“That hurts my feelings,” he told her in a sad voice.
Chloe simply stared at him, stunned. She wanted to rub her eyes to see if this was even real.
“That’s not fair. You are giving Vincent another chance.”
She couldn’t believe it. He genuinely looked sad.
“B-but, Elle gave him one, too.”
“Well, I won’t tell if you don’t.” Amo pushed her bag over and took a seat before she could even think about protesting.
Brrring.
Dang it!
Chloe scooted her seat all the way over to the end. With the class beginning, she didn’t have a choice; she had to sit beside him.
Instinctively, she put her hands under the table to wring them.
“Place your hands on the table,” he whispered over to her.
She quickly shook her head and started to press her nails into the skin.
“Please, Chloe. I can’t take you doing that to yourself,” he pleaded.
When she glanced at him, it was the first time she really looked at him, like really looked into his eyes. They weren’t the black abyss staring back at her like she had always thought. They might have been dark, but they also had a lightness to them. Almost like a sparkle of silver running through, giving them life. They were dark yet light, reminding her of yin and yang.
Taking a breath, she placed her hands on the table.
Amo smiled. “Thank you.”
She had to look away from him after the charming smile he had given her. What in the world is going on?
It was hard for her to keep her hands on the table, especially when all she wanted to do was wring them until she had no skin left.
About halfway through class, it just got worse when the sudden urge to pee hit her hard. She had always been careful about how much water she drank at school, but today, she had been so thirsty she was now paying the price.
Will this class never end? Chloe twisted in her chair, trying to be discreet. If he hadn’t sat beside her today, she wouldn’t have had to worry about the embarrassing movements that would catch his attention.
“What are you doing?” Amo asked, looking like he was also getting antsy from all her movements.
Instantly, she stopped moving, clenching her book in her hands. “N-nothing.”
“Something’s wrong, or you wouldn’t be squirming like that.”
Chloe just buried her head in the chapter Mrs. Saylor was lecturing on. It was bad enough to have to sit and listen to the reproductive organs of a woman, but the full bladder made it nearly impossible to take notes.
“You going to tell me … or do I have to figure it out myself?” The snicker in his voice had her knowing he already knew what was the cause of her distress. It was hard for her to refrain from kicking him again.
“I need to go to the restroom.” She had been whispering before, but she whispered even lower this time.
“Then ask for the hall pass.”
The last thing she was going to tell him was that she was afraid to go in there. “I-I can wait.”
“I’m supposed to watch you for the next thirty minutes, instead of you just going to take a piss?” Unlike hers, Amo’s voice was only getting higher.
Chloe wanted the floor to swallow her to hell. It would be easier than the stares she was getting from his loud voice. Does he always have to make everything a freaking scene? Or does he just like embarrassing me?
She whispered over to him somehow lower, “Please be quiet. You’re going to get me in trouble.”
The sigh that came out of him blew her hair across her cheek. She pushed it back to see him sitting straighter in his chair, No please!
“Mrs. Saylor, Chloe needs to go to the restroom.”
What would he do if I picked up my book and hit the smirk off his face?
Mrs. Saylor went to her desk, picking up the card. “Don’t take too long.”
Chloe felt her mouth drop open and her face turn red. “Yes, Mrs. Saylor.”
She rushed from the classroom, unable to breathe after closing the door behind her. She hadn’t wanted any more attention drawn to her, yet the whole class had watched her leave, and she would have to go back inside to their stares. Breathe … Breathe …
Gripping the hall pass, she walked around the corner to the restroom, already dreading going back. She didn’t stop to think before entering the kill zone.
Stacy and Stephanie were standing by the bathroom window, smoking a joint. Oh, God. Oh, God. I’m going to die.
They didn’t move, watching her with their beady eyes.
“What the fuck are you doing in here?”
If Chloe were brave like Elle, she would have lifted the hall pass for them to read and told them that, if they didn’t cut class so often, they would be able to read the pass. Nevertheless, she wasn’t brave, and they loved inflicting pain as much as Cassandra.
Freezing in place, she tried to tell her legs to get out when they both started coming closer to her, calling her a freak. Stay still, litt—