First and Goal (Moving the Chains #1) Read Free Page A

about me. Last winter, my life imploded thanks to Eddie Hinton running his mouth. Dating him has to be in the top five of the worst mistakes I’ve ever made.
    “I’m telling you, if you’re gonna get treated like a slut at least get something out of it,” Jess whispers to me as we enter the classroom. “It’s bullshit that everyone thinks you’re loose when you’re still a virgin. And I say if the sexy-as-fuck quarterback, captain of the team, and president of Student Government wants to defend you, you not only let him, but you jump on that hot shit. I would climb him like a tree and ride that fine man ‘til the cows come home.”
    I roll my eyes and move towards a lab bench in the back of the room, well out of the spotlight. It’s obvious she’s just given me his curriculum vitae with the hope of swaying me toward her disturbing point of view.
    Jess sits beside me, but it won’t be for long. “You’ve put Alyssa and I off long enough. It’s time to find you a hot stud and turn you into a real woman already.”
    I can practically see the hamster running on the wheel in her head when she spies the quarterback and his friend sitting together at another lab bench. It fucking figures he’d be in this block with me.
    “You already missed prime man-hunting season over the summer, so let’s focus on the back to school excitement!” She rubs her hands together as she eyes the primary candidate for my deflowering.
    This is just another example of my protests about dating again falling on deaf ears. Ever since the rumors took over my life last year, I feel like I can’t count on anyone. If it’s possible, I trust people even less than I used to. It doesn’t help matters that my two best friends don’t understand my need to not fight back against all the gossip that Eddie spread last year. It’s even worse that they don’t respect my desire to never have anything to do with the male half of the population ever again.
    The last students trickle in and take their seats. When the bell rings, everyone turns their attention to the front of the classroom.
    Our instructor stands, her hands clasped together in front of her portly midsection like the picture of pure innocence. As usual, she looks wired and overly smiley. Her green eyes dance behind her cat-eye glasses as she prepares to systematically destroy then rebuild us in the name of science.
    Rumor has it she worked for the CIA before she became a teacher. Unassuming, friendly appearance masking a sadistic personality? Check. Knowledge of covert torture techniques that supposedly don’t defy the Geneva Convention? Check. We’re just a bunch of sitting ducks at her mercy.
    “Good afternoon, and welcome to senior AP biology! As most of you know, I’m Mrs. Anderson. It is my job to prepare you for college-level life sciences as well as the real world which will be here before you know it! For our first order of business, I am passing out the rules and expectations of the class which you will be expected to read tonight. Sign the appropriate page and return it to me tomorrow. I know you are all expecting me to hand out the infamous question packets, but since I’ve had problems in the past with students dropping the class after the questionnaires were completed, I run things a bit differently now. You all know that you have one week to drop my course if you feel that AP bio is not for you. So this year, we will dive right into the material. Next Monday, we will do the ‘get to know you’ portion of the class after the drop period has expired. We will, however, pick our partners today so that you begin to feel comfortable working with each other.” She claps her hands, clearly excited for this next part.
    “All students sitting on the right side of each lab table, please come up to the desk and choose a name. Ladies will pick from this basket of names. Gentlemen will pick from this basket.” She holds each up as she speaks.
    “Bring your materials with you.