Page 25 of The Forbidden Note

He pushes off the locker. “Why are you playing hard to get?”

I freeze, my heels skating against the ground and turning into wooden pillars.

“Next year, I’ll be a senior. It’ll be my last chance. Your last chance.”

“Mr. Hall,” I struggle to keep my tone even, “I don’t understand what you mean.”

“You act all high and mighty with me, but you let Zane Cross bag a seat.” Voice low, he whispers, “Do you two have some other arrangement?”

I tense.

The students around me hold their breath.

Hall prolongs the silence, throwing down a challenge that I can’t back away from.

Prickles of irritation zip down my spine. “Perhaps, rather than worrying about others, you should learn to write your own essays. I’m sure your tutor is tired of doing your homework for you.”

Mottled red stains his cheeks.

I shove the knife in deeper. “Until you can form a cohesive sentence without assistance, it’s best you keep your mouth shut rather than spouting off nonsense. It only makes you look more foolish.”

A chorus of ‘oohs’ pepper around us.

Hall’s face is hard as he stares me down, but he has no comeback.

I maintain eye contact, letting the humiliation soak in.

There’s only one thing stronger than money here in Redwood and that’s the truth. When it’s on my side, I’m not afraid to wield it.

Satisfied that my point has been made, I continue on my way, clasping my books for dear life.

Stupid, Zane.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

I pass a private classroom with a card slot.

It’s The King’s practice studio.

If anyone needs evidence that Zane and his brothers run the school, it’s the fact that they have their own dedicated space and permission to play musicduringclass time.

Snots like Theodore Hall understood the hierarchy.

Even if they didn’t like it.

But after Zane threw me over his shoulder last week, he broke the delicate balance. One impulsive move totally destroyed the boundaries I’ve tried to preserve with my male students.

This is his fault.

But ultimately, it’s mine.

Guys like Hall were a menace before and I, obviously, haven’t done a good job at controlling them.

This is Redwood.

A place where the most affluent, powerful, and entitled children are thrown into one extravagant building. Here, rules are foisted upon them that they don’t have to obey out in the real world.

And even inside Redwood Prep, there are some rules that can be broken for the right price.

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