Veiled Innocence Read Free Page B

standing out here to Principal Thomas.”
    “And what do you think he is going to do?” I asked, genuinely curious.
    He really didn’t know how this school ran yet, poor delusional man . I could clearly see just how agitated he was. It was all in his eyes. I daringly stepped closer to him.
    “You don’t know it yet,” I said, deciding to enlighten him. “But you will soon enough. I’m his star. I make this school when I step out onto the track, and he won’t do anything to jeopardize that.”
    I’d never been hunted before, usually I liked the chase, but when Mr. McKendrick leaned down and his eyes narrowed, I felt the adrenaline course through me. Instinctively, I stood my ground, all but daring him to attack.
    “I don’t care who you are, young lady. If you turn up late again, I will make sure you are held accountable. Understand? Now get inside, sit down and open your book, and try to remember that you are the student.”
    Moving around him, I caught the scent of his cologne. He smelled just the way I imagined hot sex should smell, and I knew that if I stood there long enough, my panties would do nothing to contain the wetness between my thighs. I paused just before opening the door and ran my gaze down his body a final time.
    “I will, when you start to resemble a teacher. Oh, and by the way, sir . I like what you’re wearing, just in case you wanted to know.”
     
    * * *
     
    I silently followed Addison back into the classroom and noticed finger marks on her shoulder as her bag fell. She quickly shrugged the jacket back into place and went to take her seat. As she aimed her eyes my way, I knew I was in big fucking trouble. The expression in them was definitely not that of a student facing her teacher.
    Brandon stretched across the aisle to whisper something in her ear, and as I studied them together, her focus never wavered from me.  His lips brushed so close to her hair that I caught a strand of it move with his breath, and I couldn’t seem to turn away.
    Imagining instead, the unthinkable—me in Brandon’s place.
    I tried to convince myself that my interest in her was nothing more than annoyance, but after the conversation in the hall, I had to reevaluate my own judgment.
    Why was I allowing her to get under my skin? And what did she mean about me not dressing like a teacher? Maybe I needed to change something, present a different front?
    Or maybe , I needed to stop letting her play me because that was what she was doing…or trying to do. Play me like a fucking game.
    A very dangerous game.
     
    * * *
     
    Present…
     
    Memories are the only thing keeping me sane.
    It’s surprising how one specific memory is what will make you fight to come out alive. It’s what makes you dare to push your way through the darkness, searching for any tiny shard of light.
    My darkness comes when you would expect it to…at night.
    It’s much more than the night closing in. It’s the pill I’m given, the way my light is switched off for me and the way I’m told when to get some rest. They might as well say lights out like they do in prison because that’s what this place is like.
    Rest is something that eludes me because even in my dreams, peace is nowhere to be found. It’s as elusive as it has always been, except for when… no . It’s best not to even think it.
    Sitting up in bed, I wrap my arms around my knees and tap out a calming beat— one, two, three —as a tiny slither of light slips through the crack of my door. It’s illuminating a black-and-white picture taped to the wall.
    Psyche Revived by Cupid’s Kiss.
    I reach out and trace my finger along the woman lying back in Cupid’s embrace, and I can hear and see him just as clearly as if he’s in the room with me…
     
    “Sometimes curiosity should stay just that,” he advised as he pushed his chair away from the desk.
    “Should it?”
    Standing slowly, he made his way behind me, and my entire body shivered with anticipation.
    “Yes.