Perfect Student

Chapter 15

Our high school was an outdoor school so once you were beyond the main gate, it was pretty easy to explore. We wandered the halls for a while, jumping in planters and opening empty lockers, mostly just making fools of ourselves. 

Hunter jumped up on the main stage in our quad where our principal would announce things and pretended to give a speech about how I had the best ass in the school and the other girls should quit trying to prove that they were hotter. I threw the bottle at him with a laugh, and he caught it, jamming it in his back pocket and running to my side. 

"Want to see something cool?" he asked secretively, even though we were the only two in the school. I looked up at the full moon and smiled but brought my eyes back down to his face when I realized he asked me a question.

"Sure?" I asked, eyes following his hand as he reached into his front pocket and pulled something out in a clenched fist.

"Are you sure you want to see?" he asked tauntingly, waving his fist in front of our faces. My stomach began to grow nauseous as my eyes followed him and my voice came out slightly sharper than I intended it to.

 "Yes, open it for fuck's sake!" I said, laughing at the absurdity of his motioning. His face changed suddenly, and the fog in my head cleared like a cold wind had blown directly in. His eyes flickered darkly at his hand and my heart raced as I changed my prior statement.

"Please open it, Hunter? I really want to see," I said softly, placing my hand on his shoulder softly. I stroked his shoulder with my fingertips, feeling his muscle beneath the cotton shirt. The darkness cleared and a smirk replaced it, bringing my boyfriend back to me.

His hand unfurled and a small set of three keys rested on a lanyard, spread-out on his palm.

"Whose are those?" I asked. The beige color of the lanyard perfectly matched my sweater and a wooden star hung at the bottom by the keys. It definitely didn't belong to a male.

"Mrs. Cliff's," he explained, walking forward so we reached her door. "She dropped them in Lit today and they fell right into my bag," he teased. I envisioned her struggling to carry her paperwork and leather teacher bag around her pregnant tummy, not noticing as her keys fell to the ground. Then I pictured Hunter sliding the lanyard into his palm and dropping it into his pocket or backpack when the coast was clear. There wasn't a car key on it, meaning that she probably drove home without even noticing.

He smiled at me now, pressing the first key into the door. It didn't fit and he grunted, trying the next one. It slid in easily, but the lock stuck, not turning in either direction.

"Are you sure they're not her house keys, smarty?" I asked him, careful to keep my voice light. 

I leaned against the wall beside the door as he removed that key and pushed in the next one. It twisted easily and the door pushed open, swinging into the wall behind it with a bang. He made a prideful face and I giggled at his over-confidence.

"Admit I know more than you do," Hunter said, leaning over me and pressing two of his fingers into my side. It tickled and I began laughing, gasping for breath in seconds as he fingers grew relentless. 

"Admit it!" he said again, adding his other hand and sending me into a fit. Tears were beginning to fall from my eyes as I said, "You know more than me!"

My laughter and his calmed down as he nodded and then placed a little kiss on my forehead above my right eyebrow. He stepped back and made space for me to enter the classroom first.

"Know more about what?" he pressed, raising an eyebrow. His tone was meant to humiliate me, as if he hadn't asked the question in the first place and I was simply dying to say the words. I wasn't sure if we were still joking or if this was a test, so I gave him the answer that I knew he wanted to hear.

"You know more about everything," I replied, walking in front of him and into our classroom.

"Good girl," he purred, closing the door behind us.