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As I reach the classroom, I can already feel the adrenaline kicking in. Making Lyric squirm has become my new favorite pastime. I push open the door and scan the room, my eyes locking on her almost immediately. She’s sitting in the back, but she’s not alone. She’s talking to some guy I don’t recognize, someone from a rival fraternity.
My mood sours instantly. I stride over, every step filled with purpose. Lyric’s face pales as she sees me approaching, but she doesn’t look away from the guy. I sit down next to her, forcing a smile that feels more like a baring of teeth.
“Who’s your friend, Lyric?” I ask, my tone dripping with false sweetness. I know exactly who the guy is—his name is Cameron Grant and he went to Crestwood with us. He was always trying to compete, even back then and now he’s in Sigma Theta, so he’s a rival.
She glances at me, her eyes wide but determined. “Archer, this is Cameron.”
Cameron offers a casual smile. “Hey, Archer. I was talking to Lyric about the upcoming charity event.”
I don’t bother acknowledging him. My focus is solely on her. “Charity event, huh? You didn’t tell us you were getting so involved, Lyric.”
She shifts uncomfortably, clearly aware of the threat in my voice. “He was just talking about it.”
Cameron nods. “Yeah, Lyric has some great ideas. We could very much use her input.”
I lean back in my chair, my eyes never leaving Lyric’s face. “Is that so?” I say slowly. “Well, Lyric’s quite the busy bee. We’ll have to see if she has the time.”
She swallows hard, the challenge clear in her eyes. “I’ll make time.”
The professor walks in and I lean in close to Lyric, my voice a low growl meant just for her. “Don’t get ahead of yourself, Princess. If you don’t think you’re busy enough, we can give you more to do.”
She nods stiffly, her attention on the professor but her mind clearly elsewhere. I settle back in my seat, annoyance simmering just below the surface.
As I listen to the lecture, our professor announces that our final presentation will be a group project and begins calling out the assigned teams. I’m not surprised when I’m paired with Lyric, but I am surprised when we’re also paired with Cameron as well.
She allows us to break into our groups to discuss the topic of our presentation and the three of us shift seats, facing each other in a moment of tense silence.
“Well, this is lucky,” Cameron jokes, smiling at Lyric. “I already know you have a ton of great ideas, so I’m sure with your help, this presentation will be awesome.”
Something about Cameron has always irked me. He’s got a baby face and boyish looks, but he always felt more like a viper to me.
“We should figure out what we’re going to present,” I say, pissed at how he gives Lyric a wide smile.
“What if we picked something from one of the topics we covered in the last unit?” Lyric offers. “We could do an offshoot of that.”
“Dr. Dobbs is probably looking for fresh ideas,” I tell her, shaking my head. “I think she wants to see what we come up with.”
“I agree with Lyric,” Cameron says. “Dr. Dobbs would probably like it if we utilized something we already went over but expanded it in a new direction.”
I ball my hands into fists under the table. “I don’t know, if we take off from the last unit, we might end up covering something that we’ve already learned. And Dr. Dobbs was pretty clear that she wants us to seek out information we haven’t already covered.”
“What if we listed out some possible topics?” Lyric suggests, glancing at Cameron, as though waiting for his approval. This pisses me off more, so I nudge her foot under the table and she goes stiff, then leans toward me.
“Did you forget our deal?” I hiss through gritted teeth.
“What deal?” Cameron asks, eyes wide as though he wasn’t just eavesdropping.
“I’m helping Lyric with another class in exchange for her helping me get an A in this one,” I lie.
Lyric nods, looking uneasy at the lie but going along with it for Cameron’s sake.
“You know, I don’t see how listening to Lyric’s ideas would mean your grade might suffer,” Cameron argues. “Give her a chance. C’mon, Hudson, you got something against her?”
I wonder how much he remembers from high school. Surely, he remembers the incident at the pep rally and the aftermath? I glare at him but realize that if he doesn’t know what’s going on, he’s not going to understand my deal with Lyric.
“Fine,” I mutter. “Let’s write down a list of possible topics. If you’re so sure that Lyric has a brilliant idea, you write them down, Grant.”
“I can do that,” Cameron says, entirely too cheerful for this whole conversation. It continues like that as we jot down ideas, with Cameron praising all of Lyric’s suggestions and defending her when he thinks I’m getting too snippy.
