Page 211 of Seeds of Malice

Ivy

Dax won't return my texts or calls. After Avery dropped me off, I stumbled across the estate to his place.

He wasn't there. I stayed all night and eventually fell asleep. As far as I know, he never came home.

My panic hits an all-time high. I step out of his house and pull my phone out of my pocket.

Me: Dax, please call me.

Avery pulls into his driveway. "Why aren't you dressed for school?"

"Have you seen your brother?"

She shakes her head. "No."

"He's not returning my calls or texts."

She shrugs. "He's pouting still. Get ready. You can't miss another day of class."

I close my eyes, then go into Dax's house. I grab a clean outfit from his closet and join Avery in the car.

Her intoxicating scent fills the air. It makes me uncomfortable remembering what happened the previous evening. And I still want to be her friend. I admire her, but I don't want anything else past friendship.

I only want her brother.

I barely comprehend what Avery's chirping about on the way to campus. We arrive, and I force myself to sit in Professor Dyer's class.

He rises and puts his hand through his salt-and-pepper hair. He puts his black glasses on and announces, "I decided who the teacher's assistant will be."

My ears perk. I had forgotten I applied, but I still want the job. The $15,000 stipend will pay my sorority fee. Dax insisted he would, but I need to figure out what's happening between us.

Professor Dyer pins his eyes on me. "Ivy Ford, you got it."

Excitement fills me,

I can't wait to tell Dax.

If he ever talks to me again.

The excitement quickly fades. My heart hurts thinking about the possibility of my relationship with Dax not lasting forever. And I don't even understand what I did to upset him so much.

No, whatever I need to do to keep him, I will. Once we talk, things will be fine,I tell myself.

The room erupts in applause, and Professor Dyer says, "Okay, time to get to work. Ivy, see me in my office after class."

I nod.

He clicks a button on his remote, and his presentation pops up. "Today, we're going to talk about hybrid seeds."

I lean closer. This is what my dad does. It's always interested me. Maybe it's because we've had so many conversations about it, but I want to specialize in it.

"One of the things you're going to learn—" Professor Dyer clicks the screen, and it goes black for a brief moment. He clicks another button. "What the..."

A video pops up.

My voice rings out from the speakers."I'm your dirty slut."

My gut drops. The class bursts out in laughs and whoops.

---