Cameron smiles cruelly. “Don’t sweat it,dude.” He gives theguy a harsh clap on the shoulder and the man quickly moves away from him.
“Well, if it isn’t the infamous Kamila Isabela Morales.” He throws his bag on the floor, causing me to jump the tiniest bit.
Don’t let him get to you, Kamila. He’s not worth it.
I look him directly in the eyes while confusion, shock, resentment, and anger course through me. My emotions must be obvious because he hasn’t wiped the stupid smirk off his face since he sat down. My face heats, the blood in my veins boiling.
Ignore him.
That’s what I have to do. He’s getting under my skin by eye contact alone, and I refuse for him to have that much of an effect on me. I don’t care how childish it might be because if I open my mouth right now, who knows what’ll come out. This isn’t the time or place.
“Come on, Kamila, you can’t just ignore me for the rest of the semester. These will be our permanent seats till December.”
What?My eyes widen as I do a quick scan of the classroom and end up seeing that there are no seats left. Shit. I know in classes everyone has an unspoken agreement on choosing their seats the first day, but I can easily change mine on Friday when I have this class again, right?
Cameron must read the confusion on my face.
“Oh, haven’t you heard? Professor Mills hands out a seating chart during the first class of every semester, where we write our names down. She doesn’t bother memorizing them, just calls us out according to the chart. So there’s no escaping me, Kamila. You’re going to have to get used to being near me.Again,” he whispers.
Looking back down at my phone, I try my best not to show any emotions even though I’d rather cut off my own foot than sit next to Cameron all semester. I won’t believe it until I hear the words directly from the source. If not, then I have to come up with some sort of excuse for the professor to change my seat.
“Okay, don’t believe me. You’ll hear it in a couple of minutes for yourself.” He shrugs carelessly.
It’s creepy how well he’s reading me. A little over two years ago, it wouldn’t have surprised or bothered me, but still, I’ve changed. And from what I’ve seen so far today, he has too, but not in a positive way.
His legs are crossed while he lays back lazily, giving me a lop-sided smile. “This should be an interesting semester, don’t you think?”
My fingers clench around the phone till my knuckles turn white. I drop it on the table once I hear the professor coming in. Everyone goes quiet while she lays her bag down and gets the projector ready. I block all thoughts of Cameron and focus my attention on her.
“Good morning, class. I am Professor Mills. You may only refer to me as Professor or Dr. Mills.”
Oh God she’s one ofthoseprofessors.
“Today we will be going over the syllabus and rules of the class. We will not be doing introductions; I find them unnecessary and a waste of time. First thing is first, the seats where you are now will be the ones permanently assigned to you for the entirety of the semester. There is a seating chart currently going around where you will write your name on the seat of which you are in. I will be calling on you to answer my questions according to that same chart. Therefore, I expect you to remain where you are.”
Cameron’s eyes are boring a hole through my side profile, and I know that he’s feeling smug as hell.
What I wouldn’t do to wipe that look right off him.
Why does he want to sit next to me after everything that’s happened in the past and why is he provoking me? I’m the one who should be mad, not him.
The professor continues to speak. “The classmate that you are sitting next to will be the person you will be working with for the rest of the semester on class assignments. There will be nogroup assignments outside of class except for the big debate. We’ll be going into more detail about that around the middle of the semester since it will be worth thirty percent of your final grade.”
The feeling of needing to scream while stomping around like a child is strong. I shuffle in my seat to relieve some of the tension in my body, and it does nothing to ease it.
“You must participate during these lectures. Asking questions does not count, but you must answer them when asked. Other professors might say there are no stupid questions, I disagree.” She drones on and on while I take notes on her ridiculous rules.
“There will be a test every other Friday until the end of the semester, all worth forty percent of your grade.” I shake my head. This is worse than I thought.
Cameron’s leg starts to bounce against mine, distracting me. He’s doodling in his notebook, clearly not paying any attention to Mills. I’m about to shove his leg when I spot the star tattoo matching mine on his forearm. The memory of that day hits me like a ton of bricks and I look up to see his side profile. The sight of his silver eyebrow piercing catches me off guard like most things about his new appearance. It wasn’t there the summer we stopped talking. He catches me staring, and I quickly look away.
Shit. How long was I looking at him for? I need some air. I’ll sneak off to the bathroom to splash some water on my face in a minute.
The professor’s voice grows louder, stealing my attention.
“There will be no bathroom breaks. This class is only an hour and fifteen minutes long twice a week. Go beforehand.”
What the hell? What if someone has their period? What if someone gets sick? This woman is crazy.
