My Professor Is My Alpha Mate (Lila) novel Chapter 145

Lila’s POV

I felt my soul leaving my body.

Everybody clapped as Cassidy-Ann turned to face me. I was off stage, so nobody saw me right away; Enzo, who stood beside me, glanced at me sideways with a frown.

“I think that’s your cue,” he muttered.

“I…I can’t move…” I said under my breath, my entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

Now everybody was looking around, wondering where I was. My entire body felt completely frozen.

“Lila?” Cassidy-Ann said with a timid frown, eyeing me from the stage. “Come to the stage, please. Everybody is waiting.”

“I can’t move…” I said for only Enzo’s ears.

He frowned at me.

“You’re Lila… daughter of Alpha Bastien and Luna Selene. You can literally do anything.”

“I’ve never spoken to an audience this big before…”

“There’s a first time for everything,” Enzo shrugged, only this time he gave me a small nudge towards the stage.

I nearly tripped over myself and stumbled toward the stage. Now I gained almost everybody’s attention and they all spotted me walking towards Cassidy-Ann.

“Oh! It’s the girl from the banquet!”

“She was with that handsome Alpha!”

“She can really dance!”

I felt my face reddening as I stood next to Cassidy-Ann on the stage. She handed me the mic; with some hesitation, I eventually took it and tried to calm my trembling body down. But I couldn’t stop shaking.

“Just tell everybody how you became interested in art.”

“I…uh…” I began just as the mic made a loud sound, making everybody wince.

“Position the microphone away from your mouth,” Cassidy-Ann said under her breath.

I adjusted my mic and cleared my throat, trying again.

“When I was around 5 years old, my grandfather showed me some artwork that my grandmother, who passed away before I was born, had drawn. I thought they were incredible, and he gave them to me. He would tell me stories about how she always wanted to travel and paint her adventures. To have everyone see the world through her paintings. I always found it incredibly sad that she was never able to pursue that dream. I wanted to take up art in her honor so that I could pursue that dream and make her proud….”

I paused when I saw that everyone was listening to my story with fascination on their faces. That alone made me feel nice; I even met Enzo’s eyes who watched me with admiration on his face. That was something I didn’t recognize from him.

“I know I never met my grandmother, but I always felt this connection with her when I paint and draw. I can see my mom light up whenever I have something new to show her and I wanted to keep that feeling going. I don’t do this because of just me but for everyone around me. Without art, life would be quite boring and colorless.”

I paused again just as hands were raised to ask questions.

Cassidy-Ann, who continued to stand next to me, pointed to a girl at the front door. She stood and bowed her head in our direction, allowing her curly locks of red hair to fall over her shoulders.

“What’s it like working for Cassidy-Ann?” The girl asked, peering up at me with big and curious eyes.

I heard some murmurs going around the room and I knew everyone was wondering the same thing. I glanced at Cassidy-Ann only briefly before turning my attention back to them and answering the question.

“It’s incredible,” I answered with a grin. “Cassidy-Ann is an amazing boss and I’m not just saying that because she pays well.”

I managed to get quite a few chuckles.

“But seriously, Cassidy-Ann saw my potential and knew that I could be a great artist with just a little bit of coaching. She’s taken me under her wing in more ways than I could count. I’m beyond grateful for this opportunity and I’m grateful to be able to stand in front of all of you in the International Academy in Monstro. This is honestly a dream come true for me. I’m not sure what more I could ever need.”

I looked at Enzo again who, this time, glanced at his feet.

“Are you selling any of your work?” Another student asked from the audience.

I went to open my mouth to answer but Cassidy-Ann spoke first.