Page 42 of Sinful as They Come
“It’s totally fine.” I waved a hand at him. “Don’t feel bad. I can do it.” That was another extra article I’d have to write, but my team wasn’t giving me much of a choice. “You focus on your assignments.”
“I’ll make it up to you.” Danny held his hands together. “Thank you, Holly. I promise it won’t be like this for the next issue!”
Danny disappeared in the direction of the library. He was probably going to use our small lunch break to get some of that work done. Good luck to him. I considered following him and working on the extra stuff I had to do, but I had been missing Carter all morning and just wanted to see his face.
Annie cleared her throat. “Okay, I feel like they have mono or something. How have they both missed your deadline?”
I cringed. “They don’t have mono.”
“Do you have mono too?” She poked me. “Have you been kissing Danny?”
“No,” I said with a little laugh, but the fact that I’d have so much extra work to do slowly dawned on me.
“If I didn’t have ballet class this afternoon, I’d write you an article about how much my feet are still killing me after all my summer recitals. Sorry I can’t help.”
“You’re already busy enough. Thanks, though. I gotta go, but I’ll call you after school?”
“Mhm. Don’t get mono!”
“It’s not mono!” I called out. But before I could even get half way down the hall, I was greeted with the blank stare of my opinion piece writer. I had a feeling about what she was gonna say.
“Hey Julie,” I said softly. “You can’t finish your piece for The Chronicle either?”
She winced, shaking her blonde head. “How’d you know?”
“Just had a hunch. I can write it. It’s all good.”
“I’ve been sick since yesterday.” She sighed.
I smiled at her, but I could feel myself panicking on the inside. How was I going to get everything done on time? God, maybe they did all have mono. Maybe the entire writing staff had been hooking up with each other or something. “You don’t have to explain.”
“Thanks, girl.” She grabbed my shoulder. “You know I’m not normally so unreliable.”
My hand rested on hers. “I know. Don’t worry. You do what you have to do.”
She smiled at me, walking away before I could say much else. That waswhen the panic really set in. I hated it when things were late, and I hadneverpublished an issue of The Chronicle late. I worked hard on it, always doing my best to be punctual with deadlines. I knew that Columbia wanted perfection, that being meticulous was a necessity if I wanted to get into my dream school.
My heart rate picked up as I stormed down the hall, attempting to brainstorm as I moved. My eyes landed on Brodie leaning up against his locker, a wide smile on his face as he talked to Sawyer. I normally went out of my way to avoid Sawyer, but he kept showing up in my life the last few weeks. He somehow got even more annoying over the summer.
But I set my eyes on the friendlier cousin.
“Brodie, it’s a disaster,” I said with a pout. I almost collapsed right into him.
“What’s wrong?” Brodie asked with big eyes.
“Please fuck off,” Sawyer said a second later.
I chose to ignore him. I hadn’t forgotten the way he treated me last week at the trailer park. His cruel words still stayed in my head. All I had wanted to do was help, but of course, he had been his usual aggressive self.
“Christy hasn’t written anything for the advice column. Danny hasn’t done any movie recommendations. Sasha hasn’t written her opinion piece…” My eyes shut and I took a step back. Everyone was bailing on me at the last minute. I needed final copies in by the afternoon if I wanted to meet my deadline, and I prided myself on never being late for anything. My fingers rubbed at my temples, wondering if everyone was conspiring against me on purpose. “And I think they all have mono.”
“The school paper has an advice column?” Sawyer snorted.
I had to resist the urge to slap him. When I opened my eyes back up, I just glared at him and his smirking face.
“Everyone’s screwing you over, huh?” Brodie scratched at the back of his head.
“Maybe it’s karma?” suggested Sawyer, his hands stuck in the pockets of his leather jacket. “For, you know, being a huge bitch.”
