I saw the open seat. It was in the front row, but on the opposite side of Tate with a table between us.

The teacher pointed to it and said, “You will be sitting with Miss Hooper for the year. Be nice, Mason. She’s the only one you can talk to for the rest of the year.”

As she was named, my table mate glanced up. I recognized her from other classes, and remembered we had been assigned to work on a different project at the beginning of the year. She hadn’t been excited to deal with me then either, but I hadn’t cared. I hadn’t paid her any attention. I did now, though, considering the circumstances. Then I tensed. Kate was always jealous when I spoke to other girls. I glanced back at her, but she wasn’t paying attention. Then I gritted my teeth. She needed to stop acting like my girlfriend and I needed to stop caring.

As I sat next to her, she scooted her chair back. Her eyes were filled with fear and awe. She was tiny with dark hair that was pulled in a ponytail. I scanned her over, but there wasn’t much to her. When I nodded hello, she jerked her head away and hunched over her notebook.

I frowned. Shit. I knew I was scary, but I didn’t know I was that scary. “Relax. I only screw with people who f**k me over.”

She made a choking sound, but she didn’t look up.

“Don’t f**k me over and we’ll be fine.”

“Mr. Kade,” the teacher glared at me, “I told you to be nice to Marissa.”

“I am. I’m laying the ground rules.” I leaned back in my chair and gestured for him to continue. “You can keep teaching. I won’t interrupt anymore.”

He pinched the top of his nose and looked in pain. Shaking his head as he turned back to the board, he muttered to himself, “I retire in five years. Five years. I have to get through five more years.”

I frowned. I didn’t think I deserved that reaction. My table mate slid a piece of paper to me. She gave me a shy smile and said softly, “He wants us to start working on these.”

I nodded. “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

Her eyes got big again and she retracted her hand as if she’d been burned. The slight smile vanished. Then she jerked her head in a nod. “I know. I…you’re a lot.”

I narrowed my eyes. I knew what she meant, but this wasn’t a girl that I was used to dealing with. Taking the worksheet, I saw she had started on the first question. When I began to fill out the second question, I said to her, “We worked together before. Do you remember that?” She didn’t answer so I added, “You’re not a normal chick, are you?”

“Oh god.” Her cheeks turned red and she closed her eyes for a moment. “Do you know the answer to question three? I couldn’t find that one.”

She was one of those girls that hugged the wall. I saw them in the hallways. They stayed by their locker or their friends’ lockers and never said anything. When I walked by, they watched me, but they never said a word. I had never dealt with one up close and personal. I was used to girls coming onto me. “Do you date?”

“Um.” She was biting her lip and her hands slid from the table to her lap. She grabbed fistfuls of her pants and held onto it. Her head hung down.

“Relax. I’m not asking if you want to date me. I don’t date girls like you.” I didn’t date at all, but she looked ready to pee her pants and sit in it even if it formed a puddle on the floor. “You’re not like other girls I deal with. I’m curious, that’s all.”

She began counting to herself.

What the f**k? She’d been more normal the first time we worked together.

“Mr. Kade.”

I glanced to the teacher. “Yeah?” He was frowning at us.

“Maybe less talking with Miss Hooper. You can hand in the worksheet on your own.”

I shrugged. “Fine with me.” As I opened my textbook, I looked back over at her. She had stopped counting, but a look of relief was evident on her face. We didn’t talk for the rest of the day. After class, the teacher called me to his desk, and I was instructed not to talk to that girl. He added, “Maybe I should change the assigned seating.”

“She’ll be fine. I’ll back off.”

He gave me a dirty look then and said, “Do not touch that girl, Mason. She’s not like you. She’s innocent.”

I smirked at that, but replied, “I’m not planning on it. She’s a refreshing break from the rest of the chicks.”

Kate popped her head in the doorway at that moment. She stared at us, then jerked her head to the hallway. “I need to talk to you.”

Whatever. “Meet me in the south stairs.” She nodded and disappeared. I turned to the teacher. “The assigned seat is fine. Trust me.” I gestured to where Kate had gone. “I have to deal with her. My new table mate is like getting cake during class. I doubt I’ll have to deal with any drama from her.”

He shook his head. “You’re perplexing. Are you aware of that?”

“Do I care? That’s the question you should be asking and no, I don’t.” When I left, I headed to my locker and saw Logan was already there. He was leaning against my neighbor’s locker with his arms crossed. A few girls were watching him from across the hall. As I got there, he flashed them a grin and a few of them began laughing.

I stopped. Shit. He was flirting with them.

He saw my reaction and tensed. “What?”

“Nothing.”