Temptation (NEW)

Chapter Two

Waking up was not a pleasant experience. I had a bit of a hangover and a throbbing black eye. My memories were pretty hazy from the night before. The last thing I can really recall was Sasuke decking me onto the floor with a hard fist. I also vaguely remember a pissed off Shikamaru dragging me out of the house and into the car. I was pretty in and out of consciousness after that strike, so I don't remember anything else. I'm just lucky I made it to my bed.

I raised up and took a look at my phone to check the time. I could barely open my eyes due to the bright, morning sun and the bruise.

"Seven-thirty," I mumbled to myself, plopping back onto my pillow. Too damn early.

I laid still for a second before clarity came back to my head.

"Fuck!" I shouted, leaping out of my twisted covers.

I hit hard on the floor from my leg being trapped in between my sheets. It only added more pain to my already aching body. Fumbling to get my bearings, I continued making my mad dash to the bathroom, tripping over my scattered clothes on the floor in the process. When I crashed into the bathroom, I simultaneously brushed my teeth while combing my hair, hoping to save a little time.

"You good?" Shikamaru called out from outside of the bathroom. His knocks on the wood door made my head throb a little.

"I have class in thirty minutes!" I replied in a frantic shout. I'm not entirely sure why I cared so much, especially knowing I'd sleep through half of it. I guess I just wanted to be there on-time to make somewhat of an effort.

I ripped open the door to find Shikamaru still standing outside of it. He was wearing his usual plaid sleep-pants and an old shirt with holes. Clearly, he had just woken up, too.

"I was gonna wake you up," he sleepily explained. "But I kept hitting snooze on my alarm. My bad."

I sighed out of frustration---mainly towards myself. I stormed past him down the hallway and back into my room, shoving on the closest pair of clothes my hands could grab. An old band tee and ripped jeans would have to suffice for today. I'll try harder when I'm not running late.

"I'll see you after class!" I shouted down the hall towards Shikamaru's room. I'm sure he had already crashed back into his bed.

When I stepped out into the breezeway, I checked my phone again. 7:40 A.M. It takes approximately ten minutes to get to campus, and then three minutes to find parking. That would leave me seven minutes to sprint across campus and find my class. Plenty of time as long as I know where I'm going.

But I didn't think about the vendors being set up for the back-to-school event in the courtyard.

I had to duck under tents and tables that were being brought in to be set up. Weaving through the sea of curious college freshman was also quite a task. I probably knocked over a few kids while running. Oh, and of course, my building was the farthest one from where I parked. Seven minutes might not be enough time after all.

I was out of breath by the time I got to my classroom. This was the most running I had done since gym class in high school, and even then I barely ran. 7:58 A.M. I barely made it in the knick of time. Upon entering, I could see that almost every chair was filled. In the very back corner, however, was an empty spot. My vision focused on that one chair and I took my seat. I could finally relax.

"Asshole," muttered a voice sitting beside me.

My skin crawled at the low, breathy voice that spoke to me. I knew it all too well. Sasuke.

"Fuck off," I grumbled, scooting to the farthest edge of my desk to distance myself from him.

"I'd love to give you a matching black eye," he smirked, whispering. "I suggest you change seats if that's what you want."

"Look around, dipshit, there's no where else for me to sit," I pointed out with annoyance.

"I'll kick your fuc---"

With wonderful timing, the professor walked in at 8:03 A.M. He had silvery hair that didn't seem to match with his young-looking appearance. Half of his face was covered by the stack of syllabi he held in his hand, but you could still see glimpses of it as he moved. He had on a dark green button-up and some black slacks---a typical professor outfit. I just prayed he wasn't a hard-ass and I could sleep my way through the class.

"Good morning, class, I'm Mr. Hatake," he announced, barely even looking up at the room.

Only a few do-gooders murmured a good morning back to him.

"I'm going to send around the syllabus," he continued, placing the stack on the first student's desk. "Go ahead and flip to the assignments page when you get it. We'll be starting right away."

Dammit.

Once everyone had a thick packet placed in front of them, he pulled out his own and began reading the assignments for the semester. The homework we'd have for this class was immense. On top of that, we had a project due in about three weeks. There was no way I'd be able to breeze by at this rate. I'll actually have to exert some effort.

"I expect a detailed presentation about a potential business that you and your partner come up with," he explained. He paused for a moment and took a look at the class. "Since you are already in pairs, just work with the person you're sitting next to."

I didn't even want to look at Sasuke and see the potential face he was making. I'm sure it wasn't pretty.

"This project will count towards a large part of your final grade," he continued. "If you don't do well, I suggest dropping the class immediately. I don't have time to teach failures."

I was heavily contemplating dropping the class just to avoid working with Sasuke.

"Any questions?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Sasuke's hand raise up.

"What if your partner is an idiot?" he scoffed. I could hear a few quiet giggles of agreement amongst the classroom. "Can't we switch partners if we want to?"

"Well, Mr. Uchiha, that's just something you'll have to deal with," the professor chuckled, leaning against his wooden desk. "I've already decided that your partners are permanent."

As Sasuke's hand came down, he made sure to smack my shoulder before retracting it back to his lap. I cut him a glare in retaliation.

"So let's get started with the lecture," the professor beamed a little too enthusiastically.

The entire hour was pure hell for me. I couldn't write a single sentence without Sasuke intentionally bumping my arm to mess me up. At least once, I did manage to kick his shin hard enough to make him jump. I'm sure the students that sat around us wanted to wring our necks. Even the professor would occasionally glance up at us with a disapproving glare. I can't imagine an entire semester of this.

When the professor finally dismissed us, I felt a wave of relief.

"Make sure to plan some time to work on your projects!" the professor reminded the class. "Three weeks go by quickly."

I felt Sasuke's hand on shoulder, stopping me from escaping the hell I had just endured.

"We'll meet in the library tomorrow," he sternly told me. "I want this shit to be over and done with."

"Got it," I muttered, wriggling free from his grasp.

I followed the crowd of tired students into the hallway, finally getting away from Sasuke. Waiting for me on the cushioned bench was Shikamaru, looking just as tired as he did when he woke up.

"How was class?" he mumbled.

Sasuke brushed past me with impeccable timing. All I had to do was give Shikamaru a look for him to know exactly how class went.

"Ah, I see," he chuckled as he stood up to walk beside me.

"I have to work on a huge project with him," I grumbled with a pout. "I feel like I should just drop the class before I end up beaten to death."

"You're just being dramatic," Shikamaru laughed, shaking his head. "Just finish the project and never speak to him again. It's that easy."

Easy? I wish it would have turned out that way. Everything was only going to get more complicated from here.