Page 5 of Good Girl

“Quite frankly, the disrespect would warrant my kicking you out of the class for the rest of the semester, but here I am, being kind,” Derek continued.

Haley’s cheeks suddenly flared pink, and her lips pressed so firmly together that all color disappeared from them. After a moment, she begrudgingly handed over her phone. Derek accepted it and swept back to the front of the class, then he resumed the lecture as if nothing had happened.

He was...amazing. I had never heard someone speak to Haley like that before. She was so good at batting her eyelashes and talking her way out of trouble that none of the teachers even bothered with her anymore.

Not Derek Hansen, though.

Haley didn’t say a word and fell into a sullen silence for the rest of the class. I only noticed it partially as my entire focus was on Derek. He moved about the stage effortlessly and always spoke calmly and controlled even when he was clearly excited about parts of the discussion. He drew laughs from students, started an intense debate down in the front row, and even smiled once himself, but none of that was what held my attention the most.

What did was that every time I looked up from typing my notes, he was looking at me.

Logically, I knew he was just looking into the sea of faces before him, but each time I looked up, itfeltlike he was looking at me. Directly at me, actuallyseeingme, and each time, my heart jumped a little. The heat in my cheeks hadn’t died down at all, but I didn’t care. For the entire two-hour lecture, I felt seen.

That ended the moment we stepped out of the class and Haley exploded.

“Who the fuck does he think he is?” Haley barked, the heat of her words matching the rapid flurry of her steps as she strode down the hall. It took all my effort to keep up with her in this state.

“Haley, wait—”

“Derek fucking Hansen is back in this school as if nothing ever happened, thinks he can get away with bullying students and no one will stand up to him, huh?” Her tirade was uninterruptible, but boy, did I try.

“Haley, who is he? What did he—”

Haley’s re-claimed phone rang, and she answered it immediately, ignoring my attempts to talk to her.

“Paul!” Haley raged on. “You will never guess who just fucking took my lecture.”

Clearly, Haley knew something about our handsome new teacher that I was blind to. If it made her like this, it would be wise for me to find out exactly what was going on.

3

CHARLOTTE

The soft thrums of some classical rock filled my dorm room as I settled into my bed and absently scrolled through the swill of the internet. Haley had left me after lunch to go andmake upwith her boyfriend Paul, something I would apparently never understand. I hadn’t minded, though. Having a break from Haley and her...everything... was nice sometimes, and I had always preferred my own company ever since I was a child. She’d made sure to text me and tell me she wouldn’t be back tonight, so I had peace to truly relax without worrying about what someone else might think.

While the rest of my day passed smoothly, one mystery remained at the forefront of my mind.

Derek Hansen.

Charlotte had refused to elaborate on what was so awful about him, so with a bowl of noodles balanced on one knee and my laptop on the other, I was doing my own research. I was hoping that working him out would help remove him from my mind because he had nestled deep into my thoughts ever since that morning lecture and wasn’t shifting.

His brown curly hair, those dark eyes, that strong jaw, right down to how he moved about that stage and kept the entire hall enthralled without having to raise his voice even once. It was incredibly...dominatingto be able to do that to an entire class for two hours, and I was in awe.

Maybe a little part of me was crushing on him too, but I could hardly be blamed. He was drop-dead gorgeous, not the kind of man you expect to find in a stuffy university. He surely belonged on the cover ofVogue.

Shoving a forkful of noodles into my mouth, I mused over the few articles I could find about Derek. There really wasn’t a lot of information on him. He’d been working here for seven years and had won a few awards for his thesis and some internal awards for the high success rate of his classes.

“So, Derek,” I mused aloud, “you’re an awards man, huh?”

I had an award of my own, but it was nothing to be proud of in my eyes. High school graduation made me the recipient of the Miss Manners award, a small trophy, and a certificate that pointed out to the whole school just how much of a goody-two-shoes I was, as if there was any doubt. My mother had been ecstatic, and at the time, so had I. Until I realized that the trophy was the highlight of my entire teenage life.

College was supposed to be different, but here I was, late at night, tucked up in bed with noodles and a laptop. Nothing had really changed.

With Google failing me, I turned to the next best thing. Social Media. Haley definitely had it out for this guy, and I had to find out why. By the time I had finished my noodles, I was elbow deep in the investigation.

Haley had, of course, complained about acertain teacheron her socials, and the number of reactions and agreeing comments told me that I was the only one utterly clueless as to what was going on. A few clicks later, I had my answer.

“Holy shit...”

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