuckle escapes my lips as Jez emphasizes the word steamy with a wiggle of her eyebrows. “It wasn’t like that. We had to do our Mark Antony and Cleopatra scene, and we kissed.”

Mikhail growls amusedly. “We can’t help it if even our acting makes everyone hot and bothered. We’re just that kind of couple.”

Jez giggles, and Rowan chuckles.

“Yeah, well, whatever you did, it’s the talk of the whole school. According to the gossips, you’re the new “it” couple.” Jez mutters gleefully. “It’s all over our social sites.”

I shake my head and roll my eyes. “Jeez, you’d think everyone had better things to do.”

Mikhail slides his arm around my shoulder and kisses my temple. “It’s because they can see how much we love each other.”

Jez awes while Rowan pretends to gag. However, I don’t care about any of it. All that matters is that I’m in my soul mate’s arms, and I don’t plan on ever letting him go.