Detention moves like expired honey. Thick, sticky, pointless. I’m tapping my pen against the desk like it’s morse code for “get me out of here,” but the only person receiving the message is myself, and I’m already over
- it.
Chase hasn’t budged from his corner throne–feet up, hood doing that half–mysterious thing, radiating the kind of confidence that
is mortifying but apparently unstoppable.
should be illegal at eighteen. I keep stealing glances like some stalker freshman, whic
No teacher. Just us and the world’s loudest clock, marking time like it’s personally
“You
at angs this wound up, or am I just exceptionally
gifted at making people un
I whip around. “I’m not wound up.”
He doesn’t even bother arguing. Just grins like he’s already I won a bet I didn’t know
“You always this cocky?” I fire back.
“Only when I’m correct.”
we were
by
our existence.
in my
The audacity. I look away before I say something that gets me another detention. He’s not like anyone 1
orbit–doesn’t
perform for attention, just commands it like gravity. Makes me feel off–balance and weirdly visible at the same time.
Silence stretches between us, but now it’s different. Electric. Like the air before a storm that might destroy everything or water the garden–you can’t tell which.
號
My brain won’t shut up. Miles and Amber on repeat: her glossy smile, his casual cruelty, everyone laughing like was the evening’s entertainment.
1 can
“You ever want to just… burn it all down?” The words escape
beel
Chase tilts his head. “Depends what we’re torching.”
“Everything. Everyone.”
stop them.
my
humiliation
He leans forward, interest sparking. “What would that look like?”
“Fake dating you.”
The sentence detonates in the space between us. My heart slams against my ribs like it’s trying to escape the scene of the crime. I want to rewind, delete, pretend I’m having an aneurysm instead of a revelation.
Chase blinks. Slow. Deliberate. “Come again?”
“You heard me.”
“You want to fake date ine.” He says it like
I nod, cheeks blazing. “To mess with them.”
reading ingredients off a particularly suspicious energy drink.
He studies me like I’m a social experiment gone rogue. “That’s unhinged.”
“It’s genius.”
“It’s both.” He laughs–not mean, just surprised. actually serious.”
Miles?” I lean forward, momentum building. “He’ll absolutely lose his
“Amber’s been obsessed with you since freshman year. And shit watching me with the one guy who actually makes him feel small.”
“I make him feel small?”
“Please. You know exactly what you do.”
Chase doesn’t deny it. Just smirks like I’ve finally said something interesting.
“I’m done being the good girl,” I continue, word
tumbling out like I’m confessing to a crime. “Done being safe, boring, forgettable. I want chaos. I want revenge. I want them to choke on their own smugness.‘
“Revenge, huh?” He kicks his feet down, sits up straighter. “What’s in it for me?”
“What do you want?”
“Entertainment. And you-” he points at me like I’m
My stomach flips. “This is insane.”
61
e in his case, “-are about to be very
2
My stomach flips. “This is insane.”
“Completely.” He stands, all lázy confidence and dangerous energy. “Which is why it’s perfect.”
grab my bag, hands shaking slightly. “Ground rules?”
“No rules. That’s the entire point.”
We walk toward the door together, and everything feels tilted–the hallway, my heartbeat, the fundamental laws of who I thought Iwas. This isn’t me. I don’t make impulsive decisions with boys who collect detentions like trophies.
But maybe that’s exactly why it feels so right.
At the exit, Chase stops. “You sure about this, Hale? No take–backs once we start the show.”
“I’m terrified.”
His grin spreads slow and wicked. “Even better.”
