Ayaz looked up. His eyes meet mine. He flashed me a smile that had no mirth in it whatsoever, raised a hand, and flipped me off.
“Shit.” I slammed the door. My feet pounded on the marble as I ran, gasping, down the hall.
What did I just see?
* * *
By dinner, it was all over the school. No one seemed fazed by the fact Ayaz was screwing the headmistress. That was old gossip, and having it confirmed only made him into even more of a god. But the fact that I’d hung off the door, watching like a total perverted dickhead, made me the laughingstock once again.
Ayaz must have spread the rumor himself. It was either that or Headmistress West, and she hadn’t even noticed me standing there, watching her get fucked.
The headmistress is sleeping with a student.As experienced as Ayaz was – I gulped and pressed my legs together at the memory of him sliding into her – he was still underage. It was illegal. If their affair was an open secret, how come no one reported it? What would his parents think if they knew?
The one good thing about my latest disaster was that it diverted everyone’s attention from what Courtney had done to Loretta in the corridor. If it helped Loretta, I was happy to be their punching bag.
At dinner time, Ayaz caught my eye across the dining hall, his cruel gaze following me as I shuffled to my seat. I glared back, hating him for torturing me and hating myself for finding him attractive. I seemed determined to sabotage what progress I’d made at this school, all because of three Kings who seemed to have moved on from good old fashioned bullying into this weird mindfuck seduction game.
The one bright spot in my week was physics class. I’d handed in my black hole assignment on Friday, confident that all the research I’d done and equations I’d outlined would earn me a top mark. Professor Atwood had promised to have the marking done by today, and we’d have time in class to discuss the assignments.
I fiddled with my pen as Atwood moved down the aisles, handing back the papers. Courtney frowned at her copy, and as she turned it over I noticed several red marks and comments scrawled over the sheet. Atwood tapped her desk. “You need to focus on your studies,” he said. “This isn’t like you.”
I couldn’t help but feel a little surge of triumph at that. It looked like Courtney was letting her bullying plots affect her studies. I couldn’t say the same for myself – I knew my assignment was A+ material.
Greg held his up and grinned at me. “B+. Respectable. That’s two extra merit points for me.”
“Yeah. That’s awesome.” My heart skipped as the professor skipped past my desk, moving down the next row.Where’s my assignment?
Professor Atwood handed a paper to every student in the class and sat back at his desk. “If anyone wants to discuss their results, I’m happy to—”
My hand shot in the air. “Um, Professor… you didn’t hand me back my paper.”
He frowned at me over his glasses. “That’s correct. I’ve only handed back the papers of the students who completed the assignment.”
What?
“There’s been some mistake. I finished my essay and handed it in. Greg was with me when I did it, weren’t you?”
Greg nodded.
“I don’t consider the testimony of classmates as irrefutable proof, Miss Waite,” Atwood said. “The submission system is impossible to tamper with. The assignments are slid through the letter slot into a locked document box. I am the only one who has a key, so your paper could not have been removed before marking. Your assignment was not in that box, therefore, it has not been marked.”
“But I handed it in!” My hands balled into fists. I was dangerously close to crying. “I spent hours on that paper. I asked you all those questions about dark matter, remember? Iswear, I handed it in.”
Titters from the other students reached my ears. Courtney’s hyena laugh was unmistakable. Oh right, of course this was her. I squeezed my eyes shut. Top marks on that assignment were worth 30 merit points. I was counting on those points to pull up my total. With it, I would have passed Loretta for top place amongst the scholarship students in one swoop. As I watched in dismay, Professor Atwood tapped on the keyboard of an old-fashioned brick of a laptop, and my totaldecreasedby 30 points, putting me behind all the other scholarship students.
The unfairness of it grated against my skin. Ifinishedthat assignment. More than that, I knew Iacedit. I deserved credit for it.
I skipped last period. It was my ancient history elective, which I normally enjoyed, but I couldn’t face Dr. Morgan today. So I’d lose three points for ditching; what did it matter, anyway? Everyone in this school was out to get me. I slunk back to our room and flopped down on the bed, too despondent to crack open a textbook or even to look through the few drawings from Dante I’d managed to save. I felt under the edge of the mattress for my mirror shard, but decided not to pull it out, just in case my thoughts spiraled out of control.
Scritch-scritch-scritch.The rats scrambled around me. I wondered if they ever had to deal with bullies.
Evening crept in. Every creak and groan of the building I expected to be Loretta, coming back to our room to tell me that of course this would happen, that I was an idiot for thinking I could take on the Derleth royalty and win. My stomach grumbled and I knew I was missing dinner, but I couldn’t bring myself to move from the bed.
The hours ticked by and still Loretta didn’t show.That’s weird.Usually, she came back to the room straight after dinner. She didn’t like being in the library late at night because she hated walking back to our room in the dark.
Scritch-scritch. Scritchascritchascritchascritch.The rats were extremely active tonight, running in circles across the ceiling, their movements as agitated as my mind.
Where’s Loretta?
