Page 41 of Spite

Ugh. This was a curveball I was not expecting.

I was slow to nod. “I think it’s a good idea, too. If he needs help, I’m happy to be the one to help him.” When I said that, I shot a glare at Christian, who watched me with amusement. Did he think he had me? What kind of game was he playing?

“Great,” Mr. Burns said, clapping his hands.

And that’s how I ended up trading places with the kid who’d taken Alec’s space beside Christian. As I gathered my stuff and walked to my new table, I happened to glance up at Alec. He was in the front corner of the room with a nerdy-looking kid. He’d talked to me about being partners with me, but I’d told him I didn’t want any distractions. I wasn’t lying when I said it. He just didn’t know what exactly I’d meant when I said distractions.

I meant distractions from Christian, and now that I was going to sit next to him, to stare at his lovely, smug face for fifty minutes every day, there would be fewer distractions than there were before. Two could play this game.

While Mr. Burns explained what we were going to do today, put some of our latest formulas and equations in action, Christian leaned over to me, whispering, “How are you and Alec?”

I turned and looked at him. “I don’t think Alec is your business anymore,” I muttered. Sitting so close to him, his face so near mine, I could smell his body spray. Holy hell, it smelled good. And his face—he hadn’t shaved last night, so stubble graced his square jaw. Right now, he didn’t look like a boy. He was a man. A man I was intent on destroying, but a man nonetheless.

“You know,” Christian spoke quietly, “I’m surprised you went after Alec.” I was about to retort, albeit softly since Mr. Burns was still rambling on, but I was stopped when I felt a warm hand on my knee beneath the table.

Christian was touching me. The bastard. He had no right. And I was about to tell him so, but he chose that moment to continue.

“You’d have much more fun with me, Elle.” The way he spoke my name, as if feeling it on his tongue for the first time, testing it out carefully, weighing the word in the air. Like it meant something to him. “I could take you places you’ve never dreamed of.”

Wow. What a clichéd line. Never thought I’d hear it with my own ears.

“Do you use that line on everyone?” I asked. “No, no, no. What I really want to know is: does it work? Do you ever get any girls who swoon and say, yes, take me?” The hand on my knee started to creep up to my thigh, and I felt a tingling warmth start to spread, growing in certain places I probably shouldn’t be focusing on while dealing with this toolbag.

My mouth was open, but no words were coming out. I probably looked like the biggest idiot around, trying to tell him to get his hand off me and failing spectacularly. Why the hell was I so attracted to him? This was the boy who’d made my life a living hell for years. Yes, six years might’ve passed, but time didn’t heal all wounds. I wanted him to grovel at my feet, not caress my leg tenderly.

Just when his fingers neared a certain spot I definitely didn’t want him touching, Christian withdrew his hand and shrugged. “You know what? You’re right. The last thing I’d want is damaged goods.”

Damaged goods? What a fucking dick. Whether he was trying to call me a whore or referring to my suicide attempt, I was not damaged goods. He was…ugh. I hated him right then. I hated him with my entire being, my whole soul. I hated him more than I’d ever hated anyone before, my dad and Diane included.

I’d show him just how good allegedly damaged goods could be.

Mr. Burns had set up multiple stations around the room, where every table would have to stop and do some mini-experiment with liquids and such. Everyone had to put on goggles and gloves, and these ridiculous white robes that were to protect our regular clothing just in case anything spilled on us.

Christian was…well, I could see how Alec had been the one holding up the pair’s grades. He didn’t read the directions, didn’t measure carefully, basically didn’t do anything right. You’d think that he’d care more, considering he needed to keep up decent grades to stay on any sports team for the school, but apparently not.

Or maybe he was doing it to get on my nerves. It was working.

By the time the fifty minutes of class ended, I wanted to pull my hair out. Each and every strand, one by one. Christian would drive me nuts. I’d go insane with him as my lab partner, but there had to be a way for me to make use of it. Spending so much time with him in such a close proximity…I had to find something to do to him, beyond the whole tanking our grades thing. I did not want any bad grades on my final report card.

The bell had just rung, and Christian got to his feet, grabbing his books and walking behind me. I tried to get up—tried to—but Christian was still there, standing way to close. When I got to my feet, I practically rubbed my ass against him, instantly freezing at the contact.

He leaned down to my ear, whispering, “We’re going to have fun together.” As he spoke, I felt his free hand touch my back, then my side, curling around my hip with a strong, almost possessive quality.

God, why oh why did Christian have to be so attractive? His looks put my hormones into overdrive, which made it so very hard to pull myself away from his wandering hand and put distance between us. Once there were a few feet between us, I whirled on him, saying, “You have no idea.” I meant it as a threat, but Christian only smirked and walked away, brushing past me to get out of the classroom.

Alec had watched the whole exchange near the front of the room. I didn’t think I’d ever seen his face so upset. He and Christian glared at each other when Christian walked by him, bumping shoulders like they were in some macho contest. When I reached him, he said, “Why didn’t you tell Mr. Burns no?”

We walked into the hall, going to my locker. “I don’t know,” I said.

“He’s going to try things with you,” Alec said. He meaning Christian, not Mr. Burns.

“Let him try.”

“Are you going to be strong enough to stop him?”

I looked at Alec then, wondering where he got off on asking me something like that, but my prickly attitude faded when I noticed the genuine concern on his face. Alec was really worried about me, for me. He cared. He didn’t want Christian hurting me again. Did he love me? Were we at that point yet? I…I wasn’t sure I could break his heart like I’d planned.

Apparently I was a wuss.

“I will be fine,” I told him, opening my locker and exchanging my chemistry book for my next class’s stuff. I had economics then photography. “Let him try his worst, and I’ll turn it all around and back on him.” I slammed my locker closed, turning to face him. “Thank you for caring, but I’ll handle it. If I need help, I know you’re only a few tables away.”

Alec didn’t look too convinced, but he had to rush to his locker to avoid being late for his next class. I lost him in the sea of students around us, heaving a sigh to myself as I walked away. What I really wanted to do was crawl under the covers of my bed and take a nap, maybe call Leah to get her input on it.

Who knew these revenge plots were so damn mentally draining?

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