𝐁𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐃𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬

15

Third Person

Seraii had been staring at the same paragraph in her English textbook for nearly ten minutes.

She hadn't absorbed a single word. Her eyes moved across the page, but her mind kept circling back to one thing.

Korbin.

She dropped the book onto her bed and groaned.

"This is ridiculous."

It wasn't like she was afraid of him.At least, that's what she kept telling herself.

Korbin was irritating. Spoiled. Arrogant. Too used to getting whatever he wanted whenever he wanted it. He had a way of leaning back in his chair like the entire world had been arranged for his convenience.

And, somehow, he always managed to make Seraii want to argue with him.Maybe that was what bothered her most.

She wasn't intimidated by him.

She never had been.

Most people seemed to adjust themselves around Korbin. They laughed at his jokes even when they weren't funny. They let him choose where they went and what they did. They rarely challenged him.

Seraii challenged him constantly. And Korbin hated it. At least, that was what she assumed.

The problem was that she wasn't entirely sure anymore.

She looked at the clock.

They were supposed to meet at his house in less than twenty minutes.

Mrs. Greene's project had seemed simple when she assigned it.

"Your task," Mrs. Greene had told the class, "is to explore what lies beneath physical appearances. I don't want a project about beauty. I want a project about people."

Then she'd paired them.

Seraii and Korbin. Of course.

Their first attempt at working together had ended horribly.

Or wonderfully.

She still hadn't decided.

They'd argued over the project for nearly an hour before the argument had somehow become quieter. Their faces had gotten closer. Korbin had looked at her in a way he never had before.

Then he'd kissed her. Seraii had kissed him back. Neither of them had mentioned it since.

They hadn't been alone together since.

And now they were going to spend an entire afternoon together.

Perfect.

Seraii grabbed her notebook and stuffed it into her bag.

She checked her reflection before leaving.

"You're going there to study," she told herself.

Her reflection didn't look convinced.

"Study."

She grabbed her keys.

"And nothing else."

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Korbin had been waiting for her.

He was sprawled across the couch in his living room, one arm stretched along the back cushion and his laptop balanced on his thigh.

When the doorbell rang, he glanced toward the door.