AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The Fitbit has GPS.
It’s normally used to show which running path the wearer took and clocks miles when there’s vigorous movement. Carter set up the Fitbit so it would share everything with him. It was supposed to be for fun, to see who could take more steps. At least that’s what he said when he put the app on my phone and added me as his friend in the app. He’ll see everything. It’ll pinpoint Nate’s house and show wiggly purple lines all over his property. How the hell am I supposed to explain that?
Maybe he won’t know it’s Nate’s house. Maybe I can lie and say I was running on a treadmill for hours. That sounds plausible, assuming he’s never been to Nate’s house. Some teachers invite students over to their homes, usually at the end of the semester. I haven’t been here long enough to know if Nate is one of those types of professors.
Carter’s features turn stoic. Shit. He knows. His gaze lingers on the screen like he recognizes that address. His expression is lost in the middle, somewhere between regret and shock. The corners of his mouth turn up and he sports a plastic smile. “Oh yeah, that place. It’s the fitness center on the corner of Amarillo with all the new equipment.”
I stand there, stunned that he covers for me.
“Yeah, they’re open 24 hours.” I add to the lie, not thinking. I want Carter to face me, to say that he doesn’t blame me for seeing Nate. But that’s not the way it goes. Instead of anger, I get apathy. Surprisingly, it feels much worse.
Emily starts talking to the other guy and their conversation shifts toward other things. I linger with my tray in my hands, and then say softly, “Carter?”
“Yeah?” He doesn’t turn. He acts unaffected, continuing to shovel his lunch in his mouth.
“Can you walk with me? I wanted to ask you about something.” The pit of my stomach twists and the tacos aren’t sitting well.
“Yeah.” He grabs his tray and hauls ass across the cafeteria, dumping his tray of half-eaten food before exiting.
I follow him into the student center, and then outside into the quad. We walk along the bricked path for a while before I finally spit it out. “Why did you cover for me?”
He shrugs. Says nothing.
“Carter, I met him before I knew he was teaching here.”
“And you should have stopped when you realized there was a serious conflict of interest.” He turns toward me, stopping, his face flashing with alternating blasts of anger and disappointment.
“Weeks had passed by then. I thought he was a teaching assistant and he thought I was a model. He didn’t know what Dr. Jax did the first week of class—how I ended up modeling. Anyway, that’s over now. I’m not doing it anymore. Things can go back to the way they were.” I reach for his arm, but he glares at me. I drop my hand.
“Right, because that makes screwing the teacher more acceptable. It doesn’t affect your grades at all.” His voice is high as he hurls barbs at me, his hands flying through the air as he rants. “There’s no way he’d favor you after something like that. No man can compartmentalize that much, Kerry. If you want to whore your way to an early graduation, go ahead. Who am I to judge?”
Something inside me snaps. Nate’s the only shred of peace I’ve had since I stepped foot in this state, and there’s no way in Hell I’m going to let Carter piss on it. I plaster both palms on his chest and shove. “Hey! How dare you say that to me? I told you what happened and with everything else going on in my life—”
He cuts me off, “Oh, boo hoo. Suck it up, Kerry. Everyone has shit going on. You’re not the only one whose life got fucked up. You can’t blame other people for your problems and you sure as hell can’t cheat your way through college, not while I’m still breathing.”
I blanch. “Are you threatening me?”
“It’s not a threat. Break it off with Professor Smith or I’ll go straight to administration. He’ll be fired and you’ll get expelled.” Carter’s face is stone, completely devoid of emotion.
It feels like he’s reached into my chest and ripped out my lungs. I can’t breathe. “Carter, it’s not like that. We don’t have a relationship. We’re not dating.”
He rolls his eyes and laughs bitterly. “Got it. I was right the first time and it’s whoring around, is it?”
“No, you stupid, thoughtless ass! It’s my life and I don’t have to justify my actions to you!” I’m in his face, yelling. My hands fist at my sides and I don’t know where to put them. I want to strangle him, hit him, and make him be my friend again. Where did my Carter go? It’s like he was never there at all.
He clucks his tongue and shakes his head. He places his hand on my shoulder and steps in closer before saying softly, “That’s where you’re wrong. You have to make me believe you’ve earned every grade given to you by Nathan Smith without an ounce of doubt. If you don’t convince me, you’ll end up back where you started with your idiot mother and your ex-boyfriend who prefers the older sagging Kerry Hill model.”
Fire surges through my veins and propels my fist to draw back, and then fly forward. All the pain and fear of my mother’s affair is packed into that punch. Every ounce of betrayal, every last bit of doubt and self-loathing laces around each finger, making my fist stronger, urging my arm onward and pulling the weight of my body behind it.
When my knuckles connect with his jaw, Carter’s head swings to the side. Everything happens in seconds, but the movements inch by slowly as if suspended in time. As my fist drops, his eyes slide to meet mine.
Shock and hurt are apparent, but then his gaze becomes dull, lifeless. Carter acts like nothing happened. He straightens and looks down at me. “Like I said, if I see you at his house again, I’m reporting it. And keep the Fitbit on, Kerry, or I’ll head to the dean’s office right now.”
As I watch him walk away, anger gushes through me, but something milder is tempering it and keeping me from following him. I don’t know if it’s disappointment or the fact that I’m certain I’ve lost another friend, but it douses my rage until it’s barely an ember.
CHAPTER 6
I’m standing on the sidewalk, alone, when Josh passes by. I watch him, but don’t move. We don’t walk toward each other or wave. There’s no laughter on his face today and all the mirth has been sucked from my soul at the moment. My arms are wrapped around my middle and I’m feeling small, wishing I didn’t have such shitty relationships. Every single friendship is tainted with something bad, something I can’t quite navigate.
