Always You(8)

“You’re a Hitchcock fan?” She grinned, her face lighting up.

“More of a classic horror film buff,” I said, sitting down on the edge of the leather armchair nearest to the door.

“Really? So am I. Nothing better than a horror movie that actually focuses on the story, you know? All the horror flicks these days seem to just be slash, blood, and gore.” She shuddered and shook her head.

I laughed. She was right. Horror films today had nothing on their older counterparts; it just wasn’t an argument I was used to hearing from someone under the age of fifty.

“So, I didn’t realize you were going to be here,” I said casually. There was really no polite way of asking her what the hell she was doing here.

She blushed. “Layna is my aunt. I live with her. That’s why I’m at this school,” she explained.

“Wow, I didn’t know that,” I said.

Wrenn looked at me strangely.

“My mom and Layna are old friends. They went to school together,” I explained.

“Then your mom probably knew my mom,” she said quietly. Her eyes dropped.

I’d obviously hit a nerve, and I noticed her use of past tense when talking about her mom. What happened?

“So, how do you like it here? A bit of a change from what you’re used to?” she asked, a less than subtle change of subject.

I laughed. “Different is an understatement. I thought I knew what to expect. Honestly, the reality is so much worse,” I said. “I’d forgotten how many hormones teenage girls have.”

And there was something to add to my list of things not to say to my teenage student.

“Forgotten?” she teased. “Weren’t you just in college, like, last year? Didn’t they have teenage girls there?” She bit her lip to keep from smiling, her green eyes sparkling.

“You’re right, but it wasn’t my job to control them,” I said, laughing.

“Yes, and they seem to go even crazier all cooped up in boarding school.” She rolled her eyes. “This is my outlet,” she added, gesturing to the TV. “Horror movies. It’s a good escape. And often less scarier than reality,” she quipped.

“If you like this you should try and get your hands on Dawn of the Dead. That’s one of the best horror movies of all time,” I said, ignoring how nerdy I sounded.

“Thanks for the tip,” she said with a grin. “You better get back.” She pointed to the door, her eyes piercing me. “They’ll come looking for you.”

“Yeah. I should,” I muttered. Even though I’d much rather stay in here. “I guess I’ll see you on Monday?”

“I guess you will. ‘Night, Dalton.”





Chapter Five


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Wrenn

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My pulse quickened as he walked into the room. God, he was driving me insane and he didn’t even know it. Like right now, for instance: his ass in those jeans...

Sigh. That was probably the best thing about being a girl—I didn’t have to worry about trying to hide an erection in the middle of class. I didn’t know how boys did it. He set his briefcase down on his desk, flinging it open and taking out a stack of papers. Glancing around the room, he smiled.

“Good morning. Did we all have a good weekend?”

Murmurs filled the room. I was too busy staring at him to answer. His gaze swept past me, and for a moment I thought I saw a smile. Had that been for me? Was he thinking about running into me at Layna’s?

Seeing Dalton out of class on Friday had been amazing. Sure, it had only been a five-minute conversation, but he’d treated me like a person. Every other teacher here knew my story, and all I ever got from them were sympathetic glances and those tiny little smiles that say “I’m not going to tell you how sorry I am for you, but I feel so sorry for you.”

Ugh. It was like I couldn’t escape my past, no matter how badly I wanted to. Thank God none of the other students knew—not even Kass.

The last thing they needed was more ammunition to use against me. The days they ignored me were best; I could handle that. It was the days they decided to pick on me relentlessly that were the worst. By ‘they,’ I meant Paige, but if she was targeting you, then everyone followed. It was sad, really.

It was amazing what a sexy, young, hot male teacher could do for your motivation levels. In the few months I’d been at this school, nobody had paid attention quite like they did in Mr. Reid’s presence.

I studied the cause of this phenomenon as he waffled on about...honestly? I had no idea what he was talking about right then, and I was pretty sure every other student in the room felt the same way. He wasn’t just attractive, he was down right freaking hot. Surely there was a law against a guy this gorgeous teaching teenage girls? This was a form of torture. But all the same, I’d take it. Yep. I could get used to this.

I sat back, my eyes on him as he took in the room. Again, I swear he smiled as his gaze swept past me. I couldn’t have imagined that twice.

“How did everyone do with the homework I assigned?” he asked, sitting on the edge of his desk.

That’s right, in my moment of appreciating the swooniness of my teacher, I’d forgotten we had an assignment due—just like the rest of the class had. The sound of papers rustling filled the silence as everyone dug through their folders. I pulled my three-page summary on the Magna Carta and passed it toward the front.