I don’t have it in me to get through to this kid—and frankly, I don’t care enough, either. “You realize I’m confiscating these, right? Get back to class, and don’t ever let me hear about you having shit you are not supposed to have. Because if anything like this is found on another student, I’m coming to you first. And there are worse things than getting kicked out of Corium. Don’t make it so you have to find out firsthand.”
He blows out a heavy sigh and comes dangerously close to testing the limits of my patience but is smart enough to spin on his heel and stroll out of the office. This fucking kid. All these fucking kids. Not that I would be that much better, but good luck being successful in our world—and not ending up in federal prison—if you aren’t smart enough to wait until after class to sell pills to your friends. Dipshit.
Pills which I quickly stash in my desk drawer. The kid did me a favor by being so stupid. A couple of five-milligram tablets of Percocet might be just what the doctor ordered, come to think of it. And it might help me get through the rest of the day.
Though, now that my email is taken care of and my to-do list is pretty much cleared off, I’m of half a mind to get the hell out of here for the rest of the day. I can make up an excuse, not that I should have to. Who’s going to question me?
I have my hand on the laptop lid, prepared to close it and announce I can be reached in my apartment if anything comes up.
As if on cue, there’s another knock on the door. The entire school is conspiring to kill me today. I’m sure of it. “What is it this time?”
I look up as the door opens, prepared to get rid of whoever it is as quickly as possible.
The sight of a familiar pair of eyes knocks the breath out of my lungs and sends me slamming back in my chair. She’s older, but then so am I. She still has that quality of pure, natural beauty. Beauty I tried so hard to destroy.
She’s standing in front of me after all this time.
And, my god, does she look like our daughter. How did I not see it from the very beginning?
“Charlotte.”