"Miss Taylor."
I made a sound of acknowledgement in the back of my throat.
"Miss Taylor." The voice was clearly on edge.
I rolled my eyes and flicked them up to the speaker. Right. I'm in class.
"Yes?" I said dryly.
"Can you tell us Iago's three motivations from his soliloquy?"
"Must I?"
"Miss Taylor-"
"Iago wants Cassio's position in the military as Lieutenant, that Othello appointed him instead of Iago. Moreover, he was disgraced by the rumor that his wife Emilia was sleeping with Othello. He wants to get revenge." I shot Mr. Grayson an annoyed look. "Am I done here?"
"There is one more motivation. You've only named two."
I sighed.
"The third motivation is love. Iago may love Othello, therefore wanting to be the closest to him. By eliminating his right hand man and his wife, Iago would be the most trusted."
"Very good. Now, the-"
"But," I interrupted. If he's going to make me talk, might as well go all out. "I entirely disagree with the third motivation. Aside from the fact that love doesn't even exist, you wouldn't hurt someone you think you love. Let's say that love does exist. For hypothetical purpose. Iago isn't capable of feeling love. Just negative emotions. He's mentally unstable. He's sadistic. He doesn't have the capacity to feel such a complex emotion. Hypothetically, of course." The class was silent. Mr. Grayson only blinked. The bell rang soon after, dismissing our class and the inability of my English teacher to reply.
I stood to leave the class, shoving my things into my bag and swinging it over one shoulder when Mr. Grayson stopped me.
"You know, Grace, you may act like you don't care, but you're a great writer. You've got a way with words. I see the way you stare at the wall in my class. You're bored. But if you just applied yourself-"
"I get it. Lost cause teen gets pep talk from pestering teacher and they turn around, right?" He was floundering for words. Was he even a certified teacher?
I didn't bother to stay and listen to what he had to say. I just left.