Page 35 of Sinful Desires

Oh…I know. I sucked at history, and this was my attempt at focusing on literally anything else.

The bell rang, startling me. Students busied themselves by putting their belongings away and I found myself doing the same.

“Aspen,” Mr. Monroe called over the chatter surrounding us. “Can you come see me for a moment?”

Gia shot me a questioning look, but I just shrugged in response. He probably just wanted to talk to me about what we’d spoken about yesterday morning. I urged her to go on without me by inclining my head in the direction of the door.

Once the classroom emptied, I slung my bag over my shoulder and started for his desk. He didn’t spare me a glance before placing a packet down in front of me and then allowing his dark green eyes to meet mine.

My gaze drifted over to the ‘F’ sprawled on the front page in red ink and I bit back a grimace. “What’s that?” I questioned; pretty sure I already knew the answer.

“The packet you turned in yesterday.” He shifted in his seat, leveling me with an intense look that I couldn’t be too mad at. Even when he was all serious, he was still fine as hell. “I’m not going to sugarcoat this. This—” he tapped the stack of papers with his thick index finger, keeping his gaze trained on me. “Is trash.”

I huffed a surprised laugh. It wasn’t everyday that a teacher straight up told you that you sucked.

“Is there something specific you didn’t understand about the packet?” He flipped open the first page, his eyes sliding over it. “Did you even try?”

“Yeah, actually. I just suck at history.”

He nodded thoughtfully; his eyebrows drawn together as he closed the packet once more. “I’m going to try to find you a tutor because this…this isn’t passable.”

The mere thought of having a tutor was kind of laughable. Especially given my background. However, I’d do anything if it meant being reunited with my sister. So, instead of fighting Mr. Monroe on the subject, I just nodded.

I was most likely going to be late to math now, but if they wanted to get their panties in a twist over it, I’d just blame it on Monroe and call it good.

“You can go now,” he said bluntly, shoveling my packet into a stack of others. I rolled my eyes and left the room without another word.

By lunch, my stomach was growling furiously, begging for nourishment. I stopped by my table and dropped my bag in the booth—having been too hungry to stop by my room first. I greeted Raven and Gia before moving to get into the lunch line.

The scent of pizza overpowered all of the others as it wafted out in tendrils, stroking the inside of my nose and begging for my attention. Everyday, the cafeteria offered up a selection of food. They had three or four different hot meals to choose from daily, and it was always a different selection, so you weren’t stuck with the same, boring options.

I fixed myself a plate of pizza, grabbed a Pepsi, and moved back to my table where I dropped down into the seat next to Raven.

“Ooh. That smells good,” Gia pointed out as she eye-fucked my pizza.

“I’m not sharing.” I tugged the tray closer to me just in case she got any funny ideas about taking my food. This was one thing I would fight over.

I picked the slice up with both hands and took a small bite. The hot cheese immediately melted on my tongue, and some of it broke apart and slapped me on the chin. I took the excess amount of cheese that missed my mouth and sucked it off my finger with a satisfied groan.

A small smile graced Raven’s lips as she stared down at her phone. Bunching my eyebrows together, I glanced over, my eyes landing on Hunter, who just so happened to be staring at his phone too. His free arm was wrapped around…Jessica.

Jessica just so happened to be in my fourth period class. She’d been the pretty brunette I had to stand next to while we did warm-ups. She was a little smaller than me and just as tall. Her skin appeared to be slightly baked from the sun, but instead of burning—like I would have—a nice tan coated her flesh. Her dark brown—maybe black—hair barely reached her armpit. She was currently pressed up to Hunter’s side, oblivious to what he was doing right beside her.

I had to hand it to him. The boy had some balls.

I returned my attention to my food and took another cheesy bite. A moan of appreciation left my lips as I worked hard to savor the taste.

“That good, huh?” Gia questioned, tucking into her fruit parfait. Amusement swirled within her dark irises as she observed me from across the table.

I lifted a shoulder in a shrug, a small smile playing around the corners of my mouth. “I can’t complain.”

“Hey, G. When did your costume say it was going to arrive?” Raven questioned, placing her phone down at last.

I took this opportunity to tune them out as I gave all of my attention to the amazing creation in front of me. Small talk wasn’t really my thing, and unless I felt like putting myself through that, then there was no point to even entertain it at all.

Lunch ended too soon for my liking, and I found myself walking alongside Raven to our third class of the day. We took our seats and took out the supplies we’d be needing.

As more students trickled in, the noise in the room steadily increased. My attention was focused on the kids walking through the door, and when I looked straight ahead, Collin was sliding into the seat right across from me. An annoyed groan ripped from my throat before I could stop it and my head fell back with disinterest.

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