If I can’t perform in the rest of my classes then it won’t matter how well I do in painting – I’ll be asked to leave Trinity Prep.
“What did you do?” My hands are on the edge of my laptop, but it’s slick with coffee and they keep slipping as I try to pull it out from my bag. “Quinn, what the hell did you do?”
“Oops.” He drops his cup next to my bag. It bounces on the floor next to me, but I ignore it. Finally, I pull my laptop out of my backpack and I open it, frantically pressing buttons to try to bring it to life.
There’s coffee pooling between the keys on the keyboard and dripping from the battery compartment. No matter how many keys I jab or what kind of prayer I whisper, it doesn’t turn on.
Quinn drops down to his knees next to me and takes my laptop from me. He presses the on/off button a few times before grunting to himself and slamming it shut, dropping it back in my bag. There’s the sound of it hitting wet fabric and my stomach sinks.
“I’m just so damn clumsy in the morning, you know? Sucks, Abigail. I hope that you had a backup copy of your accounting project to show Professor Thiel, because I heard that he can be quite the hardass when students fuck up.”
“I hate you.” Even though he’s so close to me that I could lean out and kiss him, I can’t make myself look at him. I don’t want him anywhere near me. I don’t want to look at his face and search it for compassion, because I’m pretty damn sure that I’m not going to find any.
He did this to me on purpose, and his voice tells me that he’s enjoying it.
“Oh, I hope that’s not true. Although, if it is, then hate sex can be quite thrilling. But remember what I told you, Abigail, I’m going to make you beg for it the first time.” He reaches out and brushes my hair back from my cheek. Tears spring to the corners of my eyes and I ignore him.
I hate him.
I can’t like the way it feels when he touches me.
He just destroyed my laptop and my accounting project.
When I don’t answer, he stands up, clicking his tongue at me. “Looks like you have quite the mess to clean up, Abigail. The staff at Trinity Prep will do most anything for the students, but when you make a big mess like this then they expect you to take care of it on your own.
Before I can say anything to him, he walks away. He’d crouched in the puddle of coffee when talking to me, and he leaves footprints halfway across the cafeteria. Slowly, the people around me start talking again.
They were all quiet when I was dealing with Quinn.
Nobody wanted to miss a thing.
Madeline leans over, her face pale. “I’ll get some towels, Abs. Just hang on.”
But by the time she gets back with the towels, I’m halfway down the hall to see Professor Thiel. My bag is dripping coffee as I walk, but I honestly don’t give a shit. I came here to learn from the best and to snag the internship of my dreams.
Who cares about coffee dripping in the hall?
I burst into my first period classroom and come face to face with Quinn. He’s holding the door for me and grinning like he expected me to come. Professor Thiel is sitting in his usual spot at his desk, a bored look on his face.
“Oh, Abigail, good, come on in. Quinn here was just telling me about the most unfortunate accident in the cafeteria. Let’s talk about it.”
“It wasn’t an accident.” Pushing Quinn out of the way, I stalk past him to Professor Thiel and hold up my still dripping bag. “Quinn poured his coffee on my bag on purpose. He knew that my laptop was in there and did it to sabotage my accounting project.”
For a moment, nobody in the room breathes, and I feel a surge of triumph. I’ve got Quinn where I want him and this is going to be the thing that makes him back off and leave me alone. Before I can celebrate for too long, though, Professor Thiel slowly shakes his head.
“Quinn already told me about the accident, and he told me that you were irrationally upset. I’m really sorry that this happened, but you should have had your project backed up somewhere else. Accidents happen so quickly, Abigail, and you have to be prepared to make sure that you can deal with them.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.” Professor Thiel’s face darkens and I add, “Sir.”
“You think this is a joke? Quinn already told me that you went wild in the cafeteria, blaming him for the accident. This is no joke, Abigail. We have very high standards for our students at Trinity Prep, and you need to make sure that you can meet them.
My head suddenly feels very light and swimmy and I reach out for a desk for support. This has got to be some sort of a joke, right? Panicked, I look between the two of them, but neither of them smile.
“So, you think that this was an accident and that it’s somehow my fault?” I have to get the facts straight.
Quinn steps forward. “I already told you that I was sorry, Abigail, and I told you that I’d help you work on the project again. I don’t know what else you want from me.”
“You did nothing of the sort!” Whipping around to face him, I wave my dripping bag in his face. “You just…laughed! And then walked off after telling me to get towels and clean it up.”
Movement from the corner of my eye makes me turn to Professor Thiel. He has his hands planted
