“Josh Parker,” I respond, attempting to duck under his arm and continue on my way. But his letterman jacket wearing friends are helping out, and suddenly my good mood has shifted into alarm. I meet his eyes defiantly, refusing to let him see that I’m afraid. I gave this boy my power once, and I felt humiliated by the result. I’m not going to be blindsided by him again.
Josh smiles a lazy smile as he lifts a finger to touch one of my ringlet curls. “There’s something different about you. What is it?” He leans in and actually smells me. My skin crawls.
“There’s nothing different about me,” I retort, panicking a little inside.Can he somehow sense that I have carnal knowledge now? How beastly.
“There is,” he insists, his eyes drifting down the length of my body. “You’ve always had killer tits. So it’s not that.”
“Get away from me, Josh,” I snap, shoving his chest. “You’re a pig.”
He lets out a gasp, a huge grin spreading across his face as his eyes darken mischievously. “There it is,” he says. “You’ve found your fight. I like it.”
“My fight? Whatever. Can I go now?”
“Sure.” He steps back, arms spread like he meant no harm. “See you at lunch.”
“I’ll make sure I’m busy,” I say over my shoulder as I make a dash for my own locker, trying my best not to hear the comments of Josh’s meathead cronies. But they reach my ears, anyway.‘Oh, she wants you, bro.’;‘Planning to tap that, Parker.’;‘Into fatties now, Josh?’’
The last one hurt the most. I’ve never been a small girl, and I doubt I ever will be. But I don’t need some dumbass jock with the IQ of a peanut insulting my curves. My mother gave me these curves.
God, I can’t wait to get out of this place.I slam my locker, math books in hand as I turn to find Tamara, my best friend and bitter rival. It’s an odd friendship, born out of loneliness and academic competition.
“I cannot believe you got a full ride at Cornell.” Tamara lands against the lockers with a sigh. “I would kill for that.”
I tuck my books under my arm and spin my lock. “Says the girl who got into Harvard. Didn’t you already earn enough credits to graduate? I thought you wanted out of here early.”
“I did. But my mom thinks I should do the whole high school experience. You know, prom and prank day. And I can’t let you top all the finals now, can I? I’ve gotta give yousomecompetition. Lord knows this school is filled with the cerebrally challenged.”
“Well, that’s very…thoughtful of you,” I say, realizing for the first time in my high school career that I’d rather be anywhere but here.I’d rather be in Brody’s bed.I bite my lip, and my body heats at the memory of his naked body tangled with mine. We barely spoke last night, but we connected on a level that was profound and deep. I hated waking in the night and leaving him, but I knew my stepmother would have a fit if she saw I wasn’t home for our morning yoga session. But based on the sweet text he sent this morning, he found the note I left, and we’re already planning to see each other again tonight.I wonder what college he transferred from?I’ll have to ask him tonight. There’s so much about each other we still don’t know. Like he mentioned he moved here for ‘placement’, I wonder where that is too. But I guess we’ve got the rest of our lives to figure that out. Brody made it very clear that I’m his girl now.
Who’d have thought it? Me, Maya Allen, someone’s girl. I could twirl around with joy if Tamara wasn’t staring at me like I have two heads.
“What are you grinning about?” she asks, pushing her dark-rimmed glasses up her nose. “You’re freaking me out.”
I laugh as I push the door open to our AP Statistics class. “I’m just happy to be so close to graduation. Our lives are about to begin. Aren’t you happy too?”
“I am, actually.” She cracks a rare smile and pushes past me, taking the front-row seat next to mine as the room slowly fills, excited chatter filling the air while we wait for the bell. People are talking about what they did over spring break, that they can’t wait until high school is done, and there’re a few comments about not knowing what they’re supposed to do with their lives. My plan is to become an actuary. I couldn’t think of anything better than using numbers to plot and plan the future.
The bell rings as Tamara prattles on about Harvard and the courses she wants to take when she’s there. Then all of a sudden she stops, her mouth falling open, and her eyes going wide while she stares straight past me. “Hot. Math. Teacher,” she whispers.
“Good morning, class.” I turn to the doorway, my eyes and mouth mimicking Tamara’s expression but for an entirely different reason. She’s staring because we have a hot new teacher. I’m staring because that hot new teacher is also my hot new boyfriend.
“Can I be excused?” I don’t wait for a response, I just run out of there as fast as I can.Brody is myteacher? Holy shit. No.
Brody
Istare after her wide-eyed. Maya. My Maya is a student. Ahigh schoolstudent. I’d thought that maybe she was in college after our conversation last night, but not high school. I met her at the grocery store for fuck’s sake. No. This can’t be right. Fucking no.
My world crumbles around me, the floor dropping beneath my feet. Sweat beads on my skin and it’s possible I’m about to hyperventilate.I’m in love with a student. I did dirty, dirty things with a student.What am I supposed to do now? I can’t let her go. But if I don’t, I’ll ruin my career before it even starts.
Adjusting my tie, I swallow hard, and look around the room of expectant faces. “Wasn’t expecting to have that kind of effect on a student my first day,” I joke, trying to keep my reaction even. The class laughs, and I take a moment to clear my throat and calm myself before I introduce myself. My instinct is to chase right after her, but I know that will only raise flags.Fuck.“My name is Brody Miller. I’m replacing your usual teacher who’s on long service leave for the rest of the year.” I say all of this with one eye on the door, my heart beating in my ears.Where is she?
The girl who was sitting next to Maya raises her hand. “What about finals? This is very disruptive to our learning. Well, not mine, I could graduate early if I wanted. But the rest of them…”
I take a moment to look at this girl and wonder why my Maya would be friends with someone so full of themselves. “I’m more than qualified to prepare you for finals.”
She smiles sardonically. “Forgive me, but you barely look old enough to be out of high school yourself. This is our future you’re playing with.”
I press my teeth into the side of my cheek, trying hard not to snap at this girl and walk away. I’m doing this job as a favor to the principle who’s an old family friend. She was caught without an adequate fill-in when the head of the math department took leave without notice. Since I was in the process of completing my education credit to add to my PhD, I was happy to step into what will be a secure teaching job at a prestigious private school. But then that means I have to contend with private school students, and they’re something else…
