Tous les chapitres de : Chapitre 41 - Chapitre 50

Lydia's POVI walked past the double doors of the cafeteria as if they weren't there. I kept my head and held on to my books for dear life. My stomach was too knotted up to even think about food. Anytime I blink, I only saw Principal Beatrice's face, heard her voice as she muttered: "Inappropriate behavior."And Derek's note too."I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you."I had no clue what that meant. Is he going to confess? Is he going to leave? Is he going to do something that would make the whole thing worse?I went down the corridor along the back of the school and into the vacant music room—no one use it these days because the program had been removed from the school's extracurriculars. It was dusty and the scent of dry chalk hung in the air. But it's quiet and safe. Just what I wanted.I unzipped my bag on the nearest desk and took out the note from my pocket.I read it repeatedly."I'll make things right."How? By turning himself in? By pretending like we never met? By walking a

Derek's POVI leaned against the door of the classroom.The five-word note said it all.We need to talk. Now.I knew she wouldappear. Emily Spencer craved power. She wouldn't miss the chance to trap me alone. She loved being feared. Being desired.She had no idea that I wasn't intimidated by her anymore.The door creaked open exactly ten minutes later and the clicking of her shoes filled the room before she had even spoken."You couldn't wait until after school hour?" she demanded, sweeping her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Or were you too desperate to see me alone?"She wore lip gloss that reflected the fluorescent light. A pleated skirt and an impossibly tight sweater that was way too revealing to serve as school uniform."Sit," I told her roughly.She raised an eyebrow. "Bossy. I love it.""Emily, sit down,"She glared at me, chuckling as her eyes scanned me. She finally sank into the chair across from me. Her leg dangled over the other slowly, in deliberate action."Let me guess

"Hi," she said softly, and she walked toward me with slow, measured steps. "Emily." I stayed behind my desk, using it as a barrier between us. "We need to talk about what's been happening." "I know exactly what's been happening, Derek." Saying my first name out loud had been deliberate, a testing of boundaries. "You've been confused. Torn between what you think you should do, and what you actually want." "That's not..." "Let me finish." She lifted a hand. "I get it. Lydia's your student, I'm your student, it's all so complicated and wrong. Society has all these rules about age and power dynamics and whatever." She waved dismissively. "But we both know rules are just... suggestions. Especially when there's real connection." She was close now, close enough that I could smell her expensive perfume, something like floral and it's very overwhelming. "Emily, what happened with Lydia..." "Was a mistake," she finished for me. "I know... You were lonely, she was convenient, she threw he

He is wrong because sometimes, losing was worth it if the other person lost too.I swiped back into my photo gallery, into the album of Derek and Lydia, the ones I'd been collecting since first noticing them eyeing each other a little too long in class.Him touching her shoulder.Her blushing when he called on her.Him staying after class to talk to her.her looking at him like he hung the goddamn moon.The same way I'd looked at him for two years.I'd seen it first: that day in the hall when he smiled at one of her answers, really smiled, with warmth in his eyes. The way he never smiled at me, no matter what I did.That's when I knew.She was taking what was mine.My thumb moved to the delete button. He wanted me to delete them? Fine. I'd delete them.But not before I backed them up somewhere he couldn't find. Somewhere safe.I opened my laptop-always in my car because I did homew

The question fell like a physical blow. Had I? Or had I been so desperate for someone to see me, want me, and make me feel special that I'd convinced myself it was love?"I don't know," I admitted. "Maybe. Or maybe I just loved feeling important to someone.""And him? Does he love you?""He says he cares about me. He's trying to protect me from Emily. He." I trailed off, thinking about the note he'd left, about the way he'd looked at me in the hallway that morning. "I think he might. But I also think he knows how wrong this is. How wrong it's always been."Jess took a long drink of her soda, thinking. "So what happens now? Someone stood up to Emily, you said. Does that mean it's over?""I don't know. Derek—Mr. Hales—he confronted her today. I don't know what happened, but he said he was handling it. He wants to talk to me.""Are you going to?Was I? Part of me wanted to run to him, to hear what happened, to let him hold