room when her speech was done
and rattled off the notes I took. I barely looked up from my
workbook, a big no-no in speeches, and just wanted to get back to
my desk and hope I could salvage my outline. That still didn't stop
Professor Johnson from clapping louder than any of the students. I
swear I even saw some students glare at me. Great, now I was going
to be known as the teacher's pet.
While Mila gave her super awesome speech on
the dangers of plastic toys, I hurriedly scribbled down my outline
and filled out the rest of my note cards. We had to have at least
seven, and I had exactly two and a half filled out before I got to
class.
"And now it's time for Alex to give her
speech on the wonderful topic of Dustin Hoffman!" Professor Johnson
exclaimed loudly as if I were some sort of celebrity. I guess to
her I was.
There was only silence from the class while I
walked to the podium. I handed the professor my poorly written
outline and took my spot at the front of the room.
"Today, I am here to seduce you on the acting
career of Dustin Hoffman from his early roles in the 1960s to his
iconic roles that earned him Academy Awards, and how his career has
shaped those of other actors."
I tried to make eye contact with everyone in
the room, but everyone's eyes were already drooping just from my
intro. The only one who was actually paying attention was Professor
Johnson. She stared at me like I was a rock star walking around the
gray tiled floor.
I tripped over a few of my words and
basically made up the last half of my speech as I went. My
evaluator, Mila, caught all of those things. In the nicest way she
tried to tell me that it sounded like I just put my speech together
the night before, which I did.
When she went back to her seat, Professor
Johnson went back to the front of the room. "Now, remember
students, it is great that everyone has their own opinion, but try
not to let the judgment of making ourselves look good cloud a great
speech. We all can't be as poised of speakers as Alex."
Gulp. Did she seriously just say that? I
slunk down in my seat, really wishing I could just disappear. The
only time I ever got special treatment in school was when I
actually deserved it. I could write the heck out of a term paper,
but usually I didn't get pointed out by the teacher like that. The
only time I could remember that happening was in advanced senior
English, and I still liked to forget about my whole time in that
class and the heavy influence of sleep creep on my English
teacher.
Chapter 17
Finally, my first week of accelerated classes
was over. Only four more weeks to go and I would be done with
summer classes and maybe the next semester would be better. I did
fine in high school, so why was I struggling so much in college
classes?
Papa Don't Preach sang from my phone.
I pulled it out of my messenger bag while I walked from the library
back to my dorm.
"Hey, Dad."
I spent my afternoons going over homework for
my online class in the library. That way I actually followed the
class instead of thinking about how many more aliens I could run
into on campus.
"Hey, Alex, how was your first official week
as a college student?"
"You know, the same as everyone else's I'm
sure. There were long classes, lots of homework, oh and alien
teachers giving me special treatment." I made sure no one else was
around when I said the last part. Not that there were a lot of
people on campus in the summer, but all it took was one person to
hear it.
"I did hear something about Proji teaching
there. She isn't bothering you too much, is she?" dad asked.
I sighed, moving my phone to the other ear.
"No, it's just all the other beings around here are treating me
like I'm sort of a celebrity. I'm not. I'm just a regular student
like anyone else around."
"I hate to break it to you, but to them you
are much more. This is the first time in almost a century that
there has been a royal alien engagement and probably even longer
since it has been a
and rattled off the notes I took. I barely looked up from my
workbook, a big no-no in speeches, and just wanted to get back to
my desk and hope I could salvage my outline. That still didn't stop
Professor Johnson from clapping louder than any of the students. I
swear I even saw some students glare at me. Great, now I was going
to be known as the teacher's pet.
While Mila gave her super awesome speech on
the dangers of plastic toys, I hurriedly scribbled down my outline
and filled out the rest of my note cards. We had to have at least
seven, and I had exactly two and a half filled out before I got to
class.
"And now it's time for Alex to give her
speech on the wonderful topic of Dustin Hoffman!" Professor Johnson
exclaimed loudly as if I were some sort of celebrity. I guess to
her I was.
There was only silence from the class while I
walked to the podium. I handed the professor my poorly written
outline and took my spot at the front of the room.
"Today, I am here to seduce you on the acting
career of Dustin Hoffman from his early roles in the 1960s to his
iconic roles that earned him Academy Awards, and how his career has
shaped those of other actors."
I tried to make eye contact with everyone in
the room, but everyone's eyes were already drooping just from my
intro. The only one who was actually paying attention was Professor
Johnson. She stared at me like I was a rock star walking around the
gray tiled floor.
I tripped over a few of my words and
basically made up the last half of my speech as I went. My
evaluator, Mila, caught all of those things. In the nicest way she
tried to tell me that it sounded like I just put my speech together
the night before, which I did.
When she went back to her seat, Professor
Johnson went back to the front of the room. "Now, remember
students, it is great that everyone has their own opinion, but try
not to let the judgment of making ourselves look good cloud a great
speech. We all can't be as poised of speakers as Alex."
Gulp. Did she seriously just say that? I
slunk down in my seat, really wishing I could just disappear. The
only time I ever got special treatment in school was when I
actually deserved it. I could write the heck out of a term paper,
but usually I didn't get pointed out by the teacher like that. The
only time I could remember that happening was in advanced senior
English, and I still liked to forget about my whole time in that
class and the heavy influence of sleep creep on my English
teacher.
Chapter 17
Finally, my first week of accelerated classes
was over. Only four more weeks to go and I would be done with
summer classes and maybe the next semester would be better. I did
fine in high school, so why was I struggling so much in college
classes?
Papa Don't Preach sang from my phone.
I pulled it out of my messenger bag while I walked from the library
back to my dorm.
"Hey, Dad."
I spent my afternoons going over homework for
my online class in the library. That way I actually followed the
class instead of thinking about how many more aliens I could run
into on campus.
"Hey, Alex, how was your first official week
as a college student?"
"You know, the same as everyone else's I'm
sure. There were long classes, lots of homework, oh and alien
teachers giving me special treatment." I made sure no one else was
around when I said the last part. Not that there were a lot of
people on campus in the summer, but all it took was one person to
hear it.
"I did hear something about Proji teaching
there. She isn't bothering you too much, is she?" dad asked.
I sighed, moving my phone to the other ear.
"No, it's just all the other beings around here are treating me
like I'm sort of a celebrity. I'm not. I'm just a regular student
like anyone else around."
"I hate to break it to you, but to them you
are much more. This is the first time in almost a century that
there has been a royal alien engagement and probably even longer
since it has been a
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