Dance In The Rain

~35~ Pride and Punches

Julianne's POV

Monday comes and I hide under my covers longer than normal, not yet ready to face Gage.

"Annie, why are you still in bed, sweetheart?" Holden asks as he peeks his head inside and sees Tate already getting himself ready.

"I don't feel good," I say under the covers, and I hear him cross the room in just a couple of strides, the side of my bed dipping under his weight.

He pulls the covers off of my face and his calloused hand touches my forehead softly.

"You don't have a fever. What doesn't feel good?"

I try to think of a lie really quick, but my face gives me away and Holden nods in understanding.

"You have to face it at some point, Annie. Get ready for school before we're late."

I sigh as I pull the covers off of me and he moves so I can stand up. He gives me a hug and kisses my messy hair before he leaves the room, and when I turn to Tate, he simply shrugs.

"I'll work on lying with you after school."

I throw my pillow at him and he dodges it with a smirk. He used to give me lying lessons when we were little...Just little things like, telling Cook that I was allergic to spinach.

But it never seemed to work.

~*~

I get to school and Gage isn't waiting for me at my locker like he has been. I don't see him at all until Holden's class, where he completely ignores me.

And now I'm getting pissed

I understand being humiliated, but to not even acknowledge me?

That's just disrespectful.

I decide to let it go and focus on the lesson, because we have a test coming up in a week and Pride and Prejudice is honestly a little tricky for me. To be completely transparent, Jane Austen is tricky for me.

"Julianne, would you consider Elizabeth Bennet to be a round or flat character?" Holden asks after a few minutes into the lesson.

I literally detest when he calls on me

"Um, I'm not sure."

His eyes flash surprise as he nods slowly. "You don't know what kind of a character she is?"

"Not really. Holden, this book totally confuses me. I don't understand 1800s English."

Tate looks at me with his mouth open, because books are kinda my thing. But Jane Austen is just SO boring. The movies are good, but the books? Ugh

"Ok, tell me about her personality, then....." he says softly as he continues looking at me.

"She's loud. And annoying. And she thinks she's right about absolutely everything and looks down at everyone who doesn't think how she does. She's basically Tate if you stick a dress on him and make him talk in stupid 1800s English."

Somehow that gets the entire class roaring, and even Holden hides his face behind his copy of the book as he tries to get his shoulders to stop shaking.

The only person not amused, however, is Tate.

"Woah! Ok, I'll be honest I haven't read the book, but I watched the stupid movie with her last weekend.....And let me just say that I agree that she's an idiot, but it's because that Mr. Dunken guy loves her, but she's too stubborn to put her pride aside."

Holden drops his mouth open and stares at Tate in shock.

"I have no idea what to address first, Tate. The fact that we've been studying this book for two weeks and you haven't read it, the fact that you got the leading man's name wrong, or the fact that you just gave the PERFECT answer."