Page 246 of Filthy Elites

“Understandable. Have you considered a side hustle?”

I glance over at him. “Sure. Know of any that pay like $600 for an hour of work?” I joke.

He smirks. “Maybe. Depends on what kind of work you’re willing to do.”

“If there’s a pole involved, it’ll have to wait until next year,” I joke. “Too many germs.”

He cocks an eyebrow like he’s surprised I’d even joke about stripping, but he’s never needed money as desperately as I do, so he can’t understand I’m hardly joking.

When we pull into his parking spot at school today, it seems like there are even more people standing around talking out front.

I didn’t hear from Anae after I showed up with him yesterday, even after that girl probably snapped our picture, but showing up with him a second time is bound to draw even more attention.

“I’ll have my car back after school today, right?” I ask as I pull the latch and shove my car door open.

“I’ll update you at lunch. I should hear back by then.”

“Perfect. Thank you again. I wanted to knee you in the crotch that first night, but you’ve really been a godsend ever since.”

Dare laughs, caught off guard by my honesty. “Hey, you said Iwasn’tan angel,” he teases.

“I spoke too soon,” I tell him, smiling. “I’m reconsidering my opinion.”

“What was that angel thing about, anyway?” he asks as he falls into step beside me.

“Oh. I hallucinated. It’s common in near-death situations like that when your brain loses its oxygen supply. People hallucinate. It’s angels and heaven stuff a lot of the time, that’s why there are all these books about people seeing stuff like that when they have near-death experiences. I realize now I probably saw you diving into the pool to save me, but my oxygen-deprived brain saw an angel with massive black wings.”

“Sounds terrifying.”

I smile faintly. “It was comforting. Then we flew up above your house with me still in your arms. We were in the stars,” I say, tilting my head back and looking up at the sky.

His gaze lingers on me. “Sounds nice.”

I look over and smile back at him. “It was.”

“Hey, Dare,” someone calls, interrupting the moment.

It’s probably for the best. I subtly move away from him to create some distance between us as the guy comes over to talk to him.

Dare’s friend glances at me, his gaze lingering as he checks me out, but he doesn’t address me or even vocally acknowledge my existence. I know he’s a friend of Anae’s, too, but if Dare wants to show up to school with some random girl who isn’t her, he’s not gonna say anything.

While Dare’s distracted, I decide to make my exit. I touch his arm and tell him I’ll see him at lunch, then I head inside the school before he has a chance to stop me.

___

After lunchI have government and AP psychology, and I’ll admit, I did not do my government homework last night. I ran out of time, and it’s not a favorite class of mine to begin with, so when my eyes started growing heavy, I gave in and listened to my body, prioritizing sleep over researching the DPC.

Now, I’m sitting on the quiet, empty side of a bustling table in the cafeteria trying to research the White House’s Domestic Policy Council on my phone, but the wi-fi is being an absolute asshole.

“Stop being terrible,” I tell it, tapping again on the link to the executive order that established the council in the first place.

Finally, it loads. I set the phone down and dig my little blue leatherbound copy of the US Constitution out my purse so I can refer to it.

“Did you just pull a copy of the United States Constitution out of your purse?”

I glance up as Dare drops onto the bench beside me, eyeing the thin blue booklet. “Of course. Don’tyoukeep a copy of the Constitution inyourpurse?”

He smirks. “You’re a nerd.”

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