Page 2 of Spin The Bottle
“Leila. I see you don’t value my time,” Professor Wilson says, making the spotlight on me even brighter.
I swallow, blink, and slip my mask back on, squaring my shoulders and give him a smile. “Sorry, sir. Won’t happen again.”
“Doubt that,” a low voice says to my right. My eyes drop, seeing Jordan Wright sitting at the table closest to the door. He doesn’t look my way, though. He never does.
The one and only person I can stand in this class, Mia—who happens to be sitting near him—shoots me a smile and calls me over. I take a seat next to her, placing my bag on the floor.
“Where were you?” she whispers, nudging me on the shoulder when the professor turns back around.
“Forgot to set my alarm,” I offer with a shrug.
With a smile on her lips, she shakes her head, probably knowing there’s more to the story. She’d be right.
“Having a great product isn’t always the end result,” Professor Wilson drones on, making my eyes glaze over. “Marketing is the main focal point of any business. You could have the best product in the world, but no one would know if you didn’t market it.”
Yeah, I’ve heard it all before. It would be easier to figure out what exactly I preferred over business, but therein lies the problem. I don’t know what I want. I’ve always admired my dad running a business. It seemed so cool when I was younger, but then my mom got me into modeling, and that became my life.
She stopped pushing me into modeling once I had gone through puberty and gained a lot of extra pounds that made me inadequate for the modeling she wanted. Modeling was fun and I loved dressing up and posing for the camera; so I didn’t give up. I found a plus-size modeling agency and haven’t looked back since.
But by then, my mom had already made up that I wouldn’t go anywhere if I didn’t lose weight, so she pushed a college degree on me. I didn’t mind it, I could do both, but the problem was, I didn’t know what I wanted to do once I got here, so I settled on something I already had knowledge of. Business. Too bad it’s a bore.
“The papers on the end of the table have the assignment on them,” Professor Wilson says. Mia reaches for the papers on her end, handing one to me and Jordan. She hands one to the guy sitting next to her, Toby… something. She tucks her straight hair behind her ear, smiling at him when she hands him the assignment. Hm, little Mia has a crush.
“New boyfriend?” I tease, dropping my voice so only she hears.
She glances up at me. “It’s nothing.”
I shrug. “I could smell the sexual tension from here.”
She shushes me, a small laugh escaping her while she stuffs the assignment in her bag.
When the door opens, everyone’s head turns to the noise.
Aiden Pierce.
Redfield’s basketball captain.
I grew up watching basketball. Every Sunday, when my dad was home, we’d sit on the couch and watch the game while he snuck me some alfajores from his food truck. My mom would have slapped me on the back of my head if she caught me eating them.
And when I came here, the tradition still stood. Even though I couldn’t be with my dad on Sundays, I would still attend every basketball game I could, which means I’ve watched Aiden play. A lot.
And as much as I don’t like admitting it, he’s good, like really fucking good. It could be an advantage because the guy is as tall as hell, but it’s not; he has skill. I can appreciate that.
But what I’m not a fan of? How everyone treats him like he’s a God around here. Girls fall at his feet, fanning themselves whenever he’s near, and he eats it up; of course he does. A guy like that can get any girl he wants with a snap of his finger.
“Aiden,” Professor Wilson sighs. “Class started thirty minutes ago.”
“Sorry, sir,” he says with a shrug. “I had early practice this morning. It ran over.”
Professor Wilson sighs again and turns back around.
Add that to the list of things I’m not particularly fond of.
He gets special treatment.
“We’ve already assigned assignments,” Professor Wilson says. “Grab one from the table closest to you.”
Which would make it mine.
