Page 265 of Small Town Firsts

No wonder Sterling was so easily able to pull the wool over my eyes; I may as well have my head in the damn clouds.

“I take it class was bad?”

I groan. “More than bad. It was awful.”

Stella shoots me a sympathetic glance. “Let’s get some food and you can tell me all about it.”

“Please tell me you want pizza,” I plead, fully prepared to stand in line alone if need be.

“Babe, I always want pizza.”

“Good, because I need it.Need. It.”

“Then you shall have it.” She links her arm with mine and steers us toward the entrance.

Inside, various tantalizing scents greet us, but I only have one thing on my mind.

Dough, sauce, cheese. Dough, sauce, stabbing Sterling in the face, cheese.

Okay, so more than one thing.

“So, you want to tell me what happened?” Stella asks softly, gauging my reaction.

“Well, I’m ninety-nine percent sure I just failed our first quiz.” I grab two slices of my beloved pizza. “And I’m one-hundred percent certain he set me up to do it.”

“Set you up how?”

“Remember last week when my syllabus changed?”

Realization dawns in her eyes. “That rat!”

“Yup. He’s vile.”

She nods. “All the pretty boys are.”

“Pretty boys like Samson?” I ask, hoping today’s the day she finally spills her guts. God knows I could use the distraction.

“Nice subject change, Emmy. Real subtle.”

“Whatever.” I roll my eyes as I swipe my card and key in my PIN.

An angry beep sounds, causing my cheeks to burn. “Oops. Must have hit a wrong number.”

The guy behind the kiosk rolls his eyes as I re-enter my code, making sure to press the correct keys this time, but the results are the same.

“Are you sure you’re entering it correctly?” he asks, sounding beyond bored.

“Positive.” I glance back at the growing line behind me. “Could you... um... enter it manually?”

“Sure.”

I pass him the card and he keys it in on his side. Whatever he sees on his side has his brow furrowing. “Your account is locked.”

“Locked? What? Why?” Uneasiness snakes its way through me.

“I don’t know. Just says it’s locked by a faculty member.”

“What?” I ask again, more in outrage than in search of an actual answer. Because there’s only one person to blame for this, and he’s already at the top of my shit list.

---