JESSICA
My throat went dry after he walked out of the room.
The silence in Julian's lecture hall stayed with me for hours after I left. My skin still buzzed from the challenge, from the way his eyes had heated when I said f*****g. I replayed it all in my head—the walk to the front of the room, the feel of every student staring. It was a dangerous game, but for a few minutes, I hadn't felt like a victim. I'd felt powerful.
"Hey, you're Jessica, right?"
I jumped, pulled from my thoughts. A girl with kind brown eyes and a shy smile stood by my locker. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I'm Sarah. I was in the lecture. That was... wow. No one ever talks to Professor Vale like that."
"He's just a guy in a fancy shirt," I muttered, shoving my book inside. Just a guy who makes my h
