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Chapter 1
Christine
For a full list of content warnings and to download the free prequel, please visit: www.corakent.com/dark
Psychology 101 is taught by the one and only Niccolo Terlizzi. The university website has a handsome, smiling picture of my stepfather right above his biography. He might be new to the campus, but the reviews from his past year of students sound promising.
“He has a stupid, ugly face,” I grumble as I scroll to the top of the page to get away from him.
Someone plops down beside me and hovers over my phone. “Looks pretty hot to me,” she announces.
I toss my phone three feet in front of me and almost pee myself. “Jesus Christ,” I swear at her.
“Sienna Richler, actually,” she says with a grin, “but you can call me Jesus if you want.”
I dislike her immediately. She’s bold, beautiful, and blunt—not to mention sticking her nose in my business. What a bitch. “Didn’t your parents teach you it’s rude to eavesdrop?”
Sienna pulls a laptop from her backpack, dropping it unceremoniously on her thighs. “You’re, like, the only person here; I didn’t realize you were talking to someone. You got multiple personalities or something?”
My jaw hinges open, and I’m not sure how to respond. “Wh-what?” I stutter, taking a minute to regain my faculties. “I don’t think you can go around asking people that.”
With a shrug, she places her backpack by her feet and prepares for the hour. “My mama always told me that if I don’t know something, I should ask. I don’t know if you’ve got a personality disorder or something, so I’m asking.”
I trip over my words trying to figure out how to respond. My brain can’t formulate a proper response because I’m so surprised by her extroverted personality.
“This is Psychology 101,” she reminds me after a moment. “I’m sure it’s normal for people with psychological disorders to take the class in hopes of better understanding themselves.”
“Who are you?” I finally ask when my mouth starts working again.
She turns to look at me and offers a patient smile. “Sienna Richler,” she reiterates, “I’m from Minnesota. You know y’all don’t even get two feet of snow here in Kansas?”
I’m not sure I know my name anymore, let alone how much snow we get in winter. I feel like a slow computer struggling toreboot. My brain takes a solid five seconds to comprehend what she said before it kicks into gear.
I clear my throat and reach out to shake her hand. “Maybe we should start over. I’m Christine.”
“I’m Sienna.”
“And you’re from Minnesota?”
She enthusiastically nods her head yes. “Duluth. We get seven feet of snow every winter. Not all at once,” Sienna clarifies. “Though if you ask my mama, she’ll tell you about that time I was five when we got two feet dumped on us overnight. She likes to show people pictures of me bundled up like a parcel, sinking to my neck in the drifts.”
I feel like I’m in an episode of Punk’d because I have no idea what’s going on. This girl came up to me, sat down, and started talking like we were friends. Thank God a rush of students come through the door and fill in the chairs around us because I don’t know what to say.
“You were looking up the professor?” Sienna asks after a minute, gesturing toward the door.
I follow the line of her gaze and see Niccolo walk into the classroom. He carries a briefcase and wears a suit atypical of the other professors I’ve seen this morning.
“I think he’s hotter in person,” she whispers. “What do you think?”
I think he’s my stepfather and potentially deranged. When he locks eyes with me, the corner of his lip curls into a smirk that makes my stomach flip-flop. “He’s okay.”
Sienna snorts in derision. “You’re trying to tell me he doesn’t sizzle your bacon?”
Once again, Sienna leaves me speechless. Thankfully, Niccolo tells everyone to quiet down, and I don’t have to come up with a response.
“I’m Professor Terlizzi, and this is Psychology 101. If you want a syllabus, it’s on the campus website,” he announces. “I didn’t print out copies because it’s a waste of paper, a waste of ink, and a waste of my time and yours. If you care enough to work on the scheduled assignments ahead of time, you’ll go to the website. Otherwise, I expect you to do all the required reading, submit your papers on the specified due date, and know you’re in college now. You’re an adult, and you are the only person responsible for the choices you make. You might have fucked around in high school and gotten an A, but you won’t in my class.”
Everyone laughs, including Sienna, who leans over to whisper that not only is the professor attractive, but he’s funny, too.
