Page 87 of Lessons in Cruelty

A message comes through on my phone, but I’m glaring at Haven so hard I’m loath to look at it.

@rooke.bastian

Will be late.

Refer to attached notes and begin class.

A PDF comes through a few seconds later. I’m so fucking stoked, I even forget to hate Haven for a hot second.

I tap on the file and give it a quick scan.

Then I run a hand through my hair as I get to my feet. It shouldn’t feel different, but it’s as if there are suddenly a hundred kids in class, not forty.

You got this, Kai.

“Hey, so, Rooke’s—” I clear my throat. “Your professor is running late.”

My voice starts out shaky and thick. Barely anyone even looks over at me. Have to swallow because it feels like there’s something stuck in my throat. I clear it with a cough, and everyone just carries on while I’m trying to keep calm.

“I’m gonna start class today.” Now the only person looking at me is Haven. Frowning, actually. Like she’s waiting for me to pull a fucking rabbit out of my non-existent hat.

“Quiet.”

But the assholes in the back just keep talking, and Haven just keeps frowning, so I stride over to the lectern and bang it twice with my fist.

“Yo! Shut the fuck up!”

That gets everyone’s attention, especially Haven’s. When I glance at her, those puppy eyes are as wide as little blue saucers.

“Right. Hope you all finished your assignments this weekend?” I glance down at the file open on my cellphone. “You need to upload your videos to this shared drive.”

I go over to the board and write out the link Rooke included in the notes.

“Is that an I or an L?” someone calls from the back.

“One. It’s a one.” I add the little legs and little cap to the numeral and then I read the link out slowly for anyone who didn’t take their Omega caps this morning.

“Okay, envelopes.” I take my seat, legs spread wide as I wait, but it looks like they’re all too chicken shit to come up.

“Jesus, fine,” I mutter, getting up again. I walk up to Haven, fucking loving how the blood drains from her face the closer I get. But I turn at the last second, heading to the end of the row instead.

Students hand me their envelopes when I hold out my hand. One of them is blank.

I panic, freeze up. But Rooke put me in charge, and that means shit’s gotta be done right.

I drop the envelope back on the girl’s lap desk. Tap it with a finger.

“Name.”

“He didn’t say we had to put our names on it.”

I helped stuff the envelopes, so I know why she doesn’t want to incriminate herself. Rooke’s fucking mental. But it’s his class, his rules. He said to make sure the envelopes had the students’s names on it so here we are.

“If you don’t put your names on it, how the hell would he know you’ve submitted it?” When I tilt my head at her, she groans and quickly scribbles her and her partner’s name on the envelope.

It goes on top of the stack in my hand as I make my way through the students.

I leave Haven and Melissa for last, because fuck Haven.