Who Breaks First (Clearwater University)

When I glance back up at the brown-haired man, he’s smiling at me yet again, and it makes me wonder why it is I’m not passionately in love with him yet.

Then a terrible thought comes to mind.

Is it because he’s a nice guy?

8

Reese

A few weeks pass, and Team Six has to meet outside of class twice a week. At this point, I’m thinking about Emma non-stop. I can’t stop looking at her, can’t stop thinking about her, and I fantasize about being alone with her. But I can’t do that because every time that I’m with her, West and Trent are there.

Another thing I can’t get out of my mind is that guy I keep seeing her with. Who the fuck is he? I asked around, and his name is Peter, but I haven’t been able to find out much more about him. He’s not anybody special though, I know that. Emma can’t possibly be serious about him.

I think Trent is seriously angry about that asshole too, because he’s been taunting Emma a lot lately. For one thing, I see him following her when she’s with that other dude. And he’s also been fucking with Emma by constantly switching up the dates and times of our group project meetings so she has to run around like she’s in a scavenger hunt. When Emma finally finds us, it looks like she’s almost in tears. It breaks my heart when that happens, but instead of intervening, I remind myself of the fucked up shit she did to Trent, and I feel more okay about it.

Still, sometimes I want to pull her aside and just tell her to give up. I want to tell her to move on with her life and get out of this school. I don’t think that she would though. Emma seems really determined to make this happen, and for that reason, I just hold my tongue.

This particular day, we’re meeting in a private conference room in the library. Students can rent it out for school projects and stuff like that. As the three of us sit here and wait, Trent glances up at the clock, looking seriously pissed.

“What the fuck?” He scowls, drumming his fingers on the table.

“She’s lost, man,” I tell him, reminding him that he changed this particular location three times in one day.

“Still, this is ridiculous.”

I look over to West, who’s sitting with his arms crossed over his chest. He looks no less amused. None of us say anything else, and the only sounds in the room are the clock ticking on the wall and the muffled sounds of other students roaming around the library. Finally, I see Emma run up to the glass door, out of breath. She’s wearing a soft blue sundress, and my damn dick perks up immediately.

“Sorry,” she mutters, not looking up as she sits down and puts her backpack on the table. She’s won’t look at any of us, but I can tell she’s feeling a mixture of shame and hatred that Trent keeps putting her in this situation.

“How many times are you gonna say you’re sorry?” Trent drawls.

“You’re right.” Emma’s back stiffens, and her head whips up. “I don’t have to say it at all.”

“Don’t. Because it’s fucking annoying.”

“How about giving up the childish behavior and focusing on the task at hand?” An angry flush creeps up Emma’s chest as she opens her backpack and places a folder onto the table.

“Are you calling my behavior childish?” Trent asks with an amused smile.

“Yes! Childish and vindictive, you fucking asshole!” she snaps.

“Yeah, well, I can think of some shit you’ve done that was way more vindictive than anything I’ve done,” he counters.

The room goes dead silent. This whole time, West and I have been watching the exchange like a tennis match, and now it feels like there’s seriously no more oxygen in the room.

“Okay, okay, let’s focus,” I say, trying to be diplomatic. Somebody’s gotta be Switzerland, right?

“I think that we should definitely do more research on the primate’s survival skills, and how these skills were unique, unlike any other species.” Emma starts flipping through her notes, her voice changing to a more business-like tone.

“I think we should just jump ahead to the cavemen,” Trent says, tapping his pen on his folder as he stares at her with a dark look. “How they would drag women by the hair into the cave and then procreate the species by fireside.”

“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Emma slams her stack of papers down, her emotions boiling over.

“You guys, come on.” I roll my eyes. I love Trent, but he can be a serious fucking asshole sometimes.

“This is insane,” Emma goes on, nearly in tears. “Do you want to fail this class, Trent? Because that’s what it seems like. If I have to go to Professor Sykes and tell him what’s happening, then I will! I’m not letting you drag me down with you!”

“Calm down, little girl.” Trent flashes a dark grin.