Suzy stood beside me, amused at my antics. “So I hear you have moved house?”

“Yeah. We joined a sorority so Cass, Lexi, and I have been given a room there.”

She put her arm on my shoulder. “Good for you, Molly. What does it look like? Nice?”

I let out a single laugh. “More like amazing. It’s huge—massive bed, bright white walls and it has a balcony… a flippin’ balcony!”

“Ha, really? Makes a change from the Oxford halls of residence, then!”

“Erm… just a bit.” I turned to face her. “Do you remember a couple of years ago when you took the class to tour Italy?”

Suzy nodded enthusiastically. “Mm-hmm.”

“Well, my balcony looks just like the one in Verona that we visited, weirdly just like the one at Juliet’s house. I can’t believe people actually live like this in college! It’s absolute madness. But I’m now officially on a tight budget that’s for sure.”

Suzy laughed, placing her frail hands on my shoulders. “Enjoy it, my girl. You deserve it.”

I walked to the air-conditioner and turned it up a notch before I melted. The small office felt like an oven. The weather was still burning a hole in the ground, and therefore, I was wearing short denim shorts and a white capped-sleeved linen top. I’d even changed from my favourite orange Crocs to a white pair just to compliment the overall look, and maybe also to piss off Shelly just a bit with my apparent quirky fashion sense. My hair, as usual, was up in a messy high bun and my glasses were firmly in place.

I checked the seminar room once more and it wasn’t long before the seats were almost full. Shelly went in with her entourage of bimbos and surprisingly, Rome followed a second behind the group, chatting to Ally. I inwardly cursed—the team must’ve returned. As if leading a seminar wasn’t daunting enough, dealing with my pent-up Romeo issues would severely affect my nerves.

I watched through the crack in the office door as he entered the room and his eyes immediately sought out my TA desk at the front. Seeing that it was empty, his shoulders sagged and his head bowed. That only seemed to infuriate me. Why look sad about my absence when the girl he’d snubbed me for sat on the back row, eagerly anticipating his arrival and attention? I told myself to focus on the lecture, ignore that he was here.

Clutching my notes, I stepped out of the professor’s office into the classroom, and Rome swung his head my way at the movement. He was wearing his standard jeans and a black sleeveless T-shirt, his hair the same sexily tousled style as usual, and a quiet smile broke onto his face as he realised it was me.

He passed by and tipped his chin, acknowledging me with a brief, “Shakespeare,” then climbed the stairs to take his usual seat. Shelly tried to take his hand, but he pulled it free from her grasp with a hard stare, and she crossed her arms, pouting. I smirked a little at that but pulled myself together as Professor Ross entered the room and with a wave of her hand, encouraged me to begin.

I stepped up to the lectern and took a deep breath. “Hey, everyone. Professor Ross asked me to lead today’s seminar on the introduction to utilitarianism, and in the coming sessions, I will be giving brief notes on the main arguments before exploring some examples for discussion.” I walked to the side desk, placing my notes down. I knew this argument like the back of my hand.

“In simple terms, the idea of utilitarianism is the theory that actions of an individual are based on the fact that we, as humans, actively seek pleasure when making decisions. Therefore, this argument is seen as the hedonistic approach to ethics—we do things to feel good, are driven by the quest for pleasure. Jeremy Bentham proposed that humans operate on a pleasure-pain principle, i.e. that we seek pleasure and avoid pain at all costs.”

I surveyed the students to make sure they were paying attention. So far so good. “Bentham believed that this principle could be adapted to society as a whole and that it would function better if it operated on a system that considered the greatest good for the greatest amount of people. This is evident in many sectors of society, but a good example is the way we vote in a democracy. The majority vote benefits most people. Therefore, the majority of people in that society are happy, i.e. feel pleasure at the outcome, creating a more utilised society.”

I heard a cough and someone shuffled loudly in their seat. My eyes honed in on the direction of the disruption, and I saw Rome leaning forward, his attention focused on me, with his chin resting upon steepled hands.

My internal annoyance meter was ticking over, but I gathered my wits and commenced once again trying to ignore him. “Where was I? Oh, yes. Today we will be discussing the concept of the pleasure-pain principle and whether humans really do function this way. I, for one, tend to agree in the most part with this theory—”

“Really?”

I snapped my head up to find the class gaping up at Rome. I gathered by their reaction that he wasn’t a regular talker in class.

“Pardon?”

He rolled his pencil between his fingers, fixing me with cocky gaze. “I was expressin’ my surprise that you agree with Bentham, for the most part.”

I could feel my cheeks begin to burn in agitation. “Then the answer is yes, you heard correctly.”

“Huh!” he dismissed and bit his pencil between his teeth, shooting his attention to Ally, who had elbowed him in the ribs and gestured for him to stop.

I grew even angrier. Rude actions always had that effect on me. I tried to remain professional, I always tried to be professional, but something within me was beginning to snap. Romeo Prince was well and truly getting to me.

“Huh what? Romeo?” I asked, knowing that I was baiting him by using his full first name.

His gaze tightened and he pulled back the pencil to hold in his hand. “I just think it’s foolishly idealistic to think in such a way, Shakespeare, and for someone of your supposed intellect, I’m surprised it came out of your mouth at all.”

My back teeth involuntarily grinded together. I went to further explain my reasons when he piped up again. “I mean, look at the voting analogy you gave: greatest good for the greatest number of people. You mentioned how it was considered good for society, as most people would be happy with the result, but all I see are flaws. What if the ‘majority’ of the people voting are bad or have ill intent and the minority are innocent and good people are put in danger due to the fact that they’re outnumbered? What if the person you voted in has ulterior motives and goes back on what they said they would do?