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Pushing thoughts of lovey-dovey couples out of her head, Raina grabbed her coat and what was left of her sandwich. It was a short walk to her favorite picnic spot—a small patio surrounded by bushes and trees. The late January sun was surprisingly warm on the old wicker bench and the peeling wood didn’t bother Raina as she sat down, tucking her feet underneath her and gazing about the grassy area.
For such a pretty little spot, it wasn’t well-known at Trinity. Jesse had brought her to the hidden patio a few months ago, and in all those weeks, the only other people Raina had seen outdoors had been Gracie and Dean. But while the couple preferred to relax on the bench, Raina and Jesse had taken to bringing picnic blankets and sitting by the flower bushes. The perennials were a lovely mix of pink, orange, and purple, and Raina had always enjoyed admiring the flowers as she ate her dinner.
But since Jesse had found out about Raina’s crush on him, he hadn’t returned. Nicole had wanted to keep Jesse and Raina apart, and she’d succeeded, because Jesse ate all of his meals with her now.
And Raina was left by herself, just as lonely as she’d been before Trinity.
* * *
Jesse frowned as Raina left the table, watching her blonde hair swish as she headed for the exit. She’d been playing the victim card for weeks, always running off when Nicole appeared. Dinner today was no different.
Nicole leaned into him. “Have you looked at the English homework from Friday yet? Which short essay prompt do you think you’ll do?”
Jesse fought to hide his sigh and turned his attention to her. “I’ll probably choose the one about Shakespeare’s common themes within plays. I had to listen to some of them for class last year.”
“Are you talking about the English questions?” Dean asked. He made a face. “Ugh. Who gives homework before we’ve even started reading a book? Like, haven’t teachers heard of relaxing?”
“I have, Mr. Ashcroft.” Dean’s deer-caught-in-headlights face had Jesse spinning around in his chair, his eyes widening as he spotted Mrs. Dixon behind him. “However, I do not have time to relax, as I spend a significant amount of my free time grading essays. Yours, I might add, could certainly use some improvement.”
Dean chuckled nervously. “Right. Yes. Will work on that.”
“See that you do.” Their teacher nodded sharply, before turning to Nicole. “Ms. Lawrence, I have assigned an essay to my sophomores onThe Great Gatsby. Please set up a session with the students you tutor.”
“I’ll do that now,” Nicole replied, already typing on her phone.
Mrs. Dixon nodded before heading to a round table where some of the other teachers were sitting.
Dean let out a breath, relaxing in his seat. “God, she’s scary.”
Gracie snickered, shoving him lightly. “Be nice. I like her.”
“You would. You like everyone.”
“I like you,” Gracie murmured, and Dean’s face brightened.
Jesse looked away uncomfortably, not wanting to intrude in whatever moment the two were having. From the look on Nicole’s face, she felt the same.
“Dorm?” he asked, taking the last bite of his dinner.
“Dorm,” Nicole agreed.
As fast as humanly possible, the duo grabbed their bags and tore out of the dining hall. Nicole had recently switched dorms, and while her three new roommates were nice, Jesse didn’t know if they would be okay with having a boy in their room. Besides, Theo never complained about Nicole being around, and Dean knew he couldn’t if he wanted Gracie to spend time in their room.
Jesse and Nicole passed through the winding corridors rather quickly, comfortable in their silence. It wasn’t a far walk to the common room, and from there it was only a few steps until they reached Jesse’s dorm.
“Ugh, I’m ready for this day to be over,” Nicole said with a groan as she collapsed onto Jesse’s bed. She scooted back until her head was lying on the pillow.
Jesse laughed, joining her on top of the covers. “Well lucky for you, we’re officially free of any obligations.”
Nicole made a face, her freckles scrunching. “I have tutoring tonight. It’s one of my regular sessions,andI added an extra one for tomorrow. Ugh, I hate it.”
Jesse turned his face away to hide his smirk. Mrs. Dixon, the notorious meddler, had set Nicole up to be a tutor last semester. It was supposed to teach her responsibility and to think about someone other than herself, but all it had achieved so far was annoying Jesse’s ears with all of Nicole’s complaints.
“Are you still getting extra credit for tutoring?”
“Yeah, it’s not that bad. But any time I get detention, I don’t get credit for the next two sessions.”
Jesse frowned. “How often do you get detention?”
