Read Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1) for Free Online Page B

it all.
    Quentin Maxwell caught her gaze and waggled his eyebrows. It was a gesture that just screamed arrogance. Even as Adrian smoothed out her first page, he leaned over to Alex’s desk and said something. Whatever it was, it made Alex laugh quietly.
    No, she didn’t think they were rooting for her.
    “Anytime now, Ms. Blake,” Mr. Melbourne said.
    She cleared her throat. “Insubordination is the willful disruption of an established social order, and when it happens, chaos arises. As evidenced by history, the resistance to the Nazi regime significantly affected Hitler’s planned consolidation of the world, and because of these misled people and their countries that rebelled, the world was deprived of a political genius in Hitler—”
    “Give me that!”
    The teacher’s lips moved soundlessly as he read the rest of the paragraph. He scanned the second page, then he flipped to the last page.
    “Ms. Blake, do I understand you correctly? You wrote about why it was a mistake to fight the Nazis?”
    Adrian locked her hands behind her back. “No sir. I wrote about a classical example of insubordination that turned out badly. I added footnotes and a two-page bibliography.”
    Gotcha, she thought.
    His mouth opened and closed like a goldfish. “Oh, you’re hilarious. You think you’re clever?” Color leapt into his face as he slammed his desk. Some coffee sloshed over the top of his cup. “I will not be mocked in my classroom!”
    “It’s hard not to feel clever when I have you for a teacher, sir.”
    There was a universal gasp from the students. They’d followed the exchange with a gleeful “did-she-just-say-that?” look on their faces. One blonde, in particular, seemed downright ecstatic as if Adrian had just given her the best present ever. She took her cell phone out and started texting.
    Not everyone seemed to share her enthusiasm. A few sat in their seats, frozen and stunned. The pretty Asian girl Adrian had glimpsed briefly was pursing her lips in evident disapproval. She didn’t join in with the braver ones laughing openly. Quentin Maxwell was leading the chorus. And even as Adrian watched, Alex did an exaggerated slow clap.
    Mr. Melbourne jerked as if he’d been hit. He suddenly seemed smaller, and Adrian wondered if she’d gone too far, but he stormed over to his desk and yanked a drawer open. He scrawled on a pad and tore the top half off.
    “Dean’s office again.” He held the note out to her. “Clearly you’ve had too much time on your hands. One additional week of detention should do it. A revised paper without any historical examples, on my desk tomorrow.”
    “Man, that’s some messed up shit,” Justin said.
    She didn’t spare him a glance as she took the note. Justin was one of Alex’s lieutenants, so his sympathy wasn’t welcome.
    “Until tomorrow then,” she said to the teacher. She hadn’t even lasted ten minutes this time.
    She sauntered out of class. She knew they were all watching her, but damned if she’d give them the satisfaction of breaking down in tears or begging the teacher’s forgiveness.
    Adrian Blake did not do forgiveness.
    Once she was safely out of sight, she let her shoulders sag. She rubbed the tight muscles in her neck. No need to ask where Dean Efken’s office was. She had the feeling she’d be walking this route whenever Mr. Melbourne could manage it.
    The same kid with three-inch spiky hair was hanging outside the office when she got there. Travis Cates, if she remembered right.
    “You’re that girl, aren’t you?” he said.
    “Yes. We met yesterday,” she said, not bothering to keep the fatigue out of her voice. With just Travis as the audience, it was tough not to feel sorry for herself.
    She slumped in the seat opposite from him. How the hell was she going to explain this to her father? She’d always brought straight A’s home, but for this semester, well, she didn’t know. Oh, her father had never demanded that she get all A’s, but it