Chapter 1

Annalise's P.O.V

"...Ew, Mr. Bradly? Gross," Laura said. Maggie and I laugh at her. Maggie shrugs. 

"You said, who is your teacher crush. I can't help but be honest." Laura shakes her head with a gross look. 

"I sai,d teacher crush of all. You didn't have to choose one from college." I just laugh at them as I turn my head while they argue. I look around the cafe. I glance at a table to see a few guys talking. One of them opens their mouth to talk when their eyes land on me. I look at him for a moment, and he smiles. I smile back but wipe it off as I realize who it was. I look away. 

"Anna?" Maggie yells. I snap my head at her with a scared look of being busted. 

"Huh?" She rolls her eyes. 

"You have been acting strange lately. Is everything okay?" I look between her and Laura. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just worried about this year. It's my last year, hopefully. I just want to make it a good one." She nods. 

"I still can't believe you are a year ahead of us." I shrug and stand up. 

"Well, when you go out and party all the time, you don't usually have time to study. Speaking of which, I have to get to my art class. I'll see you, two ladies, later." I grab my bag and rush out of the cafe before they can question me. I let out a sigh as I walk down the hall. I run my hand over my face and groan. "Come on, Annalise, just make it through this last year, and you won't have to deal with it. He won't be around anymore." I mumbled to myself. I was about to walk into class when I was pulled into the empty room next door. I look at the person. He smiles. 

"Hey," I gulp and put some distance between us. 

"What do you want, Theo?" I ask. He lets out a small laugh. 

"I just wanted to talk about-." I stopped him quickly. 

"I was drunk and you were drunk. It didn't happen." He frowns. 

"But that's not fair." I scuff. 

"You cheated on Maggie. You are her ex, and she is my best friend. Don't you see the problem here? Besides, it was just a kiss. It meant nothing." He looks down. 

"I wouldn't say that." My chest started to heat up, and I felt my heart race. His eyes go back on me. "I'm trying to make up for the mistakes I made last year. I wasn't myself. I'm sorry that I cheated on Maggie. I didn't ever want to hurt her." I cross my arms. 

"You should be apologizing to her. I'm not the one who caught you shoving your tongue down Tiffany's throat." He lets out a breath of air. I turn around. "I have to get to class." I walk out of the room and get into the classroom. I sat down in the front row as the professor walked in. Theo walks in to notice the professor already here, which means class has started. He rushes to the first seat he sees, which so happens to be next to me. He looks my way, and his eyes go wide as he realizes. He sighs as he looks forward. The professor turns to the class. 

"I am Professor Rucker. Most of you already know that because this is an advanced art class." He takes a big drink of his coffee and sets it down. "Everyone, take a look at the person you decided to sit next to." I look at Theo, but he kept his eyes up front. I could see he was looking at me from the corner of his eye. "That is the person you are going to spend most of your year with. I'm giving you a project that is worth 85% of your grade. It will be a group project. If you do not participate in the project, both of you will fail the grade." I let my head drop on the desk. 

"Great," I mumble. Theo stands up and walks up to Mr. Rucker as he takes his seat. Everyone was already talking about the project. A few students walk up to him as well. He takes a deep breath. 

"If you were sitting next to somebody and came over here to complain about your partner, I do not wish to hear it. So, unless you want to fail the project, I suggest you go back to your seat. If you do not have a partner, you will turn to one of the tables closest to you. I will not be repeating myself." Everyone turned back around and sat down. Theo sat back down, and I looked at the paper we were handed. 

"The assignment is to create a project on what we've learned since we've been here," I said. He sighs. 

"I should have just sat somewhere in the back." He mumbles. I look at him. 

"You and I are the best in this class. We are perfect for this assignment. So stop mopping and let's get it started." He looks at me. He looks down and takes a deep breath. 

"I just don't want to sit here most of the year with you hating me. I have to deal with my decisions and how they affect everyone every day outside of this class. This is my only escape from all of that." I gulp and look down. 

"I don't hate you, Theo." He looks up, and I look at him. 

"Is that why you won't talk about the kiss?" 

"I can't talk about it. Because then I might catch feelings, and I can't do that. Maggie is my best friend. She was and still is heartbroken about the breakup. It's only been three months. You two were together for five months. She really liked you. I can't do that to a friend, and I won't do that." 

"I can understand where you are coming from. It never happened. I just gave you a ride home." I give him a small smile. 

"I'll tell you what? In this class, you are just a regular student." He gives me a confused look. I stick out my hand. "Hi, my name is Annalise, but my friends call me Anna." He shakes my hand. 

"My name is Theo.. It's nice to meet you, Anna." 

"For you, it's Annalise." He scuffs. 

"So we aren't friends?" I take my hand back. 

"Are you kidding? We've only just met." He chuckles, which causes me to laugh. 

"Thank you for understanding, Annalise." I nod. 

"I have to be honest, when I walk into this room, I try to leave my problems at the door. I like to work on my artwork with a clear mind." He nods. 

"It makes it easier." I nod. 

"Exactly," He lets out a soft laugh and looks down. I look back at the assignment as the bell rings. I sigh as everyone stands up. I wait for the wave of students to die down before attempting to move. When I stand up, Theo does. 

"Hey, since we really haven't discussed what we are going to do or gotten any ideas, how about we meet up later and work on it?" I open my mouth to say something when I hear my name. 

"Anna," Maggie says, running into the classroom. I turned to her as she was jumping up and down. 

"Maggie," I copied. She opened her mouth to speak when her eyes landed on Theo. Her smile dropped. She looks back at me. 

"Am I missing something?" I shake my head. 

"Nope. The professor made him my partner." She crosses her arms. 

"And you are okay with that?" I roll my eyes as I turn to Theo, who is looking down at his notebook. 

"I will catch up with you later about the assignment." He looks at me and nods before grabbing his stuff. He walks out, and I look back at Maggie. She looks back at me. "Please don't make me be the bad guy in the only time I feel free. Theo is a great artist. He and I are the best in the class. If he and I aren't enemies during this, then we can get an A. I really can't afford to get a low grade on this assignment." She shrugs. 

"Whatever," She starts walking out of the classroom, and I groan. Things remain silent as we walk back into the cafe to meet up with Laura. We sit down, and Laura looks between us as we look away from each other. 

"What is going on between you two?" We both look back at her. 

"Recker assigned Theo to be Anna's partner." Laura looks at me and back at her. 

"Okay?" She says, confused. Maggie scuffs. 

"You don't see a problem with this?" She shakes her head. 

"Anna didn't pick him out herself, and it's not like they are dating. You can get mad at him for existing, but you can't get mad at her for something she can't control." Maggie scuffs again. 

"Well, she can at least act like she hates it." I roll my eyes at her and stand up. They both look at me. 

"I don't hate the idea because he's a great artist, and makes it easier on me. I don't hate him, but I'm not going to make him my new best friend. This is for a grade. I know you may not care but I do." She opens her mouth to say something, but I hold out my hand. "Just save it. I have a project to do. If I wanted to get treated like trash, I would go to my parents' house." I turn around and walk out of the cafe just as Theo walks in. He stops and follows me out. 

"Are you okay?" I stop and turn to him. I open my mouth to say something when an arm goes over my shoulder. I snap my head to the person to see Jasper. Theo looks at him. The person next to him was Teresa, my sister. She looks at Theo and back at me. 

"Are you two like a thing now?" Jasper asked. I roll her arm off my shoulder and glare at him. 

"No, and if you ask me that again, I will hit you where the sun doesn't shine." 

"Why are you so cranky?" Teresa asked. I crossed my arms. 

"Because I got into a fight with Maggie." She nods as she looks at Theo. 

"I see why." I roll my eyes. 

"Rucker made us partners, and she is not having it." Jasper chuckles. 

"That chick is crazy." I snap my head at him, as does Theo. 

"No, she's not." We chimed. I look at Theo, surprised that he defended her. He looks at me. I look down. 

"I have to get home and start this project." 

"Am I going to your house tonight?" Teresa asked. I look at her. 

"You moved in with your boyfriend to be closer to him. Why are you always at my house?" She sighs. 

"Because I hate the idea of you being alone." I roll my eyes. 

"I like being alone. It gives me time to think." She opens her mouth to reply. 

"Do you want me to come over and work on the project with you, or do you want to just talk about it tomorrow in class?" Theo asks. I look at him and back at Teresa. 

"Looks like I'm not going to be alone tonight. Go home." She smiles. 

"Goody," I turn around and walk out to my car. 

"So that was a yes?" Theo asks behind me. I turn to him. 

"You can come over and work on the project with me." He smiles. 

"I'll meet you there." I nod. I get into my car and drive to my house, about a few miles from the campus.