Chapter 6
I’d barely made it to school on time. Staying up as late as I had last night had not been a good thing.
And as a result, I hadn’t had time to check my phone this morning.
I was conflicted and hurting. Pushing my glasses up the bridge of my nose, I tucked a loose strand of hair from my bun behind my ear and continued my lecture.
Second hour was almost done. But it seemed like the day was taking forever. My first-hour class had practically slept all period, and the second hour wasn’t much livelier. Sighing, I stopped talking. Silence filtered in, seeping into every corner of the room.
But it was so unexpected that students’ heads began to rise off their desks. Eyes slid to me as I smoothed out a wrinkle in my simple tan, puff-sleeve dress.
“Miss Duval? Is everything okay?” a young lady in the second row asked.
I stared blankly at the white projector screen that described the grading scheme I’d used for their essays.
My desk behind me was stacked high with papers I would be returning, the shelves across from me filled with books on English grammar and language.
Formatting and verbiage that I almost never used in my own daily life.
I slowly nodded. “Why don’t we take a break? Someone tell me something fun you did over the weekend? Or give me the latest gossip? Something crazy.” I was desperately seeking a distraction from the strange befuddlement I was floating in. Nearly every hand shot up in the air.
“Selena!” I said, calling on the dark-haired girl in the back corner.
“Uh, do you not know what pretty much everyone did this weekend?” The way she asked her question made me realize that I didn’t spend enough time truly engaging with my students.
I shook my head. “Did we have some football game or drama play I wasn’t aware of?”
She laughed along with most of the class. “No, Miss Duval. Sometimes I forget you’re old despite looking like you do.”
“Well, thank you for that, Selena,” I replied sarcastically, and she grimaced but giggled. “Go on.” I walked to my desk and picked up my water bottle. Taking a sip from the straw, as she continued.
“Pretty much everyone went to the Void concert,” she said, and I nearly choked on my drink.
Coughing, I pounded against my chest, closing my eyes. Why, though? Like just why did it have to go back to Void and Asher? I was doing my best to actively avoid that. Hence, asking about something that might distract my mind from him.
“You okay?” Trevor asked, furrowing his brows above his downturned hazel eyes.
“Yeah, sorry.” I spluttered once more and set my water down. “Uh, Void. What’s that?”
I lied. Again. And Sydney’s brief words about how popular the band was getting darted through my mind.
“Like probably the biggest metal band in existence right now!” Selena’s friend, Caralee said.
“And the lead singer is hot,” Madison added, with dreamy eyes. “Like majorly hot.”
“Who cares? It’s the music that matters,” Benson replied, rolling his eyes.
I cleared my throat. “Was there anyone who didn’t go?” I asked and saw everyone shake their heads.
Small towns…
“Just you!” Dane taunted.
I lifted a brow. “How do you know I wasn’t there?”
“Because you asked what Void was,” Dane replied, and I took a deep breath.
“Okay, you got me there.”
“Want to hear one of their songs?” Selena piped back in.
Yes.
“I don’t know if everyone would—”
“WE DO!” my entire class shouted at the same time, cutting me off.
Sighing, I shook my head. “You know, when I asked my question, I was hoping for some juicy gossip about who just broke up with who or something like that.”
“Well, if you want juicy gossip, you should know that the lead singer wasn’t seen at his afterparty like usual,” Selena replied, and Madison groaned.
“Rumor has it he has a girl,” Caralee mumbled.
I swallowed stiffly. That fast and there’s already rumors? Besides, it was one night. That was it. That was all it would be.
“Someone raise their hand with a school-appropriate song by this Void,” I quickly said, changing the subject from Asher.
Sort of.
Every hand shot into the air. Since when did every teenager agree on the same type of music? And metal that reminded me of my high school emo phase when I was actively trying to fit in with Sydney? Until my parents shut that down…
“Delilah. Come pick one.” I waved up the blonde-haired girl in the third row, who seldom participated.
She smiled as pink bloomed in her cheeks, and she hustled around the desks to the front of the class.
I pulled up my music streaming app on my computer, and she typed in one of their songs.
(2) One that I hated to admit I’d had on rotation last night before bed. Albeit, this one was the clean version.
“You better hope that this song appeals to my narrow-minded music self,” I cautioned.
“Miss Duval!” My class groaned, but all I did was laugh and start the song.
Plopping myself down in my spinning chair, I leaned my head back and let myself fall into his voice.
It wasn’t quite the same now as it had been live, but I didn’t care.
It was still his. He’d had more feeling live, or maybe it was because I had been staring at him when he’d been singing it.
Either way, this still tickled my ears exactly as I liked it to.
My eyes wandered around the classroom, staring at a sea of grinning faces. They knew I liked it, and I smiled, chuckling to myself. “You’re right. It is very good!”
They all cheered before someone shushed them, wanting to finish the song.
Taking the opportunity to glance quickly at my phone, I widened my gaze in shock. One text message from Asher and three Picsnap notifications were waiting. I cautiously clicked on the text to find his response to my messages last night.
If you can’t come to me, then I can come get you.
That’s all he’d said. I didn’t dare open the Picsnaps at this moment, not while my class was here. I wasn’t sure how Picsnap worked, but I didn’t want to risk them hearing or seeing him on it.
Asher… The girl I broke girl code with, she and I live together.
It definitely sounded a little short, but that’s all the time I had before the song ended and I had to resume teaching. Plus, I needed it to be short. I still had to tell him no, make sure he understood that I couldn’t. That it just couldn’t happen.
The class went much better after that. And third period went by faster, though I was learning that nearly everyone had been to the concert.
Which was a little surprising because it hadn’t felt exactly like the most appropriate place for teenagers.
But who was I to judge? Especially after what I’d done that night.
Once the bell rang, releasing myself and my class for lunch, I shut the door behind them. I was alone and wouldn’t have to risk anyone hearing what Asher might have sent me. As I sat back down in my chair, my finger hovered over the snap icon. Hesitating.
I shouldn’t engage in this. The longer I let this drag on, the more likely Sydney would find out.
But he had me in a chokehold. One night, and I felt like a puppet on strings.
Opening the video, I sighed in relief. It wasn’t dirty. Just a picture of his feet in black socks planted on the floor with a caption:
See, you said no but you still offered me your Picsnap.
I clenched my jaw, running a hand over the back of my neck. I know I did.
Clicking onto the second snap, I placed my finger against the screen, pausing the image. He’d captured a selfie of his handsome face. A single brow was lifted in curiosity, and he was biting a finger. Rings back on, leaning against the couch with no shirt on.
My stomach flipped upside down, pulsing slowly grew between my legs.
Makes me think that you don’t really mean “no”.
It does mean no.
His third snap was a picture of a beautiful, black electric guitar and a new caption.
Besides, don’t I owe you some guitar lessons?
Staring at the screen, the timer ran down, and the Picsnap disappeared. Hadn’t he only agreed to that out of courtesy?
Suddenly, my door swung open, banging lightly against the wall, and standing in the doorframe was my teacher bestie.
“Cosette,” Elysia panted, out of breath. She bent forward, placing her hands against her knees. I lifted my brows in shock as she tried to regain her breath. Running a palm against her sweaty forehead, she smoothed out the frizzy natural curls of her shoulder-length hair.
“Are you okay?” I asked, bewildered. My thumb hovered over the record button in Picsnap.
“You have a visitor. I tried to stop him, Cosi. I really tried. Why does he keep coming back? Didn’t you say you’d ended things forever ago?” She finally stood upright and rubbed her back.
“A visitor? Who are you talking about?” I asked as she adjusted her lavender blouse and black pencil skirt.
“Danny. Danny was at the office when I went to make some copies.”
My mouth fell open. “I told the office to not let him in.”
“What can they do? It’s not like we have the budget to hire a security officer.”
Groaning, I slumped in my chair as Elysia’s eyes darted out of the room and then back to me. She gave me a sympathetic smile and then stepped sideways.
A frown slid onto my face as I crossed my arms, gripping my phone tightly, and glared at the man who stepped into my classroom.
He gave a lazy smile to Elysia before facing me, and my insides churned.
I couldn’t believe I’d ever dated him. He may be good-looking with his blond business-cut hair and bodybuilder physique, but he was a lazy jerk and acted entitled when it came to relationships.
And something had just always felt off about him.
“Danny, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t want to see you? We’re done. We’ve been over for months now,” I snarled, and he leaned against the frame. He adjusted the cuff of his business shirt on one side and lifted his green eyes to mine.
“I’m here as a courtesy.”
“Courtesy for what?” I rolled my eyes.
“I’ll be meeting with your parents when they visit in a few weeks.” He grinned.
“What? Why? Why the hell would you do that?” I hissed.
“Because I’m going into business with your dad.”
I furrowed my brows, confused. Danny didn’t need money. He was financially very adept, but my parents, on the other hand, had almost nothing. “Excuse me? How can you go into business with them when you know that they don’t have much money?”
He chuckled maliciously and pushed off the doorframe, the smile falling from his face. “And whose fault is that? You have a stable career and barely pay anything for rent.”
I squeezed my phone tighter, trying to subdue my anger. “So you believe that I have money to just throw away?”
“Is that what you see it as? Throwing it away?” He raised a corner of his lip in disgust.
“Obviously not, but I am simply a teacher. You’re acting like I make hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
“You make enough. You can send them some.”
“And who says I don’t? Besides, I—”
“STOP!” he shouted, cutting me off.
I tossed my phone on my desk and threw my hands on my hips, widening my gaze. “Excuse me?” How dare he speak to me like that.
“Look, I’m simply saying that if you were a better daughter, I wouldn’t have to come in and help them like this.”
Shaking my head, I sighed. “You really think they’d accept ‘help’ from me? They don’t do handouts, and I can’t offer them business opportunities. I am a teacher, with student loans still. Besides, why do you feel obligated to help them?”
“Because they at least appreciated me while we were together, even if you didn’t,” he jabbed at me, and I rolled my eyes.
“Doesn’t mean you have to come with my parents. It’s my birthday. Can’t you just let it be for a few days?”
He shook his head, that malicious grin returning to his face.
“I know Sydney, and she will put on a massive party. It shouldn’t be hard to avoid me. Besides, we have some business things to take care of while here.” He winked and then turned around. I flipped him off. What a jerk.
“That’s inappropriate in a school setting,” he said without turning around, and then left the room.
I groaned, leaning back against my desk as Elysia shook her head. “Wow. He’s a piece of work,” she muttered.
“You have no idea.” I glanced at my phone.
My heart sank to my stomach. No. That wasn’t real. Somehow, during some point of that conversation, I’d sent a video to Asher. A video of what? What had I recorded?
Luckily, he hadn’t opened it yet. Snatching it off my desk, I frantically began to see if I could unsend something. But as I searched and searched, I watched the icon change and closed my eyes. He’d opened it. What was I doing?
“Cosi? You okay?” Elysia asked, and I shook my head. “Danny is right. Sydney will put on something extravagant. Your girls will be there, and I’ll be there. We can make sure he doesn’t bother you.”
I gave her a tight, appreciative smile. Little did she know, that wasn’t the reason I wasn’t okay.