Chapter 27
Iwas only seven minutes late for class, and luckily, that was my first time ever, so nobody except Elysia noticed.
Well, and my students. But I had always been lenient with them being late to first hour, so nobody made a fuss.
The lecture today was shorter than usual since I hadn’t spent as much time after school prepping.
Which, of course, was a huge hit with the class.
I smiled, letting them have some free time near the end.
Most students chose to read, though a few heads hit the desk and took a small nap.
I didn’t say anything or disturb them. I was exhausted too, which was entirely by my own choice.
Also a choice I would most certainly be making again.
Glancing at my phone, I saw I had a few Picsnap notifications from Asher.
Since we weren’t doing anything, I picked it up and leaned back in my chair.
He’d sent me pictures of himself and the band at the stadium.
First day of rehearsals and sound check for this weekend.
It looked like Nova and Ava were there as well.
And of course, Asher was back in his cut-off hoodie. I really loved that damn thing…
Then the bell rang, and first period was over. It didn’t take long for my next class to slowly come filing in, but I was a little distracted—by an email notification that I’d just received.
It was from Izzy, and I quickly clicked on it.
I can’t get over your pictures. So here’s the poster one edited and ready to be printed out. It should size perfectly. The rest of your photos will be done by this weekend and I’ll have the album sent and delivered by Monday next week.
My eyes slid to the photo, and it looked better than my mind had even imagined possible. Asher was going to love it.
Or at least I hoped he would. Bubbles of nerves began jumping in my stomach as I realized that maybe he wouldn’t care for it. He might not be that type of guy, or get a little upset that someone else could potentially see me like that. Kieron had seen this picture. What if he got upset about that?
I closed my eyes and shook my head, frustrated. Dumb idea, Cosi. Dumb, dumb idea.
“Miss Duval?” A voice pierced my thoughts, and my eyes shot up from my phone.
“Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. I need to teach,” I exclaimed and set my phone down on my desk. Pushing back, I stood from the chair and grabbed the remote to the projector.
“Orrrrrr,” Dane interrupted, and I lifted a cautionary brow. “Okay, hear me out first, Miss Duval. Before you shut me down.”
I crossed my arms but didn’t say anything.
“Awesome. What if, because you were clearly distracted by something, we get five minutes of gossip time?” He grinned wickedly. Selena and Caralee suddenly shot out of their seats, squealing with hands raised.
I sighed and tipped my head. “From the sounds of it, something happened that I just have to hear,” I teased, and everyone, and I mean every one of my students, fervently nodded. “All right, four minutes. Go!”
Every hand shot in the air, waiting to be called on. I scanned the room and stopped at the redheaded girl in the back corner. “Lacy, what happened that has made everyone so excited?”
She squeaked. “The Dark Banshee was seen with a girl last night.” And the entire class erupted like a volcano in chaotic chatter. Talking over one another, it took me a good minute to rein everyone back in.
“Okay, first. Who’s this Dark Banshee?” I asked, and Selena rolled her eyes.
“And you claim to be a Void fan,” she mocked.
“I like their music, listen to it. But—”
“The four members all have names that their fans like to call them,” Caralee cut me off.
“Oh. Okay, so which one is he?” I asked. I already knew. A rush of emotion swept hot through my skin. I really knew… Sitting on the edge of my desk, I patiently waited.
“The singer. Asher! But the thing is, no one knows who she is. Not a single video of her shows her face. The internet has been going crazy all night and morning, trying to find at least one identifying factor. But even the videos that catch glimpses of her before the fans realized she was there don’t show anything.
She’s got her helmet on and the dark visor down.
Oh, we forgot to say that he was out riding his motorcycle last night when a fan saw him,” Megan replied, gushing in excitement.
Selena jumped out of her seat and walked toward me. “Want to see the video? Like, the escape was perfectly executed.”
“Sure.” I feigned disinterest, but boy was I invested.
At least from the sounds of it, no one could tell it was me, which came as a relief.
I’d been so wrapped in my bubble that for a moment before all of this, I forgot who he was to everyone else.
Honestly, when I was with him, it felt as if he was a mere normal human, and I didn’t think about his celebrity status often enough.
Selena showed me the video on her screen and pressed play.
“See right there? His security slipped a helmet in his hand so subtly, no one noticed.” She paused as I rewatched what I’d experienced last night.
“And then right here. There. All the security guys just parted the crowd, and he took off running, jumped on the bike, and off they went.” Selena tapped pause on a full side view of Asher and me on the bike.
She sighed, loudly. “Look at how she’s holding him. I would like to hold him like that…” All the girls in the class gave the same sigh, and dreamy looks filled their faces.
“Isn’t he like in his mid-twenties?” I questioned.
“So?” She blinked rapidly, shocked. “Anyway.” Shaking her head, she returned to the phone. “So far, all we’ve been able to deduce is that she has nice curves, and we think she has his ring.”
“Okay, nice curves?” I looked at the still image. From that angle, it did give me a nice ass.
“Yeah, look at her butt.” She pointed at the picture.
“Sorry, Miss Duval. That rules you out,” Caralee shouted, and the entire class snickered.
At least they were not even close to guessing who it was. In fact, they ruled out the very person who it was.
“Okay, what about this ring you were talking about? I don’t see any on her fingers?” I continued, not acknowledging the comment about the curves since I didn’t want to encourage that type of conversation.
“Obviously she wouldn’t be wearing his ring on her finger.
His pinky finger is bigger than any of hers, so it would have to be hidden somewhere else.
Like on a necklace or something.” She stared at the screen as I subtly made sure that Asher’s ring was tucked under my dress.
That would be disastrous to have seen right at this moment.
“Makes sense,” I said, and then purposefully glanced at the clock.
“Okay, go sit down, time’s up. I’m assuming that’s what everyone wanted to talk about?
” Nods confirmed my suspicion. “Then we should get to work. If you guys pay attention and we can cruise through the lesson today, I’ll give you free time at the end to do whatever you want.
As long as it’s school-appropriate, obviously. ”
Cheers were my response, and my class got down to business.
I giggled, staring at the most recent Picsnap from Asher. My class had finished the lecture about five minutes ago, leaving almost fifteen minutes left before the period ended. They were all either gossiping about this “mystery” girl Asher was seeing, or well, that was it.
The next Picsnap that came through was a video, so I quickly scanned my class and then popped in an earbud. This wasn’t technically appropriate, but today I didn’t really care. Besides, I never pushed the rules or broke them, so one time wouldn’t hurt.
Tapping the icon, I smiled as Asher’s face popped up on it.
“Princess, you have to sing back up for the song,” he begged, and Drake appeared over his shoulder.
“If this man punches me in the fucking balls one more time to try and help me hit that high note, I will no longer be able to have children,” he groaned.
“Quit being a baby and suck them up higher.” Asher shook his head and rolled his eyes.
“They only go so high, you fucker,” Drake grumbled.
“Come here. I’ll shove them up your throat, then you definitely can’t miss the damn note.” Asher grinned, and then the video went dead.
I giggled and took a quick picture of my desk. Typing a caption, I sent the snap.
I want to hear this!
It took a minute, and then I saw the icon change to open. About a minute later, a video came through. Opening it, I watched and listened as Nova held Asher’s phone and they rehearsed. She flipped the screen to her face when it was over. “He wants to know how it sounded?”
Taking a picture of my computer screen, I leaned back in my chair and typed out a response.
He was maybe only half a step flat. I can teach him how to hit that note when I’m done working.
I sent the response and then waited.
The notification appeared from Asher, and I smiled, ready to tap it open when my heart stopped.
“Miss Duval. You keep getting snaps from ‘A’,” Dane began, and I whipped my head to the projector screen. It was unfrozen again, meaning my notifications that were synced with my computer were alerting my entire class. “And you smile every time.” A malicious grin spread across his lips.
“Give me the remote back, Dane.” I wiggled my fingers at him.
“It’s on your desk.” He pointed beside my computer where I’d left it, and it was still there.
“How?” I asked.
He wiggled his brows.
“Right. You hacked it. Again,” I grumbled. “Well, unhack it and freeze the screen again.”
“Not until you tell us who ‘A’ is.” He crossed his arms.
I took a deep breath. “None of your business, is who he is.”
“HE’S A HE?” Selena gasped, shooting up from her seat.
I clenched my jaw. Mistake. I should not have said that.
“Miss Duval, do you have a boyfriend?” Caralee added, giggling.
“My personal life is just that. Personal. Now go back to gossiping.” I waved them away.