Page 66 of Forbidden Lessons

“Fuck!” I mumble, squeezing my eyes shut against the burn.

I’m definitely feeling it. I grab an Oreo, crunching on it as I show Melissa the card.

She stares at it, horrified. “Um…I let you slap me.”

I laugh, almost choking on a cookie crumb. “You didn’t letme do anything. Youchosea slap.”

She lifts a hand to the red handprint on her cheek. “Haven, please.”

“God, come on. No begging.”

“You can’t—“ She cuts off with a jerk when I growl.

“No, of course I can’t. Who in their right mind would?” I roll my eyes at her, tossing down the card between us. “Fuck.”

Cruelty:

Write a cruel word on your partner’s cheek with a permanent marker.

Consequence:

Relive your most recent sexual encounter in graphic detail.

We both stare at the card.

“I mean…can he do shit like this?” I mutter softly so my voice won’t get picked up by Melissa’s phone.

“Stories I’ve heard?” Melissa’s eyes are round when I glance up at her. “He’s done much worse.”

“What?”

She glances over at her phone. “I need to go pee,” she says loudly. “Gonna hit pause quick.”

On the second try, she gets to her feet, and goes to fetch her phone. I watch her with a cold, sinking feeling in my stomach that has nothing to do with the three shots of tequila simmering down there.

She taps on her phone, and then holds up a finger, leaning in with a serious look on her face. “This is just what I’ve heard, okay? Could all be rumor.”

“Tell me,” I snap.

“Okay, so, one of my sorority sisters told me that Rooke moved to Agony Hollow because he fucked up so bad at the last college he was at.”

“Fucked up how?”

“He was experimenting with his students.”

I lean back. “Like…in a laboratory?”

She laughs. “No, like psychologically.” She taps her temple. “Manipulation. Gaslighting.” She flicks the card on the floor between us. “Weird games and assignments?” A shrug. “I mean, it could be total bullshit, but you’ve met him.”

The side of her mouth lifts. “You’ve been alone with him.”

I hold out my hand. “Stop it. It wasn’t like that. He gave me a book. The Lucifer Effect. For class.” I realize I’m blabbing, and press my lips closed.

Melissa sits back, taking a deep breath. “Fuck it, I’m not judging, Haven. God knows I’ve done some questionable shit in my life.” For a moment, she looks lost, like she opened a door expecting to see stairs, and only found a wall behind it.

“Experiments?” I whisper. “Really?”

She snaps out of her thoughts with a shake of her head. “Yeah, really. Okay, let’s do this.” She grabs her phone, crawls over to the dresser, and goes to her knees to set it up.

---