“I’m not replacing you,” Tyler said. “You’ll just be under me now. I’m sure that’ll feel familiar for you.”
“Oh, I see.” Mr. Walsh put on his reading glasses. “You were Mr. Hudson’s understudy during your drama years, right?”
“That’s how it always made it seem.” I rolled my eyes, and he handed each of us a folder.
“Here’s a list that opposing counsel sent over this morning,” Mr. Walsh said. “Can I trust you to give Mr. Hudson a formal tour after I introduce him to the remaining members, Miss Heritage? Seeing that you two have a history, I think that’s a great idea.”
“It’s a fucking terrible idea,” Tyler and I muttered in unison.
“Ah, so now all the stage plays are coming back to your minds.” Mr. Walsh nodded. “Do the two of you know any Shakespeare?”
I didn’t bother answering that. I headed for the door.
“I’ll be waiting on my tour from you later.” Tyler called out to me from behind. “I’m sure that we have a lot of catching up to do.”
“I guarantee that we don’t.”
Chassie
Sophomore Year Incident #1
Cambridge, Massachusetts
“Since when do GQ models take pre-law courses?” My best friend Amy nudges me while we sit at the back of the lecture hall. “I hope the professor doesn’t expect us to pay much attention if he’s part of our mock trial project.”
“You say that about every cute guy in this class, Amy.”
“Well, this guy puts any guy I’ve ever seen to shame.”
I look up from my notes and see a guy in a grey hoodie walking across the front row. He’s completely oblivious to the fact that the entire room is staring at him, that every woman’s jaw is slowly unhinging in awe; every guy’s eyes are narrowed in utter envy.
“Ladies and gentlemen!” The professor claps his hand once the guy takes a seat. “As you know, we’ve had to make some changes to the course regarding some weaklings who dropped out last week. Alas, we’ve had some new students enroll, and today we have our last addition.”
He motions to the sexy guy in the front row.
“This is Tyler Hudson,” he says. “He hails to us from Yale, so I have no doubt that he’ll be able to keep up with us. Feel free to introduce yourself and tell us a few interesting things, Tyler.”
“My name is Tyler Hudson, and as the professor said, I transferred here. I’m looking forward to—” His eyes meet mine, and he suddenly stops talking.
Butterflies flutter in my chest as his lips part, and I’m convinced that he must be looking at someone else.
My hair is in a permanent state of frizz that makes my glasses appear ten times larger, and my ‘waited too late’ braces will be stuck in my mouth until I’m twenty-one.
He blinks a few times before continuing. “I have an appreciation for theater arts, basketball, and—” He pauses to wink at me. “Beautiful things in life.”
“Thank you, Tyler,” the professor says. “You can have a seat now.”
He looks me—definitely me, over one last time before obliging.
“Today’s class will be the shortest we’ll ever have,” the professor says. “Per the syllabus, today is ‘Pick your partner’ day.”
Amy squeezes my knee under the table.
“And since I wasn’t born yesterday and I know that none of you will pick new people like I asked you to—” He pauses. “I’ve taken the liberty of randomly pairing you all with one other person for the group project.”
Ugh. The room fills with groans and annoyed whispers.
“Assignments are up here in the white folders.” He tosses a stack of them onto his desk. “I’ll see you next week with the work for the mock trial, and remember: Whatever grade your partner receives, will be the same one that you receive.”
He laughs and picks up his briefcase, completely unfazed by the second round of groans and whispers.
Amy saunters down the steps to figure out who her partner is, but I remain seated.
Please don’t let me get someone lazy for this assignment, God. Please.
I watch as my classmates pair off, as Amy mouths, “I’ll catch up with you later.”
Ten minutes later, only four people remain in the room: me, Sexy GQ guy, and two people who were snoring in the back row.
“Are you Kelsie?” Sexy GQ guy asks.
“Well, I’m your partner.” He motions for me to walk down the steps, and I take my time so I won’t trip in front of him.
“Tyler Hudson,” he says, extending his hand.
“Kelsie Heritage.” I try not to react as his skin touches mine, as he lets his fingers linger against mine for way longer than necessary.
When he finally pulls it away, he clears his throat. “One of the first things we’re supposed to do is determine who will be lead, so I went ahead and emailed the professor. I determined that it should be me.”