“I am.”
“Then why can’t you take your own notes?”
“Icould, but now you’re here, so I don’t have to,” I say, tossing her a wink.
She huffs an annoyed sigh, blowing a stray strand of hair out of her face and turning her attention back to Professor Astor.
Ford probably doesn’t even know that he did me a solid by putting her in this class when he hacked into the system to alter her schedule. Some of this shit might actually start to make sense if someone other than boring ass Professor Astor explains it. Ava doesn’t even know she’s about to become my new favorite study buddy.
My friends give me shit for all the hours I put in studying, but they don’t get it. School comes easily to Ford and Raf, while I have to work harder than both of them combined just to maintain my GPA. They don’t know what it’s like to not have the luxury of a trust fund and family name to fall back on anymore. If we fail our trials, there’s nothing left for me.
They don’t understand how hard it is to keep up an image, knowing it’s all a lie.
CHAPTER 18
AVA
As soon asProfessor Astor dismisses our class, I practically run out of the lecture hall like the room’s on fire. I’ve had thisickyfeeling that I can’t shake ever since Wes fingered me in the middle of class, like I’m defective somehow. I mean, how else can I explain actually getting turned on by that sick power play of his?
My head’s a mess as I hustle across campus to Addams Hall for my English Lit class. It’s a subject that I actually enjoy, but I’m sure these boys will find a way to ruin it for me. I’m not sure which of the three I’ll share this class with, but I just pray it isn’t Wes. I’m nowhere near ready to face him again and I’m too emotionally tapped out to withstand more of his mind games.
None of them are there when I enter the lecture hall, choosing a seat front and center so they won’t be able to get away with trying to touch me. I take out my laptop and books and get all situated, but as the minutes tick by, nobody comes to sit next to me. Just as I’m beginning to wonder if I’ll actually be able to sit through one class today in peace, I look around and spot Raf seated up in the far corner of the room, reclining back in his chair with a bored expression on his face.
Shit.This is the first class I’ve had with my stepbrother; the King who scares me the most. It’s almost worse that he’s chosen to sit back there, out of my line of sight, because nowI’mthe one peeking back at him like a creep.
A loud, high-pitched laugh pierces the quiet in the room, and I swing my gaze to the double doors to see a leggy blonde walking in with another girl, cackling at something she said. And although I didn’t get a good look at her face yesterday, from her hair and body alone, I immediately recognize her as the girl I caught Raf fucking in the stacks.
She struts over to join him in the back corner, plopping down into the neighboring seat. As she begins chatting away and he slings an arm over her shoulders, realization sinks in that she must be his girlfriend. I wonder whatshethinks of the Kings putting a target on my back. She probably doesn’t even know.
That thought is short-lived, though, because she suddenly makes eye contact with me, pulling a face. “What the hell are you staring at, new girl?” she demands rudely.
All at once, everyone in the class turns to look at me, and I wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole. With my cheeks burning in embarrassment, I turn back around to face the front of the room, slumping my shoulders to make myself as small as possible while focusing on my laptop screen.
It seems Raf’s girlfriend is just as charming as he is. It’s a match made in heaven. Or hell, which is a better guess at where these two hail from.
An attractive brunette enters the room from the side door, stepping in front of the class to take her place behind the podium. I quickly deduce that she must be Professor Turner. She’s younger than I expected for a college professor. Prettier, too.
“Today we’re resuming our discussion of Paradise Lost,” she begins, jumping right in.
The rest of the class quiets down to listen to her speak– all except for Raf’s bitchy little girlfriend, that is. She’s still obnoxiously chattering away to Raf in the back of the room, and while the professor’s gaze flickers that way, she doesn’t say anything in reprimand. She ignores them like they’re not even here, despite the fact that they’re being disruptive to the rest of us.
So, I guess Richelle’s claim about the Kings getting away with anything they want around here holds some merit after all.
My eyes glaze over as I stare at my laptop screen, resisting another glance over my shoulder at the pair of them. I don’t know why, but something about the way they’re cozied up back there grates on my damn nerves. And it definitely has more to do with the fact that they obviously don’t give a shit about the rest of us around them actuallytryingto learn than the way Raf has pointedly ignored my presence the entire time we’ve been in here.
I’m not sure which is worse– being the subject of his attention or being deprived of it. Which is absolutely ridiculous, considering how he’s treated me since I arrived on this campus. I shouldwanthim to ignore me, right? But even though I know he’s evil, there’s just something magnetic about Raf that draws me in. And it isn’t just me, either– I see it in the faces of everyone he passes as he walks through campus, their wistful stares just begging for a passing glance.
I suppose everybody around here is tempted by the devil.
I try my best to focus on Professor Turner’s lecture, jotting down notes and groaning when she reminds the class that we have a paper due Friday. As if I wasn’t already overloaded, now I’ve got one more assignment to add to the list. Who needs sleep, anyways?
The rest of the day passes by in a fairly uneventful blur. I eat lunch at a table by myself in the Bistro, ignoring the curious stares from the other students since the attention of the Kings has turned me into a pariah, then study in the library for a couple hours. I’m dreading sitting through my afternoon class with Ford, but luck would have it that he’s too busy texting on his phone the entire time to bother torturing me.
Even so, I’m still spiraling as I head back to my dorm room, a sense of dread settling in the pit of my stomach as I climb the stairs up to the fourth floor. I’ve tried to put the incident with Wes this morning out of my mind, but it’s still right there, lingering in the back of my memory like a coiled viper. I can’t escape it. I can’t escapethem.
It’s infuriating that even after all he’s done, some part of me is still undeniably attracted to Wes. The way he looks, the way he smells, the way he carries himself… the campus golden boy is downright irresistible, and the worst part is that he freakingknowsit. He’s so damn smug, so obnoxiously full of himself. So charming and charismatic that I can’tnotreact to him the way I do, and it’s maddening.
Richelle’s at her desk studying when I walk in, and I mumble a greeting to her as I head over to my own desk, pulling my laptop and books out of my backpack and sitting down to bury myself in homework. I’m still horribly behind, but I figure I can catch up in a week or two if I pull some late nights. I just have to stay focused. I may be struggling emotionally, but my grades don’t have to meet the same fate.
