I grumbled under my breath, my incoherent words threatening a slow and painful demise to my adoptive brother.
Most of the seats were full by the time we walked in, and Josh and I took the places we’d had since freshman year. All except the one next to me, the one nobody could sit in; I wouldn’t let them. They didn’t want to go anywhere near me when I was growing up, so they couldn’t now. I was the gross kid, the dirty kid, the one nobody wanted. And now, now that I’d gained two-feet in height and one-hundred pounds of lean weight since then, oh, they wanted to fucking know me all right.
“Good afternoon, gentlemen,” Professor Stanson greeted us, but his tone suggested it was anything but. “Glad you could join us today.”
Josh rolled his eyes, but I allowed my emotionless expression to remain on the professor.
“I’m sorry, but are we in high school?” I asked, looking around. “Because I’m pretty damn sure it makes no difference to you if we show up or not.”
Professor Stanson’s mouth gaped. “Mr. Dexter, it’s my job to ensure your time here isn’t wasted.”
I smirked and lazed back in my seat, not giving a damn. “No, we pay to be here, and if we don’t show up”—I spread my arms out—“it’s an expensive waste of time that’s all on us, so don’t stand there and pretend you give a fuck.”
His face reddened, his lips pursing so tight I swear they were turning white. I wanted to laugh in his face, to get him to yell, to throw me out, to do something that gave me an excuse to leave.
“Are you quite finished?” he asked, the low sound forced out between his teeth.
The corners of my mouth tilted up, but the small cocksure smile went no further. “I’m sure I can find some more if provoked,” I replied. I stared at him, daring him to continue the little back and forth he thought he could have with me. I wasn’t some kid that would shrink back when he’d done wrong, getting reprimanded for a bad attitude or not turning in his fucking homework on time.
Try to humiliate me in front of the class, I fucking dare you.
I’d had enough of that in my life to take it from some snot nose guy in brown checkered slacks and a matching fucking bowtie.
He looked away when more students came into the room, and I settled down but laughed under my breath, not able to hold my mouth shut at the same time Josh snickered from beside me.
I tapped my pen against the desktop, scanning over the notes Josh had given me when the empty chair next to me pulled out, a figure lowering themselves into it. The chatter in the room came to a halt the moment they sat down.
I breathed in, catching the waft of perfume that flooded my senses. Sweet, with a hint of fruitiness to it, and maybe…flowers? I had no idea; fragrances weren’t something I could recognize, but this was one I’d smelled before.
I slowly turned my head to see the girl next to me, squinting a little as I took in her profile. She was familiar, but not somebody I’d seen around campus or at the circle. Or anywhere, for that matter.
I would’ve recognized that hair, surely.
Brunette, with a hint of blonde like the sun had lightened it. Long tresses fell down her back from where it was held by a hair tie.
She turned to me, and I recognized her right away.
“What?” she snapped, her neat eyebrows scrunching tightly together, her pink lips curled into a snarl.
“Nothing,” I replied, but held her gaze. Green, like Jade, but with tiny flecks of brown.
“Then what the fuck are you staring at?” she asked, leaning her right arm on her desk.
I never faltered or moved even a millimeter. “Nothing,” I repeated, then looked back down at the notes like I hadn’t just been going over the time I saw her in the hall with Mrs. Montgomery, remembering the way her scowl stood out and her tight jaw mirrored mine.
Out of the corner of my eye, I watched her, seeing her frantic movements, short and sharp, as she placed her things down on her desk.
“What the hell is everyone’s problem?” she muttered. “Acting like children with a new toy, I swear.”
I held back my laugh. “Maybe you’re the one with the problem?”
“Excuse me? Are you serious?” she asked incredulously, her eyes wide and her light-brown brows arching up higher.
I shrugged one shoulder, not facing her. “Biting people’s heads off for noticing you, somebody clearly not from around here, and just curious about who you are? Yeah, I’m fucking serious.” Her mouth hung open, and if her eyes could shoot flames from them, I’d be toast. I leaned a little towards her, narrowing my gaze. “Now who’s the one that’s staring?”
She blinked, then huffed out a laugh as though what I’d said was ridiculous, and it was. I don’t know why, but I wanted to rile her up. I wanted to see how mad I could make her before she lost it completely.
You’re sick in the head, you know that, right?
“Please. Don’t flatter yourself, hotshot. The last thing I’d be doing is staring at your black eyes and cut up face.”
Say what now?
My eyes widened, just for a second, and I slowly turned my head. “Ah, you noticed. Good for you.”
Her slender hands balled into fists, the knuckles turning white. “It was hard to miss when you looked like Quasimodo.”
Josh snorted loudly, and all eyes snapped to him. “Sorry, man, but that was fucking hilarious.” He laughed, his hand across his chest. “Quasimodo. I haven’t heard that one before.” He continued guffawing, and I swiped at him. He moved away before I could touch him. He threw his head back and curled himself forward like the character. “The bells!”
I glared at the girl next to me. “See what you did?” I thumbed at Josh. “Happy now?”
She leaned forward and looked past me at Josh, her green eyes focused on him. She sat back, a genuine smile forming on her face, showing a perfect bow in her top lip. “Actually, I am, Quasi.”
“It’s Quinn,” I growled.
She shrugged. “Eh, same difference.”
Now who’s behaving like a child?
This girl was going to fuck up my day, I just knew it.
Kinsley
That was eventful. I wasn’t expecting the guy from my first day to be the one who the empty seat was kept free for; his friend too.
When he’d stared at me, the old feelings rose to the surface. I’d been made to feel under the microscope at my old college, and that was enormous compared to this shoebox that wasn’t even as big as my high school. Here, though, the reduced amount of people could get in my personal space more easily than before. I had nowhere to hide. I couldn’t just get lost in the crowds; there weren’t any big enough to disappear in.
I’d seen Quasi, or Quinn, as he’d corrected me, out of the corner of my eye. He’d gripped his pen as though it were his enemy, the plastic body under stress from his fingers gripping and pressing it. I tried not to think about how, when I’d looked at him, I’d witnessed the bluest eyes I’d ever seen in my life. How had I not noticed them in the hallway that first day? Oh, right, because I was too busy sulking and making a point not to notice, except for the injuries to his face.