Total pages in book: 111
Estimated words: 107077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 107077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 535(@200wpm)___ 428(@250wpm)___ 357(@300wpm)
All three nod before packing up their books and computers.
With a stretch, I rise from my seat. As far as I’m concerned, graduation can’t come soon enough. I’m tired of these boring-ass classes taking up my time. I just want to focus on football. It’s the only thing I give a damn about.
“Mr. Stevens, I’d like a word before you leave,” Dr. Nichols says, voice ringing sharply throughout the spacious room and cutting into my thoughts like a dull-edged knife.
I blink in surprise, focusing my attention on the tiny woman standing next to the podium with a thick stack of papers in her hands. “Me?”
She lifts a brow. “You are Mr. Stevens, are you not?”
Unfortunately.
Her cool gaze encompasses the girls who flank me. “You three, as well. I’d actually like to have a word with all of you.”
Mallory pales, giving me a bit a side-eye before the four of us reluctantly walk down the shallow stairs to the front of the lecture hall. The rest of the students flee as if running for their very lives. I can’t help but watch them vacate the area with longing.
I clear my throat and shift my weight. “I, um, wish I could, but there’s someplace I need to be.”
Dr. Nichols narrows her eyes. “I’m sure you can put off your gym time for ten minutes. The weights will still be there when you arrive.”
My lips flatten.
Well, hell. Has this woman been stalking my schedule or something?
Because that’s not creepy at all.
She quickly dismisses me, giving each girl a steely-eyed stare until all three are cowering, practically shaking in their high heel boots. “From now on, none of you will take notes for Mr. Stevens or,” she sets the papers on the podium before lifting her hands to make air quotes, “assist him with homework.” She glares at each one in turn until they drop their gazes, ruddy color hitting their cheeks. “Because that’s exactly what’s been happening this semester, isn’t it?”
All three mumble their agreements.
“If I even suspect that you’re completing work or taking notes for Mr. Stevens again, it will be an automatic fail for this class.”
Every single one of their mouths fall open.
And not in a good way, either.
“Are there any questions?” the dragon asks.
Mallory chews her pink-slicked lip before giving her head a little shake. The other two follow her lead.
“Excellent. You’re dismissed.”
This is such bullshit.
Who does this woman think she is?
When I swing around, ready to stomp away, she snaps, “Not you, Mr. Stevens. I want a private word without your entourage.”
Great.
With my teeth clenched tightly, I turn back to her as the three girls sprint from the lecture hall. A few seconds later, the door swings closed behind them, echoing throughout the space, leaving me alone with this woman who probably moonlights as the crypt keeper.
An uncomfortable silence falls over us as she continues to glare. “I suspect that you’ve spent your entire academic career skating blithely by at this university, and it stops now. At least, it does in my class. From here on out, you will be attentive, diligently take your own notes, and complete your own homework assignments. In essence, Mr. Stevens, you will become something you have never been—a model student. I’m saddened to say that this institution has failed you miserably, and I won’t stand by a moment longer and allow it to continue.”
I blink and try to wrap my head around everything she just dumped on me.
It almost sounds like...
Like…
I’m on my own.
What the actual fuck?
When I open my mouth to argue, one rail-thin hand slices through the air, cutting me off.
“I don’t want to hear any excuses. And don’t bother crying to Coach Richards about this, either.” A triumphant glint sparks to life in her dull gray eyes. “Not only am I tenured, but I’ll be retiring at the end of the spring semester. There is nothing the administration can do to compel me to bend the rules for the athletes at this university. For too many years, I’ve been forced to turn a blind eye and award students with passing grades who didn’t deserve it. The integrity of this institution has unfortunately been compromised by people who, like you, don’t give a damn about their education. That ends here—now—with me.”
Any moment, this woman is going to start frothing at the mouth. I’d like to escape before that happens.
My head continues to spin as I mentally scramble to figure a way out of this mess.
Is it too late to withdraw from this class?
Fuck. I can’t do that. I need it for graduation. Even if I dropped out at this point, the dragon is the only one who teaches this specific course. I’ll be stuck with her in the spring, and there’s no way I’ll be able to endure this again.
When I remain silent, she continues. “There’s one month left before the semester comes to an end.”