The phone vibrated in my hand. Good thing it was already set on silent or I’d be having it confiscated the first day I had it.
Very funny. Love you.
I started texting him back when Shannon blurted out, “Mr. Ryan, Samantha is texting in class.”
Technically class hadn’t started yet, but I glared at her instead of pointing that out.
Mr. Ryan stopped writing on the board and looked at me. “Ms. Smith, is that true?”
“Sorry. It was my mom. I told her class was starting, and I had to put my phone away.”
“Thank you,” Mr. Ryan said. He turned around and finished writing on the board.
I stuck my tongue out at Shannon. It was stupid and completely immature, but I didn’t care. Let her tattle on me for that, too.
Mr. Ryan clapped his hands together. “All right, so The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde—your thoughts from the weekend’s reading.”
All the girls in the front row shot their hands in the air so quickly I felt a breeze in the back of the room. Suck-ups. I’d never finished the reading, but since I was practically living the story, I figured I could bluff my way through any questions if Mr. Ryan called on me. Luckily, he didn’t. He had his hands full with all the questions the annoying slutty girls had prepared.
One of the guys sitting by me pretended to gag. “My sister actually spends time coming up with questions to get Mr. Ryan to say words like ‘love’ and ‘beautiful.’”
“Really? Why?” I asked, finding it a little strange that he’d even tell me this.
“She wrote in her diary that she pretends he’s saying those words to her. Ridiculous, right?”
“Totally.” I nodded and realized he was talking about one of the girls in this class. He was a twin. “Which one’s your sister?”
“Shannon, but don’t let that get around. She pretends to be an only child. She tells everyone we have the same last name because we’re cousins.”
“Wow, she’s a bigger bitch than I thought she was.” I blurted it out before I realized I was talking to her brother. “Sorry, I mean—”
“No, you got it right. My sister’s a bitch.”
“What’s your name?”
“Tristan. That’s another reason why she tells people I’m her cousin. She hates my name.”
“I like it. It’s different.”
Shannon turned around and glared at me. She’d caught us talking, and even if she didn’t admit to being Tristan’s sister, she definitely didn’t want me talking to her brother.
I was considering what nasty gesture I wanted to give her in return for the glare when my cell phone vibrated in my bag. It was louder than I thought it would be. I discreetly reached for it, pretending to look for a pen. A new text was on the screen.
Attack another witch and you’ll wind up back in your grave.
CHAPTER TWENTY
I CHECKED to see who the message was from, but the number was blocked. I’d just gotten this phone. No one had the number except Ethan. Yet I knew who the text was from. Dylan. He’d found Rebecca’s body, and he knew I was the one responsible for her death.
I felt sick to my stomach, and I needed some air. I raised my hand, but it was lost in a sea of hands. Damn those girls and their attempts to impress the hot teacher.
“Mr. Ryan,” I said, not caring about calling out or speaking out of turn.
“Yes, Ms. Smith.” He motioned for the other girls to lower their hands.
“I’m not feeling very good. May I use the restroom, please?”
“Absolutely.” He wrote me a pass, and I took my bag with me.
“Thank you,” I said, taking the pass.
“I hope you feel better.” Mr. Ryan gave me a sympathetic smile, which elicited angry glares from the girls in the front row.
I walked quickly out of the room and headed for the girls’ bathroom. I ducked into the first stall and took out my phone.
Should I text him back or ignore it? If I didn’t answer, maybe he’d think he had the wrong number.
The phone vibrated again, and I jumped. My heart pounded.
Bathroom break. Meet me by the boys’ bathroom in the English wing.
Ethan. I sighed, relieved it was him.
Make it the girls’ bathroom. Already here. I texted back.
I put the phone away and stepped out of the stall. A head peeked into the bathroom.
“Come in,” I whispered. “No one else is in here.”
He rushed inside and scooped me into his arms. I giggled, and he put his finger to his lips. “Shh.” He pulled me into the handicapped stall and locked us inside.
I reached up on my toes and kissed him. This was what I’d missed out on all those months I couldn’t go to school because the cancer had me bedridden. This was what it was supposed to be like in high school, sneaking visits in the bathroom with your boyfriend.
We kissed until I was out of breath. I pulled away, needing some air. “This was a nice surprise.”
“Yeah, well, history was boring.”
I raised an eyebrow at him. “You love history.”
“Okay, I missed you. We went to bed angry last night, and I didn’t get to spend any time with you.”
“Sam withdrawal.” I nodded. “That’s a serious condition.”
“I know.” He gave me a devilish grin and kissed me again.
My cell phone vibrated in my bag, making a metallic rattling sound against the stall door.
“What was that?” Ethan asked.
“Um, I think I hit the volume button on the side of the phone. I must have leaned on it. It happened in class, too. Almost got in trouble for it.”
Ethan leaned in to kiss me again, accepting my lie, but then the bell rang.
“Oh, crap!” he said. “How am I going to explain this? The halls are going to be crowded. I’ll never get out of here without someone seeing me.”
“Go, go, go!” I opened the stall door and pushed him out.
“Well, look at this,” Shannon said.
Ethan and I froze. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to keep from exploding. Why did it have to be her?
“I’m sure Mr. Ryan will be interested to hear your stomachache is gone.”
“What do you want, Shannon?” I narrowed my eyes at her.
“I want you out of this school, but since I doubt that will happen, I’ll settle for out of Mr. Ryan’s class.”
“Why?” Ethan asked.
“Because for some reason, he likes her.”
He turned toward me. “You said he didn’t like you like that.”
“He doesn’t,” I shrieked. “He’s a teacher. That’s totally disgusting.”
“He’s hot, and you know it,” Shannon said.
“No, I don’t.” I looped my arm through Ethan’s, not even caring that we were in the girls’ bathroom together anymore. “Come on. We’re going to be late for our next class.”
Ethan came with me, but I could tell he wasn’t finished with the Mr. Ryan subject.
“We’re not done here,” Shannon yelled after us.
I didn’t even acknowledge her.
“Are you sure there’s nothing else to this thing with Mr. Ryan?” Ethan asked as we walked to Sculpture.
“Yes, I’m sure. It’s just Shannon’s overactive imagination. You should hear what her brother told me about her.”
“I didn’t know she had a brother.”
“A twin actually, but she tells everyone they’re cousins.”
“Why am I not surprised?”
“She’s a peach.”
Ethan laughed. “You know your grandmother is the only one who ever used that expression.”
My grandmother used to call me a peach all the time. “Actually, Gloria says it, too, and I like it.” Of course when I’d called Shannon a peach, I was being sarcastic.