CHAPTER 05

CHAPTER 05

"My morning should be amazing, but seeing his smirking face as I approach my seat—my world's already gone to hell. Like, seriously, my world."

"Staring, are we?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Can't a guy admire a beautiful lady?" he retorted.

"You're in trouble, buddy!" I insisted.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa... what did I do? Maybe you're the one who's in trouble."

"Me? What did you do yesterday? You kissed me, and… and…" I trailed off, as classmates started filling the classroom.

"And what, Miss Corpez?" he asked, grinning like a dog.

I couldn't say anything. Our professor was here, and class was about to start. I couldn't let him start a scene, especially not with everyone knowing he kissed me.

That kiss was still stuck in my head. Not just once, he did it twice! This jerk, sitting right in front of me. I wanted to yank his emo-style hair out. He thinks he looks good with that hair and bandana? He's not Dao Ming So!

As I was writing, a hand suddenly appeared on my desk, messing up my paper. I glared at him, even though he was facing away.

What was this crumpled note he'd given me?

I opened it and read:

"Your lips are amazing. Can I ask you out?"

"No way!"

"Yes, Miss Corpez? Why did you say no?" our professor asked.

"Uh?" I jumped up, startled. Sir Domaso was calling on me.

The class erupted in laughter.

"Why did you say 'no way' to the topic we're discussing?"

"Uh... I mean... what was the topic again, sir?" Their laughter had turned into a hurricane. To avoid further embarrassment, I forced a smile.

"Seems like your mind's on a different planet today, Miss Corpez. Anyone else? Of course, we were discussing..."

I hung my head in shame. It was only morning!

And the culprit? The guy sitting right in front of me, who'd been a pain since yesterday.

He lifted his head, still facing away, while I stood behind him. He looked up, and I glared down. He smirked, I scowled.

Our teacher wasn't paying attention, so I pinched his pointy nose.

"Ouch! You're a mean one, beautiful!" he laughed.

"You're a jerk, you—"

"Ryker Sullivaño and Aubree Corpez! If you two are just flirting in my class, the door's open." I was mortified. Where could I hide?

"Sorry, sir!" we both said. The teacher shook his head and continued teaching.

I was so embarrassed, all thanks to Sullivaño. I refused to talk to him until lunch.

"You were totally out of it back there, witch! What happened?" Rowela asked, as we sat at a table in the canteen. We were tucked away in a corner, out of the way of the crowds.

Even though I knew no one else knew what had happened, every time someone looked at me, I felt like they were laughing at me, just like back in class.

I scanned the canteen for the jerk, but thankfully, he wasn't there. Maybe he wasn't eating with his gang today.

Yesterday, when those guys were looking for him, who were they? What department were they from? What had Ryker done? Maybe he'd gotten into trouble...

Before I could get up to find him, his gang entered the canteen.

"OMG, they're here!" Cora, who had a crush on him, announced. I watched as his crew approached a student sitting a few tables away. I wasn't going to pay attention, but I didn't like what I saw.

Rolando, a classmate, grabbed the student's collar and punched him in the face. The nearby students screamed.

My nostrils flared. Ryker was about to punch him again.

"Hey, witch! Where are you going?"

"Just chasing a mosquito," I said, leaving the table.

Ryker was about to punch the student, but I stepped in front of him.

My heart was pounding. I thought his fist was going to connect with my face. He hit hard.

"What are you doing? Is there nothing else you can do? You're picking on other students?" I yelled at the five of them. Three were classmates, the other two were from different departments. "We're about to graduate, and you still haven't learned a thing!" I didn't care who heard me. It was the truth.

Ryker straightened up and glared at me. "Why? Do you know what's going on, Miss Corpez?" he asked, hands on his hips.

"What?"

"Tsk. Before you butt in, maybe you should find out why we're disciplining him." My eyes narrowed.

"Well, if he did something wrong, why didn't you take him to the guidance office? Why do you have to show off your thug moves?" He just laughed.

His laughter was interrupted by a teacher.

"Ryker, Corpez, and the rest of you involved in this mess in the canteen, go to the guidance office." I closed my eyes. I was dragged into this.

Why did I get involved? Everyone probably thought I was part of the fight. Today was just a string of bad luck.

In the guidance office, we were questioned and explained what happened. I didn't say much, because I was just defending the student who'd been punched.

They heard my side of the story and let me go. The others were still there. "Ugh, when will these students ever learn? They're about to graduate, and they're still acting like jerks—"

"You're right."

"I know, right? I mean, I—" Crap. I hadn't noticed my crush, Sebastian, standing right there. "Hi! Were you here the whole time?" I stammered. Sebastian was my high school crush, but he didn't know. We were in different departments now—business for me, engineering for him.

"Nope, about nine minutes. Are they still in there?" He was referring to the students in the office, especially the jerk, Ryker, who was his friend. They'd been in the same gang back in high school, but Ryker and I were in the same business program.

"Yeah—" I replied, just as the door opened. Were they still fighting? And why was that guy glaring at me? At me?

"What's with the guidance office trip, buddy?" Sebastian asked Ryker.

"Tsk. Nothing. Let's go!" I didn't know why I was still standing there. I wasn't involved.

"What are you doing? Planning to rat me out to the guidance counselor?" he asked me. Yeah, me.

"No way! You're so full of yourself. Get over yourself."

I followed them, because he was making me. He stopped walking and grabbed my hand.

"What? Let go!" I said.

"Let's get something to eat."

"What? I'm not hungry—" My stomach growled. Ugh, my stomach was telling on me. "I guess I am a little hungry. Let go of me!" I tried to pull away, but he held on tighter. It was so embarrassing, especially with Sebastian walking ahead.

"I'm in," Sebastian said, taking my other hand. Ryker was on one side, Sebastian on the other, and we were walking to the canteen.

The heck. Just like high school.