Page 4 of Science Project

Once I grabbed my books from my locker, I spotted Nicole walking with her friends on the cheer squad down the hallway to their first period. I wanted to apologize again, but I kept my mouth shut as they passed me and inhaled her apple cider perfume.

Didn’t even recognize me as the fuckup who had bumped into her this morning.

When she disappeared around a corner, I sighed through my nose and dragged my feet to the main doors to head across the quad to Calculus with the infamous Mrs. Dawson. Mrs. Dawson flirted with all the popular guys at Redwood, and it was the only time I didn’t wish I were one of them.

But if I were popular, maybe Nicole would notice me. I had had a crush on her since elementary school, but she never looked my way. Not once. Not even today! She never went for guys like me, and she never would.

I was last on that list.

Though I still wished that I weren’t. I wished that she would notice me—or for that matter, that anyone would notice me—because I hated being so alone. I hated Mom and Dad for forcing me to live a life of dealing drugs and guns. But most of all, I hated being a useless nobody in Redwood.

CHAPTER

THREE

NICOLE

“Why don’t we just skip our last class today and have some fun?” I asked Carter, twirling a finger around the end of his thick dirty-blond hair, my other arm draped over his shoulders at his locker.

Dad had given me multiple people to get friendly with this semester.

And unfortunately, Carter was one of them. He was even stupider than Jace Harbor, but I only had a couple of months until football season ended, and then Carter wouldn’t be as important to Dad. I had been counting the days.

I dropped my arms around his abdomen and slipped my hands underneath his shirt to rub his muscles the way that I knew he loved. I had done it yesterday to seduce him in the locker room before Jace walked in on us.

Carter shrugged. “If I miss another class, Coach will sit me out for the next game.”

After standing on my tiptoes, I placed a lingering kiss just below his earlobe—right where he liked it—and slid my hand underneath his jean buckle. Then, I wrapped my fingers around his hard dick. “Are you sure about that?”

While he eyed my tits, he blew out a low breath and pulled my hand out of his pants. “You know I’d love to eat that wet pussy again, but it’s important that I kick Harbor’s ass on the field every day until he quits football.”

“Whatever,” I huffed, turning away from him to walk toward Anatomy and Physiology.

I stared down at my heels and blew out a breath. I honestly didn’t care what kind of rivalry he had with Jace or about actually sleeping with him in the back of his smelly car.

Before walking into science, I popped off the top button of my shirt. Mr. Woodward sat at his desk while scanning our textbook, wiry gray hair brushed back atop his head and thick glasses magnifying his eyes.

“Mr. Woodward.” I placed my hands on his desk and leaned forward.

Since I was twelve, Dad had told me that my tits were my best assets and that I should use it to get what I wanted. And now, he thought otherwise, but I would prove him wrong.

“Yes, Nicole?”

“Last class, you said that we’d be paired for a project.” I moved toward Mr. Woodward and curled my fingers around his tie, gently pulling him closer. “Do you think you could pair Akio and me together for this one?”

Cheeks red, rounding, and blotchy, Mr. Woodward giggled like a schoolboy, his gaze dropping to my chest, and nodded. My stomach twisted as another wave of guilt and disgust rushed through me at the thought of what I was doing.

As the class began to pile into the room, I straightened myself out and scanned the room to see if I could even recognize an Akio. But I didn’t know most of the students in my class, never mind in the entire Redwood body.

My gaze met Willie, who smirked at me like he always did whenever I caught his gaze. I stiffened as a shiver ran down my spine. Out of a class of twenty-five, he was the only guy I recognized. I could never get those piercing demon eyes out of my head.

Not since he’d watched his uncle rape me last year.

I reached up to tug on Hannah’s gold necklace that she had given me the night before she was murdered, then turned toward my seat. A nerdy kid up front peered at me for a moment, and then he turned back to his open textbook with flushed cheeks.

After I slid into my seat, the bell rang, and Mr. Woodward stood up on shaky legs with the help of his desk.

“We’ll be working on a project that’s due by the end of the semester. I’ve chosen partners for you.”

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