CHAPTER 5: SCHOOL DILEMMA

Despite my sleepless night, I managed to get up and dressed for the first day of school, feeling fully prepared.

Once Avery headed off to work, Deborah called to share her job news. She asked me to review my class schedule and email her my availability before completing other paperwork. My sleep had been sporadic throughout the week, making this morning's awakening a struggle.

"Ready to go?" Avery inquired as she swung her backpack over her shoulder.

"Now I am," I responded, tossing a blue Sour Patch Kid into my mouth with a wink.

She rolled her eyes, smiled, and grabbed a blue candy for herself. We made our way to the English department together, both enrolled in Introduction to Shakespeare with the same professor. Don't ask why; you'll soon find out. At least we had each other in the class.

"I can't believe this was the only English course left," Avery grumbled as we located seats towards the back of the lecture room. "I adore Shakespeare's plays, but if we have to craft our sonnets in iambic pentameter, then count me out. I don't want a repeat of Mrs. Cunning's class."

"Tell me about it," I concurred. "If I have to analyze one more of his 154 sonnets, I'll go crazy!"

Avery snickered softly as Professor Francis Wright entered the room, accompanied by a wave of students. A few had been there when we arrived, but we still had five minutes until class began, so more would undoubtedly join.

I skimmed through my I*******m feed, about to like Tommy Walker's photo celebrating his two-month anniversary with his girlfriend when someone suddenly exclaimed, "Hey!" Although I wasn't one for commitment, I could appreciate others in love. A tall figure loomed over our table.

"They won't last," came a voice so sexy it could melt ice. I looked up to see those captivating chocolate brown eyes I had encountered eight nights ago. He pointed at the picture of the couple. "Claire Madden asked me to give her the best night of her life about two weeks ago."

A sly grin formed on my lips.

"Well," I replied, hitting the "Like" button before stowing my phone away. "Did she get what she asked for?"

He smirked right back at me.

Well, I guess you'll have to ask her to find out." "Ask her?"

"Don't underestimate me. I won't forget that little trick of yours so easily."

Oh, he remembered.

Screw it, no turning back now.

"Yeah, sorry about that. Looks like you can't handle too many shots after all."

His grin widened.

"No need to apologize," he said. "As far as I'm concerned, we both enjoyed it, right?"

Alright, I had to hand it to him. That was smooth.

"Right," I replied a bit too quickly, tripping over my words. "I mean, no, I mean—"

"Alright, please take your seats," Professor Wright interrupted as he set up his PowerPoint on the smart board, signaling the beginning of class.

"Oh, thank God," I whispered in relief. Whether Max heard me or not, he let out another small, amused laugh and took a seat beside a pretty redhead with a punky look.

I turned back to face the front, utterly bewildered.

"Why the hell am I messing this up?" I'd never stuttered in front of anyone, not even Preston Walker, one of our high school athletes. Even after I turned him down the first few times, he still got flustered around me. Why was I getting nervous around a guy who'd done nothing more than lick my hand?

"Isabella, you're losing it, and not in the Slim Shady way. Girl, get yourself together!"

Avery yanked me out of my thoughts by saying, "Looks like Max Blackwell has his eye on someone."

"Who?" I tried to sound oblivious, but when I went to open my notebook, Avery slammed it shut.

"What? Isabella? Don't mess with me. Since he returned to Punky over there, he's been watching you." I chuckled.

"Alright, Avery."

"You don't believe me? Look."

So, I did. I turned around as discreetly as I could in this situation, only to see him gazing at me while Punky attacked his face. He even winked at me without breaking from their lip-lock.

Punky's lips moved all over the place, suggesting she had no game. That was gross, but maybe she had bedroom skills if he was keeping her around. Still, Max's wink stirred something in a place I shouldn't be feeling anything.

"See?" I turned back to Avery, and she replied with a teasing grin.

"All I 'saw' was him and Punky having a threesome in his head. Ergo, you're delusional."

"Avery, sexual tension? Really?" I whispered incredulously. "The only 'tension' here is the awkwardness of me licking his damn hand."

What on earth was happening? This was seriously making me furious. "No, that's not it. And so what? He licked yours too, and you both said you enjoyed it."

"Ughhh," I groaned in frustration, but Avery was too busy trying not to burst into laughter to notice. "Can we please stop talking about this? You guys gave me enough grief at the party."

"Only if you can prove it."

"Prove what?"

"That nothing bad can ever happen between you two."

"And how do you expect me to do that? This isn't one of your romance novels, Avery. This is my real life." I halted when I finally grasped her insinuation. Slowly, I turned to face my wild best friend, who sported a sly grin that made me want to bolt from the classroom. "Please tell me you're kidding."

"Isabella Vega," she declared, "meet your subject: THE Max Blackwell himself." She gently placed her fingers on my chin and rotated my head back towards Max, who was still locked onto me instead of the passionate punk kissing him.

I did the only thing that seemed right at that moment – I took a deep breath and turned my gaze back to Avery.

"Hell no!" I almost shouted. Before I could fully comprehend my actions, every head in the lecture hall swiveled to find Avery's fingers on my chin, and my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

"Is everything alright up there?" Professor Wright inquired.

"No! Things are NOT fine up here!" I screamed inwardly. Avery promptly released my chin.

"Yes, Professor Wright, everything is fine. My friend simply misunderstood what I said," Avery replied, causing both our amused audience and me to burst into laughter.

Leave it to Avery to bring up the movie '3 Idiots' at a time like this.

"If you're so insistent that he doesn't affect you, or vice versa," Avery whispered, "then it shouldn't be difficult to test your little theory on him of all people. Plus, he's like the worst guy ever, so you can already say you're in a better position. And don't forget, your little hand-licking act got you a head start on introductions – that's practically second base."

After school:

"Why don't you quit the staring already?" Avery smirked knowingly. "You're so eager to prove your theory, what's the big deal if it's Max Blackwell as the subject? Unless..." Avery teased, "you've already got the hots for the guy?"

"Please," I scoffed with an eye roll. "The only thing I feel is his... um, interest in my... well, you know. Do I want to see how flexible he is? Absolutely," I admitted shamelessly. "Who wouldn't? Do you know where he is? But that's it. Also, I'm annoyed because you just ruined any chance I had of burying him soon."

"Ah, you know you want to," I teased her right back. "And once you two are going at it like rabbits, you'll be too deep to care."

"Wow. Someone's in denial."

"Until you prove me wrong, little miss know-it-all, I'll remain 'in denial.'"

Avery snagged another Sour Patch Kid from me and headed to her next class, Introduction to Music Studies, while I went to Introduction to Cinema, a class I was particularly excited about because I aspired to be a screenwriter or film director one day.

After class, Avery texted me that she was off to work, so I followed suit. Yet, I spent most of my time at the cash register contemplating how to capture Max Blackwell's attention. The sooner I completed this crazy challenge, the better. Avery gave me until the end of the semester to prove my point, but she never said anything about turning Max off so much that he'd break it off before then.

But then, that would be cheating, and I couldn't do that on purpose, my conscience argued. At least give it a shot, it whispered.

What the heck, I thought. Regardless of the outcome, this needed to end soon.