Gilded Cage

Chapter 39

Zac and I arrived more than ten minutes late to AP History due to our slight detour. His hair and school uniform were still quite damp despite my best efforts to dry him off. It was the first time in my life that I had ever been this late to class, but, for some reason, I wasn't freaking out about it. My mind was too preoccupied with other things.

On the way, we had also made another pitstop at a certain redhead's locker. Lily's locker.

As we entered the room, every pair of student eyes latched onto us. Zac and I weren't holding hands, but the fact that we showed up together was impossible to ignore. Curiosity hummed in the air. I searched the room for Lily. Shrewd green eyes met mine. I could feel her glare digging into me even while a smile rested on her lips.

Mr. Tilton sighed. "Zac. Cate. How nice of you two to join us. That will be a detention as usual, Mr. Mazur."

Zac sighed in resignation. "See you this afternoon, Mr. T."

"Cate, would you like to explain to me why you are late?"

Zac jumped to my rescue and quickly fabricated an excuse, "Don't blame Cate, Mr. Tilton, I'm more than happy to serve that detention with you. You see, sir, I accidentally spilled water over myself, and she just happened to walk by. I was being an idiot and tried to get her wet, too. I'm the reason why she's late."

Mr. Tilton's gray eyes drifted from Zac to me. "Cate? Is that true?"

"Of course," I confirmed, nodding as convincingly as possible. After the shit Zac just pulled with Trick moments ago, I didn't feel too bad about letting him take the fall. "I don't know what got into Zac. He can be so immature sometimes!"

Zac coughed loudly in protest.

I ignored him.

Mr. Tilton frowned. "I'm disappointed in both of you. Especially you, Cate. You've always maintained such a stellar record."

I hung my head in exaggerated remorse. "I know, Mr. Tilton, it won't happen again."

"I'm sure it won't. Nevertheless, I'll see you in detention this afternoon, too, Cate," Mr. Tilton admonished harshly. The forcefulness in his tone surprised me. Even when I had been at my bitchiest, the man never raised his voice at me before until this very moment.

He continued, "Go to your seats and, please, try not to cause any more disruptions in my class."

"Yes, sir," both Zac and I responded in unison.

As we sat down, Zac glanced over to me and whispered, "Sorry about that, baby. I tried."

"It's fine," I sighed. "Everything is so fucked up already. I don't even have the bandwidth to bitch about a detention anymore."

Zac's eyes shone with concern. "Hey. I'm right here. We'll get through this shit together."

I smiled back at him weakly. "I know."

The hour seemed to drag forever even though the lesson Mr. Tilton prepared was quite interesting. Our class was starting a new unit about the Vietnam War, and we were reviewing different perspectives relating to the conflicts leading up to this crisis from American and Vietnamese viewpoints. In the middle of class, I quickly checked my phone. Still no response from Nat or Amari. My cheeks blew out a puff of disappointment.

When second hour finally ended, Zac and I gathered up our things and slowly headed out the door. I wasn't surprised when I noticed Lily trailing right behind us. She stopped us in the hallway.

Twirling a lock of auburn hair between her fingers, she purred, "My, my. Isn't this just a vision of perfection? Caterina Donati. Bitch of Ashton Wellesley. And Zachary Mazur. Fuckboy extraordinaire. Bless your hearts. You two totally deserve each other."