Page 8 of Charming Cruel Boys

His smile drops into a cute pout. “That wasn’t cheesy. I was being sweet.”

“Uh-huh,” I say with a giggle. “Let’s work on this for now, and then maybe I’ll help you come up with better pick-up lines later.”

“As long as the lines work on you,” he agrees, scooting his chair closer to me.

We work together for the rest of the period, and I’m surprised by how easy it is to joke and laugh with him. To feel lighthearted for the first time in a while. Maybe music won’t be so bad.

The same can’t be said for calculus.

Math is not my strong suit. Not at all. I struggle to understand it and usually pass with a B- because my father would probably send me to a military boarding school if I got anything less. I rely on extra credit a lot. But as I walk down the hall toward the math department, my stomach knots up and my palms sweat. Math is already difficult, but with Knight in there, it’ll be hell. I just know it.

Steeling my spine, I walk in with my head held high and take a seat in the front row. There’s a few minutes until class starts, so I pull out my phone and scroll through social media.I snort at George’s latest post. It’s a short video where he’s getting out of the pool in his backyard, water dripping down his abs, white swim trunks making him look unusually tan. He’s staring right at the camera as he pushes his wavy red hair back and winks. The caption says,Looking for bad boys, slide into my DMs. Gotta love how bold he is. I type out a quick comment,Careful guys, George plays rough!Not that I would know that personally, but as my life-long bestie, he’s told me all about his kinks. I feel sorry for any boy who gets into bed with him unaware.

I’m giggling under my breath as I keep scrolling, liking summer vacation pictures andfirst week back at schoolposts. A book banging down on the desk next to mine steals my attention, and I turn to see who the hell thinks they need to be so annoying. Knight sits down next to me, staring at me with a shit-eating grin on his stupid, handsome face, his long hair deliciously messy.It should bother me. I should offer to buy him a hairbrush. But… he rocks the shit out of it. Knight’s entire appearance screamsmight have just rolled out of bed or might have just fucked someone in a supply closet.It has no business looking so sexy when the guy underneath it is such a dick.

“Where were you yesterday?”he asks quietly, leaning far too close to me and licking his bottom lip.

“Excuse me?”I arch a brow, lean back a few inches, and put on my best resting bitch face. Spoiler alert: I’m not good at it. I’m too nice and everyone knows it.

“You sure as fuck weren’t in this class. So, where were you, Remi?”He grabs a lock of my brown hair and twirls it around lazily, staring at me with a blank face.

“That’s none of your damn business, actually,” I snap, pulling my hair from his hand.God, he’s infuriating. I could grind my teeth all the way down to the gums just thinking about Knight. I wish he was ugly. It’d make sense. Ugly personality, ugly appearance. Instead, he’s blessed with those same gorgeous genes that Duke has, taunting me every single day.

“I wonder if Daddy knows his princess skipped class on the first day?” Knight clucks his tongue as he shakes his head, those dark blue eyes searing into my skin.

My back goes rigid immediately. If my father finds out, he’ll be pissed. “I got my period, okay? It was an emergency. I was wearing white jeans.”

Knight holds his hands up, his lips turning down into a frown. “Whoa, baby girl. I don’t need to know what goes on with your pussy. Duke said it wasn’t even that good, anyway.”

His words are like a dagger straight to my heart. I turn away from Knight, pretending to dig something out of my backpack so he can’t see how wounded I am. I gave Duke my virginity, after already giving him everything else. How could he talk about me like that with his brother?It’s mortifying.

“Don’t worry,” Knight whispers as the teacher rushes in a few minutes late, looking hilariously frazzled. “He’s gotten laid enough since then to make him forget all about you.”

If I thought it hurt before, this is something far worse. I don’t know what I expected. I haven’t seen Duke around any girls in school since we broke up, but that doesn’t mean he’s not sneaking into their bedrooms at night. Like he used to do with me. He’s moved on while I’ve been holding onto the last night we had together. Not a single guy has touched me since Duke.

Well, fuck him. And fuck Knight for being such an ass and trying to get under my skin. I’m not wasting my senior year of high school being a mopey bitch. Time to pick myself up off the floor and give myself a kick in the ass.

As soon as class is over, I rush out into the hallway and head for the cafeteria. Sara and George meet me in line, and we each grab a sandwich and drinks before settling into a table along the wall.

“How’s your second day at Star View High going?” I ask Sara with as much of a smile as I can muster.I genuinely care, but also my mood is shit.

She shrugs one shoulder noncommittally while chewing her food. “It’s not as sucky as my old school, so there’s that.”

George arches his brow and hums. “And where did you say you went before? What the hell kind of school is worse than this shithole?” He glances around the cafeteria with a look of pure disgust. I mean, it’s not horrible, but we’re not in a rich city either. The school is rundown and in desperate need of a budget increase.

Sara tenses for a moment, so quick that I almost miss it. “Um, Brighton High. A few hours from here. It was just full of fake bitches and judgy people. I think I would have actually snapped and gone fullCarrieif I had to stay there. No one would have survived me,“ she says hollowly, looking straight through us with a glazed expression.

An awkward pause sits heavy between the three of us so I drink some water and look out at all the students eating and talking and making out. Sara gets dark sometimes, and she’s never willing to share much about her life before moving here. But that’s her business and I’m not going to hold it against her. Instead, I change the subject. “Got any plans this weekend yet?”

Sara shakes her head, a slow grin lifting her lips.George smirks and shares a look with me.

“Now you do,” I beam at Sara. “There’s a party Friday night, seniors only. It’s to celebrate the first week and kick off the school year. Since my home is going to be bombarded Saturday morning, I thought I’d crash at your place after the party and miss all the drama.”My father has never let me go to a party before, so I’m thrilled. When I asked about this one, he said yes. Well, kind of.It’s your senior year. As long as you don’t act like a slut or embarrass me, fine, is the exact wording he used, but I’m still taking it as a win.

“Fine with me, but only if I can dress you Friday night,” Sara says while pointing a manicured finger at me, her eyes shining with devilish intent.She’s been begging to give me a makeover all summer. I’ve turned her down repeatedly.

Rolling my eyes with a sigh, I nod reluctantly. “Deal. But I swear, Sara, if my ass is hanging out, I’m not going. I’ll lock myself in your bedroom the entire weekend.”

She laughs, throwing her head back like she thinks I’m joking. I’m not. “Trust me, Remi. I’ll keep all your bits covered, but you’re still going to be all dolled up and smoking hot,” she winks.

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