Page 7 of Student Seduction

“You can. You just have to pretend it never happened.”

I scoffed. “Yeah, okay.”

“I’m serious,” he said leaning across the table. “Pretend he’s just some new teacher and you’ve never seen him before. Sit in the back, keep your head down, and ignore him as much as possible. It’s only one semester. You can do this.”

“You really think that’s possible?”

He nodded. “I know it is.”

There was something deeper behind his confidence, but I could only come up with two possibilities. Either the guy Drew had hooked up with a summer camp was at our school or his attacker was. Whoever it was, he’d resolved not to acknowledge them.

If Drew could do it, maybe I could too.

By the time we left The Nook, I’d checked in on my mom and calmed down a little.

On the drive back to school, we hashed out the specifics.

I’d avoid “Mr. Singleton” as much as possible. I’d get to class on time, sit in the back, and not provoke his attention in any way this semester. After Christmas break, I’d switch from U.S. History and Government with him to Economics with Mrs. Eisenhower anyway. She was seventy and probably wouldn’t notice if I was late every day.

It was a solid plan.

Until lunch, when I walked into the overcrowded cafeteria and realized the “go fuck yourself” heard ‘round the world was all anyone was talking about. That and the fact that most of the senior girls were trying to figure out how to get Mr. Singleton to actually fuck them.

I was just about to ask Drew if he wanted to ditch lunch and listen to music in my car when the announcement sounded overhead.

“Emersyn Tyler, please report to the principal’s office. Emersyn Tyler, report to the principal’s office. Immediately.”

If my life were a sitcom, a collective oooh would’ve sounded across the cafeteria as if they’d rehearsed it. But it was real life so hardly anyone looked up from their food or their phone.

Drew gave me a hopeful nudge. “It’ll be fine, Em. Have a little faith.”

Yeah, I had faith. Faith that the universe was always out to screw me.

My mom’s words played in my head.

Tomorrow will be better.

It sure as hell couldn’t be worse.