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“I see.” It didn’t sound like he saw at all.

“I’ve had problems getting my interview questions from my partner,” I added. I felt a twinge of guilt in my gut as I threw Teagan under the bus. The words had rushed out in a moment of panic, and I was sure I’d come to regret them later, but it was the truth. She couldn’t stand being around me, and it had been impossible to sit down with her and get her to answer a few silly questions.

“Miss York has managed to write a biography with the answers you provided,” Mr. Randall said.

“I find that unlikely seeing as I never provided any,” I muttered. She must have simply checked my IMDb page.

The teacher’s gaze narrowed further. “Are you telling me that neither of you bothered to undertake the interview?”

Crap. I’d really screwed Teagan now. It wasn’t just a bus I’d thrown her under but a semi-trailer too. “Well, we tried…”

“But?”

“But we never got to the part where either of us answered any questions.”

The teacher’s head looked like it was about to explode. His face had turned an unnatural shade of red, and I was concerned about how much oxygen was getting to his brain. It couldn’t be healthy.

His hands clenched onto fists as they rested on the table. “You and Miss York will both complete your interviews properly and submit your completed assignments on Monday when they are due.”

“But it’s the weekend.”

“Yes, and this is school. If you want to pass this subject, Mr. Black, there will be no weekend for you this week.”

“But…”

Mr. Randall interrupted before I could object again. “You will complete this assignment, or I will have to have a talk to the principal about your placement here at Lincoln.”

I swore under my breath, earning yet another reproachful look from the teacher. I couldn’t afford to be kicked out of the school. Not when it was part of my contract forUnder the Bleachers.If I didn’t complete my time here, I might lose my role in the movie.

“Fine, I’ll get it done.”

“See that you do.”

I left the room, at a loss for words. Not only had I failed to get out of the assignment, but I’d also got Teagan in trouble too. It sounded like the teacher had already seen her work, so I was guessing she’d handed the assignment in already. It wasn’t all that surprising. The girl was Little Miss Perfect after all.

I didn’t manage to catch Teagan before school finished for the day, so I drove straight to her house. Her street wasn’t all that far from my own place, and I navigated almost on autopilot, my mind whirring as I considered what I would say when I rocked up at her front door unannounced.

I parked my car directly in front of her house. The place was just as I recalled it: a large, rambling mansion with a garden that was growing out of control. It looked so out of place amongst the perfect houses that lined the street, and for the first time, I wondered why it was in such a state of disrepair. Surely, if you could afford a house like this, you could afford to maintain it?

I shrugged the question off as I prepared to face Teagan. She wasn’t going to be thrilled about me showing up at her place without warning. She was going to be even more unhappy with me when I told her about my conversation with our English teacher. I couldn’t put this off forever though. Thanks to me, we only had this weekend to get our respective assignments done.

Walking up to her front door, I felt a wave of uncertainty rush through me. The garden had looked overgrown from the street, but as I walked down the pathway, I began to see the extent of the disrepair. The grass lawn reached my knees and thick bushes of thorny vines crawled up the side of the house. If I hadn’t seen Teagan walk through the front door before, I would have thought the place was abandoned.

I braced myself as I knocked on the front door, uncertain as to what I would find. I stood there for several long moments, waiting for someone to answer the door, but no one came. I knocked again, refusing to be deterred.

“Teagan, are you home?” I called out.

The door burst open, and I was met by Teagan’s wide eyes. They quickly narrowed into a scowl when she saw me. “Liam?”

“Yes, that is my name.”

She shook her head and glanced over her shoulder before quickly stepping outside. I tried to look past her and into the house, but the door was closed again before I could see anything.

“What are you doing here?” Her eyes were darting all over the place, and I could distinctly sense her unease.

I decided to get right to it. “The English assignment is due on Monday. We need to do our interview for real.”

She rolled her eyes, and her shoulders relaxed a little. “That’s what you want?”