Empire High Betrayal(49)

Rob put his elbows on his desk and leaned forward. “I love a girl who knows how to take control.”

“Is there a problem back there?” Mr. Hill asked.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. He was going to make me read out loud for the entire period. I could feel myself sinking in my seat.

“No? Great. May I continue then?”

“Of course, Mr. Hill,” Rob said.

Mr. Hill squinted at him and then cleared his throat. “Very well.”

So he’s not going to punish me? Thank God. Just as I started to breathe a little easier, Mr. Hill started talking again.

“As you know from the syllabus, there is no midterm per se in this class. But I will need a status update on your projects. I expect them by the end of the week.”

Oh, crap. How were we supposed to finish our group project when Rob and Matt were fighting? James had given us a pretty good head start on the website. But we still had to figure out exactly what was going to make our fitness site unique.

I glanced over at Matt. He was staring at the board, but it didn’t look like he was paying attention at all.

I needed to make sure he knew I was all in with him. I didn’t want him to have any more doubts. I picked up my pen and jotted him a note:



How do you think your parents would feel about me moving in until Isabella goes off to college? Or more importantly…how would you feel about that? Would you get sick of me after a year?



I tore out the sheet from my notebook, made sure Mr. Hill wasn’t looking, and slid it onto Matt’s desk.

He read it and a smile spread across his face. “Are you serious?” he whispered.

“My dad said it was okay,” I whispered back. “If it’s okay with your parents, I mean.”

“I don’t think they’d mind at all. My mom already loves you.”

I smiled.

“And what about you?” I whispered. “You want me to stay?”

“Are you kidding? Of course I do.”

“I’m not going to ask again,” Mr. Hill said. “Is there a problem back there?”

“Sorry, Mr. Hill,” Matt said. “It was all me.”

“Great, Mr. Caldwell. Then how about you pick up on page 107 then? Second paragraph down.”

Matt gave me a small smile and then opened up his book and started reading. And reading. And reading. He seemed to take the punishment a lot better than me. Where I stumbled over the words, he read them perfectly.

I rested my chin in my hand as I watched him talk. He was really good at public speaking. I knew that he wished he could take over his dad’s company one day. But maybe he had more to offer than that. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that his dad wanted Mason to take the reins. What careers needed good public speakers? Politics, for sure.

I smiled to myself. In the blink of an eye I could almost see our future. He could be the mayor of New York. I could take over my dad’s business. Matt and I could rule this town. Us against the world.

Sometimes thinking of the future made my chest hurt. I used to be scared of not having one. Of my life being cut short. But I wasn’t my mom. I wasn’t my uncle. I was healthy. Dr. Wilson had confirmed it. And if I could get these stupid panic attacks under control, I’d be perfectly content. I wasn’t going to die young. I had my whole life ahead of me. My whole life with Matt.

The bell rang and Matt slammed his book shut.

“Next time don’t talk during my class, Mr. Caldwell,” warned Mr. Hill.

Matt rolled his eyes and looked over at me. “You’re welcome,” he said.

“What? You were talking too. It’s about time someone got in trouble other than me.”

He laughed. “I know, I was just messing with you.” He shoved his book into his backpack. “Do you have time for a quick visit to the auditorium before you get whisked away back to my house?”

“What exactly are we going to do in the auditorium?”

“Just because I’m loving you out loud now, it doesn’t mean I don’t get to love you in private anymore. See you in a few,” he said and tossed a note on my desk.

I looked down at his familiar scrawl.



Baby,

Meet me in the auditorium in five minutes?

Love,

-Matt

P.S. I’ve spent a lot of time waiting for you in the auditorium. I hope my future wife doesn’t leave me hanging anymore.



I was smiling so hard it hurt. I looked up and Matt was already gone from the room. I folded up the note and slipped it into the pocket of the front of my blazer. It was the first note he’d ever signed. And he’d called me baby a few times, but for some reason seeing it in writing made my heart race.

“When are we going to meet up to do more planning on Operation Disappearing Troll?” Rob asked.

I almost jumped. I hadn’t realized he was still in the classroom. “I can’t, Rob. We’ll have to plan the rest of the prank via text. Here.” I wrote down my cell number on a piece of paper and handed it to him.

“James isn’t going to be happy about this. I’m pretty sure this breaks our deal. No prank means me and James don’t have to talk to the Caldwells.”

“I’m still going to help with the prank. The deal is still on.”

“If you say so.” He pulled out his phone and put in my number. “I don’t know why you’re so concerned about all of us being friends again anyway. We’re not fighting because of you. We’re fighting because Matt’s a snake.”