to the language arts building for me. I slipped inside, hoisting my heavy bag higher onto my shoulder.
“Yeah.” I sighed, waiting until we were out of earshot to answer Harrison. We slipped into our same seats as Monday, and I pulled out the French book.
“Yeah?” His voice cracked with the accusatory question.
I shook my head to clear my thoughts, like a dog shaking off water. “No. I mean, no. He’s exactly the sort of wealthy snob I’ve sworn off since—”
“Okay, I get it,” Harrison cut me off, facing forward in his seat.
“Besides…” I cleared my throat as, from the corner of my eye, I saw him enter. “I can guarantee he wants nothing to do with me after the other night,” I said to Harrison. I squirmed, steeling myself for the silent treatment—or worse, ready to get completely berated by him and his friends for refusing to sign off on extra hours. Instead, he slipped into the seat next to me, his lips curving seductively, and flipped his sunglasses to the top of his head.
“Morning,” he said with a grin.
“Um…hi?”
His mouth twitched higher. “Was that a question?”
I exhaled through the side of my mouth and my bangs flipped up off of my eyelashes. “I just wasn’t expecting you to…to sit here. After Monday.”
He shrugged. “Why not? I don’t blame you. I mean, it’s something I would do for a friend, but I get not everyone’s as awesome as me.” His grin split into a full-on smile, and yep…there were those frickin’ dimples again. Was it possible to loathe something you wanted to lick so much?
I opened my mouth to correct the “friend” comment and quickly snapped it shut. Reagan was right. Peers should be friendly to each other in college. And we had a whole semester together in this class where I should probably make an effort to be nice.
So, I said nothing, which only made his grin widen more.
“Bonjour, class.” Professor Ceele entered the room, stack of papers in hand and called out names one by one. My muscles clenched—our tests. Between calling names and passing out the tests, the professor said something about the drop period lasting for only another two weeks.
I raised my hand, hearing my name called, and he paused before dropping the paper face down on my desk. I stole a glance around the room and just barely lifted the corner of the page. An air bubble formed in my lungs, and for a second there, I thought I might throw up. My test was bleeding. Red marks covered it like slashes, and at the top of the page in giant red numbers was a “53.”
I stuffed the test into my bag, my belly rumbling like an earthquake. When I finally gained the courage to look up, I caught Tate’s eyes on me, and my skin flared red. Jesus, did he see the grade? His lips twitched at the corners momentarily before he turned his attention back to Professor Ceele.
His test sat face up on his desk for the world to see—a giant “100, Great job!” in red ink at the top. Now I really was gonna throw up. Life was so not fair.
…
After class, I packed up my bag, and Harrison’s hand fell to my back. “Is it that bad?”
I swallowed, shaking my head “no” even though I was screaming “yes” on the inside. “I don’t want to talk about it.”
He nodded. “I could help, probably.”
I rolled my eyes, hoisting my bag onto a shoulder. “What’d you get on your test?”
Harrison’s face flushed, and he shrugged. “Only an 83. But still…even mediocre help is better than nothing.”
At the other end of the classroom, Tate stood with one of the girls from class. His shades were already pulled down onto his nose despite the fact we weren’t even close to being in the parking lot yet. It shouldn’t annoy me, but it did. He did.
“Shelby? Hel-lo?”
“Don’t you have poly sci?” I glanced at my phone. “Like, right now?”
He craned his neck to look at the time and cursed. “Shit. Okay, I’ll catch up with you later.” He ran for his car, and I sighed, taking my lumbering time to get out the door.
“Ms. Stevens,” Professor Ceele called from the front of the classroom. I cringed and crept toward his desk.
“Oui?”
He waved away my French, but a small smile softened the dismissal. “I just wanted to say, you have time to catch up. And if you can’t, don’t hesitate to drop the class. You’ll be just