Read Online Going Under by Georgia Cates - Free Book Online Page B

didn’t give up on talking to me this entire week while I ignored him.
    “You’re next, so enlighten me and tell me something I don’t know about myself,” I challenged.
    He grinned and I had learned in the short time since I met him that there was always mischief behind it. “Okay, I hear your family is friends with Forbes’ family. Considering the fact that he is a complete ass, I can only assume you date him because it’s what your parents want, not what you want.”
    How could a school assignment get so personal? This was so not working for me and I oozed sarcasm as I said, “Please, don’t be afraid to get personal about things that are none of your business.”
    “I don’t believe the exercise said anything about avoiding personal issues, so spill. Are you madly in love with Forbes or are you just sleeping with him until someone better comes along?”
    There it was, another speculation about me. “You are a jackass.”
    “I’ve been called worse, but you’re avoiding the question, Princess.”
    I hesitated and considered my answer before saying, “Forbes is my boyfriend and that’s all you need to know.”
    He leaned back in his desk and folded his arms across his chests, smirking. “So, you aren’t in love with him.”
    “I didn’t say that.”
    He grinned at me like he had the upper hand. “Oh, but you did. Just not in those words, so it’s back to you.”
    I picked up the sheet of paper I had jotted my assumptions on and gave it a quick rip down the middle. “Okay, two can play this game.”
    “I’m not afraid, so give it your best shot, Princess,” he challenged.
    “Okay. You talk this talk and walk this walk like you don’t care about a thing in the world, but you didn’t want me to be mad at you about what you said. You put on a front because you do care what others think. You care what I think.”
    “What’s the evidence to back your assumption?”
    Screw the plan. We would have to adjust accordingly because I wasn’t letting him win this. “Come on, you immediately flew into apologizing to me for what you said the second you saw me after it happened. Don’t you remember? Let me refresh your memory.” I puffed up my chest and did my best impression of him as I mocked, “This is me being real and I am sorry for what I said about you,” then I laughed at how easily I wiped that cocky grin off of his face.
    He looked down at his paper and began to doodle as he said, “I apologized because what I said was wrong, but it doesn’t make me a wuss.”
    I clearly touched a nerve. “I didn’t say you were a wuss, I said you cared about what people thought of you. You have spent the whole week trying to get me to forgive you because you care what I think of you.”
    “I believe it’s my turn, now,” he said and broke into a beautiful grin. “With such a deep, thoughtful opinion like that about me, I can only assume that means you’ve been thinking about me. A lot.”
    The boy was bold, if nothing else, and he had no idea how right he was. I thought about him way more than I should all week long, but I would die before I admitted that to him. “Hello? That was the assignment. I had to think about you because it was a requirement for Mrs. Tanner’s assignment. Duh!”
    “You’re lying and it’s all over your blushing face.”
    I was getting tired of everyone reading my face and I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. “My face is red because you make my blood boil.”
    “You’re hot for me, that’s why you feel like your face is on fire.”
    None of this was part of the plan. I was supposed to be the one in control. How could things have gone so wrong so quickly? While I contemplated what to say next, I was saved by the bell. Literally. I quickly gathered my things without looking at him, all while not denying his speculation.
    Before I walked out the door, I looked up at him. Smug arrogance spread across his face and my inner beotch stepped forward to take control because I