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“Okay, yes, slight oversight on my part, but the app doesn’t give you much to choose from. It’s free, after all.”
“You could have at least picked a brunette actress.”
“You know, you don’t sound all that grateful. I haven’t heard a single thank you.”
I gift her with a You’ve Got to Be Kidding Me glare. “Oh, it’s because I’m not the least bit grateful. In fact, I think you might be insane. You need help.”
She’s offended by this. “Are you serious? This washardwork. It took almost ten whole minutes.AndI had to scroll through some truly nauseatingly pretty photos of you to find the exact perfect one for the job.”
She pushes the laptop toward me so I can take another look, but I don’t need one.
“Have I finally convinced you?” she asks.
Silence.
She throws her hands into the air.
“So that’s it? It’s an official no-go? You’re not going to listen to me? You’re just going to be a stick in the mud?”
“Yes,” I reply flatly.
She closes her laptop and stuffs it back into her backpack. “What a huge mistake. You could be slinking off with him right now, having a little make-out session before class.”
She doesn’t bother modulating her voice, and I know better than to suggest she should. Sonya has one setting: loud.
“I’m not all that interested inmaking outat the moment. I’m trying to keep up my GPA so I can get into grad school, preferably on scholarship. I don’t think banging my professor will really help me achieve that goal.”
The doors to the auditorium open and students start rushing in. I collect my things and stand then hold my hand out for Sonya to grab. She does, with a sulking frown.
“Sorry I’m not more adventurous. Honestly, just thinking about having an affair with a professor makes my stomach hurt.”
“I get it, I suppose. And though I do still think you’re making a mistake, I realize now you’re a lost cause.”
I laugh, knowing she’s not being the least bit sarcastic. She means every word. In Sonya’s world, it makes perfect sense to jeopardize your entire future for one night with a hot professor. I would never in a million years go down that road.
“Can we drop this once and for all?”
She nods. “Yes. The subject is officiallyclosed.”
We walk into class side by side, and Sonya starts to tell me about this sexy guy in her psychology class. I’m listening until I glance toward the front of the lecture hall and see Professor Barclay speaking to a few students. I immediately recognize them as the group of girls who were standing near Sonya and me out in the hallway…the ones who saw Sonya’s fake picture before I turned the laptop away.
I feel the color start to drain from my face.
No.
It’s just a coincidence.
It has to be.
They have a question about the reading. They want to know what chapters will be on the first test.SOMETHING!
Professor Barclay looks over his shoulder, spots Sonya and me walking down the aisle, and then nods to the girls. They disperse and take their seats in the front row. One of them—the pretty blonde I now recognize as the girl he agreed to advise this semester—smiles snidely at me before turning away, and that’s when I know my fate is sealed.
I barely manage to keep pace with Sonya, who’s completely unaware of what’s just happened. She’s strolling along down the stairs, having a grand ol’ time discussing psychology boy. Meanwhile, Professor Barclay levels me with a glare burning with so much anger I’m surprised I don’t melt on the spot. He gestures for me to come to him.
I want to turn and run, but my feet won’t cooperate.
Before I know it, I’m upon him, and did I really think he was attractive? He’s terrifying.
“Ms. Mercier, I need to meet with you and your friend in my office after class,” he says abruptly.
“Is it about the—”
My attempt to remedy the situation here and now gets cut off.
“Afterclass.”
