want him noticing.
“Whatever it is, reacting will only make it worse. You don’t deserve the heads up but I’ll give it to you anyway.”
I keep my eyes on Nox as I give him a curt nod. I can keep my cool here, I’ve faced worse than hazing bullshit from some asshole guy. I can’t think about the stuff that I’ve faced here, right now, with my mental barriers ripped to shreds thanks to whatever bad juju Nox has put out into the world and my Bond has picked up on. I feel too… raw.
The class drags on forever.
It’s all history that I know about, thanks to my study sessions with Sage. The long-running feud with the Resistance isn’t something I take lightly, I can’t afford to, but there’s only so many times I can hear about the abductions and indoctrinations of Bonds and Bonded without feeling like it’s a new and very specific form of torture.
The theories about which family truly started the Resistance is interesting. No one has ever actually taken responsibility for the group, though it’s been rumored that one of the older, more prestigious families started it. The Draven’s are one of eight Gifted families that run the councils on the west coast and I take some notes about the potential there.
I’ve seen some of the inner circle of the Resistance.
I could pick people out, their faces have been burned into my brain and there’s no way I’d miss them in a line up. It’s a long shot but, fuck, what else can I do around here until I figure out how to get my chip out?
When Nox finally calls the class to an end, he announces the assignments have been marked and he hands off stacks of papers to his TA’s to hand out. Students start streaming out of the room as they’re handed their work back, eager to get to their next classes. Gabe hangs back, his eyes cutting between Nox and I. I ignore him, shoving my crap back into my bag and mumbling with Sage about the Econ class we have next while we wait for our marks back.
When the TA finally gets to our row and hands me my paper with a giggle, I take it from her with numb fingers because there’s no missing the grade I’ve been given.
A giant, red, circled F.
“What the fuck is this?” The words fall out of me, Gabe’s warning thrown to the wayside, because there’s no fucking way this paper got that mark. I glance over to Sage and, yup, sure enough, she has a respectable A- on hers. We’d studied together, made our notes together, read each other’s work… there’s no way that she got an A- and I’ve failed.
“It’s your worthless excuse of a paper, Fallows. If you don’t want to flunk out, you should work a little harder.” Nox’s voice carries across the room clearly, broadcasting exactly what he’s done to me, except no one here will believe that he’s lying out of his ass.
Everyone in the room stops and stares. My cheeks heat at the attention, he loves nothing more than some public humiliation, but I lift my chin. “You can’t do this. You can’t give me shit grades just because you hate me.”
A slow smirk stretches over his face even as his eyes shutter and darken unnaturally. Whatever his gift is, it wants out to play. “Such arrogance from a gift-less high school dropout.”
My temper catches faster than a forest fire in the heat of summer. “You’re a fucking piece of shit, Draven. You’re an utter fucking asshole who can’t handle rejection with an ounce of integrity. What Bond would ever want to be saddled with a dickhead like you?”
Sage gasps and tugs at my hand but Gabe just turns on his heel and splits, abandoning me as easily as he thinks I did to them. I glance around and there’s phones out everywhere, girls openly filming this shit go down.
Nox flicks a dismissive hand at me. “Follow me to the dean’s office, Fallows.”
I refuse to acknowledge it or feel bad about my reaction but I sit in front of the dean’s office with hot tears coursing down my cheeks. I’m not scared or upset, they’re completely triggered by the impotent rage filling me up.
Impotent because there’s nothing I can do about this except use my goddamn, useless words and pray that it’s enough to get my paper looked at again, but I’m also keenly aware that this is Draven