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I turned, my eyes wide and my jaw slack. I couldnotbelieve what was happening. Damian was a sociopath. Was there even asingleredeemable quality? Did I even care? The bad qualitiesmorethan made up for any good hiding in that cold, black heart.
He sat, leaning back in his chair with his arms up, hands clasped behind his head. He looked completely relaxed. How the hell could someone be so casual and relaxed while destroying someone’s reputation?
“No, I beg to differ. Everyonedoesn’tknow. They think something happened that didn’t,” I snapped.
“Well, maybe you should stop telling people it did, then,” he said. “Word travels fast around here.”
I gasped. “Excuseme? I didnosuch thing.”
“Do you want to keep yelling across the room like this? Or do you want to come back here and have a discussion? Because I gotta be honest… I can do this all day.”
The class stared at us, their heads swiveling back and forth between us as they obsessed over the juicy gossip-inducing drama taking place before their eyes. The only thing they were missing was popcorn. Everyone was dead silent.
As I stared at him, his eyes narrowed, daring me to argue. Deep down, I knew he was right. He absolutelycoulddo this all day, and he wouldn’t stop.
I sighed.
Then I groaned.
Then I grabbed my shit and headed to the back of the room.
“No one sits in this back row unless they have to,” Damian barked.
The two students who sat there jumped up to move farther up front, and I shook my head. He ordered me around like a dog, but the truth was he was just a sheep dog herding sheep.
I hung my backpack off the back of my chair and flopped down in the seat.
“What the fuck do you want, Damian?” I asked.
“Tochat,” he said, emphasizing the word.
“What makes you think I want tochatwith you?”
He smiled. “Oh, believe me when I say, youdefinitelywant to chat with me.”
I huffed and leaned back in my seat, crossing my arms over my chest. “Fine. Talk.”
“How are you enjoying your first day here at Crestview?” he asked.
My head slowly rotated in his direction as I stared him down with an expressionless mask. “What?” His brows lifted as his head tilted, waiting for an answer. “Did you really just ask me that?”
“Mmhmm. I did. It’s actually averyimportant question.”
My face scrunched up. “I’ve met some complicated people in my eighteen years of life, but you areby farthe worst.” He quietly studied my face again, waiting. “Seriously? I can’t tell if you’re that fucking stupid or if this is the start of some twisted conversation.” He nodded, and I rolled my eyes again. I started to feel like Harper. “It’s beengreat. That’s sarcasm, in case your last two remaining brain cells couldn’t rub together fast enough to understand that.”
He smiled. There was amusement in it, but there was definitely something else, too. “That was good. Really good.” Taking a deep breath, he sighed loudly. “Then I don’t have to explain to you just howgreatthings can be around here, do I?”
I snorted. “Yeah, no, I think I got it. You’ve been a real fucking delight. So has everyone else. My favorite part of the day was getting punched in the face byLegally BlondeJango Fett and getting a migraine because of a rumoryoustarted and then blamed on me.”
A genuine smile bloomed, and I hated how sexy he was when he smiled for real. “Cute. Jango Fett… because—”
I nodded. “Of all of her clones running around, yeah.”
He nodded also. “Funny. You’re witty as hell. I like you.” His expression fell. “However, I just realized something terrible for you.”
Confusion gripped me, and it reflected in my expression. “Realized what?”
He put his arms down and turned fully in his chair to face me. “You don’t understand at all.” I opened my mouth to ask what he meant, but he stopped me before I could. “Today was easy. Today was me beinggentle.Foreplay, if you will. I wanted you to see what could be done with absolutely no effort at all. Just thetiniestbit of time.”