Page 31 of Broken by my Bully

He swings?—?

Whoa. The maelstrom of inappropriate thoughts swirling through my head right now has reached T11 levels.

Wait. She knows what I’minto?

Is Melissa high or something?

I shake my head, and catch Kai staring at me as I sling my tote bag’s strap over my shoulder. I tense, waiting for him to pounce. But he just studies me with this vague, considering look on his face as he taps a pen against his jaw.

Whatever the hell he’s plotting, it won’t work.

Just like the bruises he left on my wrist and arms, my fear of him has melted away.

He can grab me and push me around, but that won’t change a thing.

I’ve sacrificed too much to be here. The Social Change grant was a lifeline thrown into the shark-infested waters I was drowning in, and just in time, too.

I came to AHC prepared for the worst.

Okay, Kai threw me off my game for a day or so, but I’m back, and I can handle anything coming my?—

“So, Miss Lee…who are you, exactly?”

My head snaps to face Professor Rooke. A few of the students streaming past glance our way, but most are more intent on getting to their next lesson.

He glances over his shoulder at the painting.

Oh,that’swhat he meant.

No, wait. I don’t get it.

“Are you the imposter, or the counterfeiter?” he adds, completely failing to clear things up.

“Huh?”

The last of the students clear out, leaving just the three of us behind. Kai seems determined not to go anywhere, and my stomach is already tightening into a knot at the thought that Rooke might walk out and leave us alone. But I can’t just walk away without answering him when it’s obvious my professor wants to talk.

Rooke’s brown eyes dart to my mouth, then over to where Kai’s sitting watching us. “You two have been glaring at each other the whole morning. Should I get my paints ready, in case you decide to tackle each other?”

I laugh, but cut the sound short when Professor Rooke’s eyebrows lift.

“We have…uh…history.” Because what the fuck else can I say?

We used to play fucked up games in the woods until one of us bled?

That he was the only person who ever made me feel like I belonged somewhere?

That Kai wasn’t done playing with me when I left, and now he’s made it his life’s mission to fuck with me until I leave?

“Childhood friends?” Professor Rooke’s tone is casual, but his eyes are sharp, like he’s cataloging every movement I make.

I shrug. “Childhood, yes. Friends, no.” It was always more than that. Still is, I guess, just on the complete other side of the fucking spectrum.

My teacher misses nothing. Which makes sense, because I guess he studied this kind of stuff.

“The most intense hatreds often spring from the deepest affections.”

“You don’t say.”