Page 78 of Lessons in Cruelty

“Okay, so, one of my sorority sisters told me that Daddy Rooke moved to Agony Hollow because he fucked up real bad at his last college.”

“Fucked up how?”

“He was experimenting on his students.”

I lean back. “Like…in a laboratory?”

She laughs. “No, like psychologically.” She taps her temple. “Manipulation. Gaslighting.” She flicks the card onto the floor between us. “Weird games and assignments.” A shrug. “I mean, it could be total bullshit, but you’ve met him.” The side of her mouth lifts. “You’ve been alone with him.”

I hold out my hand. “Stop it. It wasn’t like that. He just gave me that book. The Lucifer Effect? For class.” I realize I’m blabbing, and press my lips closed.

Melissa sits back, taking a deep breath. “Fuck it, I’m not judging, Haven. God knows I’ve done some questionable shit in my life.” For a moment, she looks lost, like she opened a door expecting to see stairs, and found a wall behind it. “But damn it, you’re nasty for not sharing. I need more content for my fantasy folder.”

“You fantasize about Professor Rooke?” My face is getting hotter every second.

“You don’t?” She looks disgusted. “What’s wrong with you? You’re not a Mormon, are you?”

That makes me laugh, but it sounds shrill, so I cut it off.

“You’re weird,” she mutters, shaking her head as she crawls back to the dresser to replace her phone.

“Thanks, Haven,” she says woodenly, and much too loudly, as she crawls back to me. “I feel so much better now.”

I snort at her bad acting, and she rolls her eyes at me.

I point to the card. “I will face the consequences!”

She mock-gasps.

But then I realize what I’m about to say, and my cheeks start to glow. “So…uh…there was this guy…”

“An older guy?” she says, lips squirming as she tries to keep a straight face.

I lift my hands. “Just a guy, Melissa!”

“Okay, okay.” She crosses her arms. “A hot guy, at least?”

“Uh, yeah! Definitely.” I hear my words echo back and bite the inside of my lip. But the tequila gives me a little more courage, and the alternative is defiling Melissa’s immaculate face with a permanent marker.

Low blow, Bastian.

Low fucking blow.

But there’s no way I’m telling anyone about what happened in the library with Kai. I mean, who’s going to know if I lie? All this exercise is about is figuring out if you’d rather hurt yourself or someone else. As long as I make it convincing, no one’s going to know.

Kai’s not the only one with an imagination. The secret is adding just enough truth to make it resonate.

“Okay, so, nothing major,” I say, rubbing the back of my neck. “I, uh, gave a guy head in his car.” I let out a rush of breath, and hold out my hand for our next round of rock, paper, scissors.

“Oh, no, missy.” Melissa picks up the card and points out a word. “Graphic. Graphic detail.”

I grab the front of my throat, shaking my head.

Her eyes go wide. “Do I need to find a marker?”

“Jeez, fine! It was this spur-of-the-moment thing between classes, okay? We were talking, things got heated. He pulled out his…dick and told me to suck it. So I did.”

Melissa giggles like a demon. “And then?”