Page 23 of Blinded By Love

“I’m not doing this,” Hayden says, making me look away from the paper.

I didn’t even get the chance to read what the hell we were doing for the project.

I furrow my eyebrows and almost scoff at him. “Well you’re going to have to. You might not care about your grades but I care about mine to get my degree.”

His jaw ticks. “Sorry princess, but quite frankly I don’t care.”

“There you go acting like a child again.” I roll my eyes and shake my head lightly at him. “Hayden, the project can’t be that bad,” I say before looking down at the paper.

Ask your partner the list of questions at the bottom and see how they react.

What is trauma in your opinion?

Have you experienced trauma?

Is there anything you consider unforgivable?

When did you lose your virginity?

What does sex mean to you?

What does intimacy mean to you?

If you could pick one thing to do over, what would it be?

And the list goes on and on with a whole bunch of other intimate questions. Then you have to write an essay about your partner's reactions and what you think of them. Then you have to write an essay about yourself responding to these questions.

It is a ridiculous assignment that I definitely don’t want to do with anyone, much less Hayden Night.

“You want to keep arguing?” I look at Hayden and he has an eyebrow raised, the pierced one.

I wonder if that hurts him.

Before I could answer or argue with him, the professor dismisses the class and Hayden grabs his bag and leaves me sitting in the chair, frozen.

Eleven

Jaclyn

It’s been a week since I last saw Hayden.

He has been avoiding me, I know it.

Last time I saw him was in class where he said he wasn’t going to do the project with me. Since then I haven’t seen him in class or the diner. I see Natalia and the boys come in and sit at their usual table but never Hayden.

When I asked Natalia where Hayden has been she told me that he hasn’t left the apartment other to go to the club.

After I realized he was avoiding me I went to go and talk to the professor to see if she could do something but that was no help.

“You aren’t the first one to come to me about this project, Jaclyn,” she told me. “I have had a lot of people come to me and it’s understandable. This project is uncomfortable but that's the point. I’ve seen your files and you’re a journalism major. You are going to have to ask uncomfortable questions in the broadcasting field. This is only the first step,” she explained while looking at me sympathetically.

“I understand your reasoning but it’s hard to work on a project when your partner isn’t willing. Can’t I have a different partner?”

She nodded her head, understanding. “I know Mr. Night isn’t the easiest to work with but I have no one else for you to switch with. But with Mr. Night, if he won’t comply with this project then you’re going to have to figure it out. As long as the assignment is completed and meets the rubric requirements. If not then I’m going to have to mark you and your partner down. In the real world you won’t get options. You get demands and those demands have to be met.”

The rest of the conversation was me arguing with her, begging her to do something but she just shook her head and sent me away.

So this past week I have been trying to figure out how to get a hold of Hayden and I was thinking about going to Natalia and his apartment but I didn’t want to intrude.

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