"So let's test your theory."
"What theory?"
Paul smirked at me as he backed me up against the door. I watched his eyes as he lifted his arms and trapped me. "The theory that you don't want me...that we're just friends...and I'm just some kid you c...
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I trudged out of school that day, my heart feeling as heavy as the bag I had slung over my shoulder. My mind swirled with possible solutions to my problem. Mr. West was playing with me, but I had to be smart. I had to be smarter than him, I had to play the game better than he could. And I needed to end this soon, because the thought of my future being jeopardized by that bastard had me constantly stressed.
I had to find a way out of this mess. I had to save Paul.
"Penny for your thoughts," I heard as I felt my cumbersome bag get lifted from my shoulder.
I glanced back to find Trey's devil smirk and flickering eyes trained on me. "I'm good," I replied dully, struggling to pull my bag from his grasp and failing miserably.
"So are you busy now?" he asked eagerly. "We could leave from here and..."
I held my hand up and effectively cut him off. "Not today."
"Why not?" he asked in a flirty way, but to me it came off creepy.
He pushed the double doors open and I shivered when the icy wind blew through me. I glanced around the parking lot, noticing Embry and Quil goofing off while waiting for their ride. "I can't today. I promised to help get the guys ready for their test on Friday."
"Tutoring on your own time? That's really admirable. I'll be sure to add that to your evaluation when the time comes," he smirked, subtly reminding me that I needed said evaluation to pass. And I still had four weeks to go.
"Well I just figured they could use the help," I explained as we wove through the parked cars on our way to my Explorer. "Your tests are known for being pretty difficult."
"I guess my reputation precedes me," he joked, revealing a simple in his cheek that I hadn't noticed before.
I turned to face him now as we stood at the back of my red SUV. "I agreed to what you wanted, but you have to keep up your end of the bargain, too...regarding Paul?" I reminded him.
"Of course," he smiled sweetly, reaching for my face and brushing his thumb over my cheek. He raised his head and furrowed his brow in concern. "What's wrong with your car?"
I swung around the corner and glanced toward the hood, noticing it was up. "What the hell?"
Jake popped his head around the corner with a tiny smudge of grease under his left eye. "Hey, Rach."
"What happened?" I groaned.
Jacob chuckled as he wiped more grease off his fingers with an old rag he produced from his back pocket. "Don't freak out. I just noticed a small leak and I wanted to check it out," Jacob replied smoothly, looking crazy with no coat and no obvious aversion to the icy temps. "We thought we would be done before you got out."
"We?"
Paul sauntered out from under the hood and I was already feeling the effects of my guilty conscience. "Hey," he replied simply, his voice leaving me sighing.
