Chapter 501

When I walk into class, I grin to see that everyone else is here. Rafe and Jesse joke casually with Jacks while Tony lounges at his desk, his long legs sticking out from under it as he flicks through a book.noveldrama

Of course, my smile fades as soon as I hear Alvez's voice to my left.

"Very nearly late...Clark."

My head turns sharply to see him grinning at me, as he so often does now, like he holds all my secrets in the palm of his hand. And I frown at him because, I mean, he's not holding those secrets over my head anymore, is he?

So why is he still grinning at me like a cat? What on earth does he have up his sleeve?

"Sorry," I say as the room falls silent, everyone looking towards me. I pushing the door shut. "Lost track of time."

Alvez waves a magnanimous hand towards the desks and I hurry in, sitting in an open spot between Rafe and Jackson that they very obviously saved for me.

"Good," Alvez says, folding his arms over his chest and looking around at us. "I must say - it is rare for a professor to come back over winter break at the Academy to find his class still entirely intact. I might have the singular claim to that this semester."

I raise my eyebrows at this, realizing that it's probably true, and I lean around Jackson to glance at Tony - the only one who I thought may actually have been at risk of not coming back. As I do, I find him already looking for me, and I grin as I realize that we simultaneously had the same thought about each other. His own face breaks into a smile as he nods to me, letting me know he's glad I'm still here. I do the same.

"So," Alvez says, drawing my attention back to him. "In such an impressive group, I have to admit that I'm a little...displeased. There should have been more progress in the development of your gifts this past semester."

"Perhaps," Tony drawls, a little bored, "If you gave us more instruction than 'hold hands' and 'try,' we'd be making more progress."

My eyebrows raise at the gall of him for a moment and I fight a smile. When I glance at Rafe, I'm pleased to see that he's doing the same. "Do I hear a critique in your words, Davis?" Alvez drawls.

"You can hear what you want," Tony says, much more relaxed than I'd be confronting a professor. "But if you're looking for a blatant critique, I'd say that this class is pretty much a waste of my time. No offense to my classmates,” he glances at us here, and I see the honesty in his eyes, “but I already know what my gift is and how to use it. I'm just sitting around while they figure out what they can do - I'm not learning anything."

"And how would you suggest I adjust my pedagogy?" Alvez says, leaning casually against his desk.

"More individualized attention, I suppose," Tony says, crossing his arms over his chest and staring steadily at the professor. "Or just letting me take a study hall, if there's nothing more you can teach me."

"Individual attention," Alvez says, a wicked smile taking his face as he turns his eyes to me. "Sounds like a wonderful idea."

A shiver runs up and down my spine as I stare at the professor, as he stares back at me. As he makes his meaning perfectly clear with the way he lets his eyes drift away from my face and down my body. I tense in my chair, glancing to the left to see how Rafe and Jesse are reacting to this, but they look...completely normal. Just...staring at Alvez, waiting for him to go on.

On my right, though, Jackson lets out a low and rumbling growl that snaps everyone's attention to him.

Alvez's mouth curves into a pleased smile as he meets Jackson's eyes, almost...almost daring him to make a move against him.

I gape a bit, wondering what the hell is going on.

"Seriously," Tony says, staring around the room at all of us, "what the hell is going on?"

I start a bit, turning to stare at him, wondering if he read my mind or something.

But when I see his expression, I realize that he's just reacting to the vibe in the room the same way that Jackson and I are.