Never mind the fact that any kind of heart-skipping behavior caused by a student was totally inappropriate. Wherever my heart—or any other parts of my body for that matter—was going with this, it needed to stop.
The bell rang and the girls began to pack up their things. While everyone else shot out of the room as quickly as possible, Wrenn seemed to be taking her time, handling each pen one by one as she placed them neatly in her backpack. By the time she stood up, the room was nearly empty, the last of the students filing out.
From the corner of my eye, I caught Paige glaring in my direction as she stomped out of the room. That girl made me shudder. One look at Paige and all I saw was trouble.
Wrenn, still smiling, approached the desk. Her green eyes were so bright with
warmth that I couldn’t help but feel good.
“Thanks for that. What you said to Paige.” She paused, sweeping her hair over her shoulder. “But don’t underestimate how much trouble that girl is. Even for you.”
“I appreciate your concern, but I think I can handle it,” I chuckled. If Paige wanted to learn how tough I could be, I was more than happy to show her. Girls like her made my skin crawl. She had no empathy or feelings for anyone but herself.
“Okay, if you say so.” She smiled at me, her finger tracing the edge of my desk. I could feel my heart begin to race, and I had no idea why. I refused to believe it was because of her.
“You shouldn’t be afraid to stand up to her, Wrenn.”
She looked up, surprised, her eyes meeting mine. Then she shrugged, as if it were no big deal.
“Standing up for myself would just create more drama. I’d rather not have to deal with that. I’ve got bigger things on my mind than Paige and her petty comments.” She smiled wistfully. “I’d rather focus my attention on the people I actually give a damn about. Does that make sense?”
“Perfect sense, actually,” I mumbled, rubbing my neck, her comments hitting a little too close to home. “So, you’re from Washington, and you like horror movies. What else is there to know about Wrenn?” I don’t know why, but I didn’t want her to leave yet. I wanted to keep this conversation going for as long as possible, without seeming like a complete creep.
She made a face, looking deep in thought.
“There’s not much to know,” she said truthfully. “I’m pretty boring, I guess. I love cars, and I hate shopping. I love things that make me think, like a good book. I’m quite opinionated, but I pride myself on seeing both sides of the argument. And I’ve wanted to be a lawyer since I was little.”
“Any particular area of law?”
“Criminal law. Prosecution,” she answered immediately. She glanced down at her phone. “And I’m late for class,” she added sheepishly.
“I’ll write you a hall-pass so you don’t get into to trouble.” I grinned, grabbing my pad. I scribbled out the note and handed it to her. Our fingers brushed against one another, her touch leaving me numb. She smiled at me, tiled her head down, and then walked out of the room.
Sinking back into my chair, I tried to process what had just happened. What was I doing? Creating little fantasies in my head over a student was just plain wrong. But there was something about her, something different. Something special that made me want—no, need—to know more.
Chapter Eight
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Wrenn
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I found myself looking forward to History classes much more than I should have. After two weeks of Dalton being in my life, any chance I got to see him was something I looked forward to.
A schoolgirl crush? Maybe. I wasn’t sure.
In class he always treated me the same as everyone else, but unlike some of my other teachers, he didn’t sit back and ignore Paige’s snarky comments. There was no special treatment toward me—perhaps I imagined a glance here and a smile there, but nothing concrete. Out of class, he treated me like an equal.
It was something that would never go anywhere, but it gave me comfort to think about him as being something more than just my teacher. I didn’t for a second dream that my crush would be reciprocated. I wasn’t stupid. He had been nothing but above board when he was with me, in and out of class.
Still, I couldn’t stop myself from fantasizing about him when I lay in bed at night, or imagining what it would be like to kiss him. As each day progressed, I found myself thinking about him more and more.
***
I practically skipped to class on Thursday, which earned me an odd look from Kass. She never saw me this happy about school, so I didn’t blame her skepticism.
“What the hell is with you?” she asked, raising her eyebrows.
Shit. I needed to settle down. Nobody was this excited about History. “Nothing. Just feeling good today. Being almost the weekend, and all.”
She seemed to accept that and proceeded to ramble on about her plans for the weekend.
“Wrenn?”
“Huh?” I said, embarrassed that she had caught me lost in thought.
“I said you should come with us. Up the coast.”