Chapter 2

The cold, ugly look in her eyes told me right away that this was going wrong.

Out on the field, all I'd done was lend a classmate a can of sunscreen spray. That was nothing. It proved nothing.

But now it was clear Catherine Lambert meant to nail me to the wall.

While I was still processing it, she grabbed me and hauled me over to where the drills had been running.

Then she flung me down hard onto the sun-baked track.

The instant my palms hit the surface, the heat seared into my skin like a burn.

I cried out.

The classmates drilling nearby all turned to look.

She stamped her foot down viciously onto the back of my hand.

"Hurts?"

"Ground this soft, and you're crying like it hurt?"

"I think you're faking it on purpose, trying to get the boys and the instructor to look at you."

And with that, she ground her foot into the back of my hand, twisting hard.

The pain shot straight up into my skull.

I couldn't hold back. I threw out my other hand and shoved her off me.

She clearly hadn't expected me to fight back.

She froze for a beat, and then that wild, unhinged look flared up in her face again.

"I was going to leave you some dignity, and instead you dare to assault a teacher!"

Then she snatched the microphone straight out of the instructor's hand and turned it on every student on the field.

"One of the girls in our computer science department spent her very first day of school doing everything she could to seduce the boys!"

"This school has stood for a hundred years, and we will not tolerate someone with a corrupt heart like this!"

"After careful review, I, as your academic advisor, have decided this student is to be removed from the program."

"Except this student flatly denies she was seducing anyone. So whichever of you can provide evidence and help your teacher out, I'll max out your credits for the semester!"

Catherine's words set off a furious wave of muttering across the field.

Watching her shovel filth onto my head like that, I actually laughed.

I felt sorry that a school with a hundred-year name had a teacher like her.

"First, I would never be bored enough to seduce anyone."

"Second, you can't handle the consequences of framing me!"

Catherine was so furious it looked like steam was about to come off her head.

Her brows shot up and she lunged to claw at my mouth.

"You little slut, you still dare to threaten me."

"A shameless little fox, and you still put on airs in front of me. I'll tear that skin right off you!"

I frowned and clamped a hand around her wrist.

I looked at her like she was trash.

"I'm warning you. Don't lay a hand on me!"

In a few more minutes, she'd be banned from this profession for good anyway.

Easygoing as I am, I wasn't about to indulge a woman who threw tantrums and refused to listen to reason like this.