Total pages in book: 9
Estimated words: 7999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 7999 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 40(@200wpm)___ 32(@250wpm)___ 27(@300wpm)
His eyes twitch.
CRACK.
Just the tips of his fingers break through my screen.
Fuck it. Now he’s gone and done it.
I punch him in the teeth so hard one of them flies off, and my laptop drops to the floor. But after months of being bothered by this fucker while I’m trying to study, it was fucking worth it to see his face in shambles.
“Fucking bitch!” he growls, trying to punch me back, but I jump off the stool just in time.
The librarian is already screaming at us to stop, and I know she’s called the guards, but I can’t waste time waiting on help that’ll arrive too late.
This fucker deserved that pummel, but he’s bigger than I am, and I’m not risking my own goddamn life to win this fight, so I run off through the doors and out into hallways.
“I’ve got your fucking laptop!” he screams. “Come and get it then, girl!”
He swings it around like a trophy with which he can lure me back to him.
Fuck that guy.
I ram into him with everything I have and manage to tackle him to the ground, punching him with everything I have. He grabs my curly hair and tears at it, spitting in my face, and I shriek from the pain. He grabs my body and rolls me over, slamming me into the wall. I cough and heave from the sudden loss of oxygen in my lungs, but my eyes burst open at the sight of him chucking my own laptop at me.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Johnny says, spitting on the floor.
Suddenly, two guards jump on top of him and force him to the ground in front of me, while he screams at the top of his lungs, and it almost makes me want to give him another kick just for good measures.
Bystanders are just staring at him instead of helping me, until someone in a suit barges through the crowd and marches straight at me. The dean … Mr. Rivera.
“Miss Pearce, are you all right?” He holds out his hand, but for a second I’m mesmerized by those hauntingly dark eyes boring a hole into my face. Too obsessed to even move.
His eyes twitch as his fingers touch mine, and he briefly retracts them before he grips my hand firmly and helps me up. I stumble and steady myself, so I don’t crash into him.
What is he doing here?
“I heard the ruckus all the way down the hallway while I was speaking with Mrs. Rayborn.” His eyes briefly skim over my face and body. “Are you hurt?”
I shake my head and pat down my off-the shoulder orange dress, then pluck at my hair to make sure he didn’t rip it out. “I’m fine.” I glance sideways past him at Johnny, whose being held back by the guards. His entire face is covered in blood, and his nose is crooked now. Hopefully permanently. “He isn’t.”
“We’re going go to my office,” the dean says, and he nods at the guards to follow him. “Bring Mr. Brown.”
Under the scrutinizing eyes of my peers, I pick up my broken laptop and tuck it under my arm, as we’re both escorted up the stairs. I feel humiliated and can’t stop throwing side-eyes at Johnny the moment we’re in Mr. Rivera’s office. He’s snorting up blood from his nose and all they did was offer him a single napkin. Hope he drowns in his own blood.
The door slams shut and the guards put Johnny in a chair in the corner while I stay put. I’m not taking one step closer in that lunatic’s direction.
Mr. Rivera leans against his own desk, arms folded. The guards stay in the room, both sporting a stern look on their faces as they stare down Johnny. One wrong move and he’s—
“Mr. Brown. You’re expelled.”
“What?” Johnny shrieks, still dabbing his nose.
My jaw drops.
“You beat up another student in broad daylight.”
“She starte—”
“Fuck you, I didn’t do shit,” I retort, ready to whoop his ass again. “You destroyed my laptop.”
“So what, I’ve only tried to get you to like me, and all you do is throw it back in my face.”
“What don’t you understand about ‘no’?” I repeat, making a face.
“Enough,” Mr. Rivera interjects, rubbing his scruffy, chiseled jaw. “I don’t care about your reasonings, Mr. Brown. You’re not going to stay for another day.”
“That’s bullshi—”
Mr. Rivera steps away from the desk in such a menacing manner that it even steals my breath away as he approaches Johnny. He doesn’t even have to touch him to make him cower in his seat.
“You hurt Miss. Pearce.” His voice darkens. “Apologize.”
I swallow away the lump in my throat.
Mr. Rivera grips his chin and forces his head to turn, and he leans in to whisper, “Apologize.”
I stare into Johnny’s fearful eyes as he mutters, “I’m sorry.”
Mr. Rivera releases his face so harshly it almost makes Johnny fall backwards with chair and all.