Discipline (3 page)

But just as his gorgeous lips parted to say
something else, I jumped.

My damned phone.

It was buzzing in my hand, making me
silently curse Adriana for forcing me to bring it everywhere for
fear of having my Facebook statuses hacked. I looked down at the
screen to see the last name that I wanted to see calling at this
particular moment — a name that Mr. Cole was all too familiar with,
considering it had graced his varsity wrestling roster for the past
three years.

Jake.
You’re dead, Jake
, I groaned
inwardly. Cockblocked by the little bro. And suddenly, but not
surprisingly, there was a sudden stiffness in Mr. Cole’s
posture.

“Um,” I tried to pick up on our conversation
again, but he interrupted me, a tinge of discomfort in his
voice.

“Nina, I should go.”

I silenced my phone so hard that I nearly
crushed it. “Why?”
Damn it
. I knew that was coming. I could
hardly help the pout on my lips. “You just sat down.”

He tried to sigh inaudibly as he ran a hand
through his short, dark hair. “I think I’m going to head somewhere
else so you can have a peaceful dinner. You and your friends should
be able to talk without, you know… someone from Woodhill within
earshot.”

“I don’t mind!” I couldn’t hide how badly I
wanted him to stay. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been so
excited to have a conversation and we had just gotten somewhere
interesting. “I’m sure your friend doesn’t want to leave.”

“I know he doesn’t,” he said with a little
laugh. “He wouldn’t want to move tables at this point.”

I smiled, well aware that his friend was
flirting with at least one of mine. I was pretty sure that I could
hear Linh’s coquettish giggle. “Then let him stay. They can talk
all they want. We don’t have to if you don’t want to. We don’t even
have to look at each other,” I said, clearly meaning not a single
one of my words. His laugh was charmed.

“But I want to talk to you,” he said to my
surprise.

I tried not to look visibly flustered by his
remark. There was a bit of a pause and his smile slightly faded as
he gazed at me.

“And I want to look at you.”

Oh
. My lashes fluttered and made him
lower his eyes to the floor for a moment. I tried to think over my
pounding heart but I couldn’t find anything good to say.

“Well… that means you should stay.”

He shook his head gently, tucking his hands
into his pockets as he stepped away. “No. It means I should
leave.”

CHAPTER
2

I woke up at a reasonable hour on Sunday –
reasonable being noon. Kelsey was taking the 11AM coach bus in from
Woodhill and I was due for a cleanup with all the dirty cups in the
sink and random heels lying around. Our East Village apartment was
small and no place for a mess. The two-bedroom was rent controlled
and once belonged to our grandmother, and it had been meant for
Kelsey and me to live in once we started school in the city. But
since I moved in with Ben after four months of dating, Kelsey moved
her giant sewing machine and cutting tables into my room. As a
costume design major, the extra space made her practically
salivate, especially since her father offered to pay my portion of
rent.

Despite all that, she dragged everything out
the moment I called three weeks ago, having just been dumped and
kicked out. And in a snap, I was back to having my own bedroom, my
own bed, my own schedule and my own life. It didn’t take long for
me to wonder how I’d ever spent three years living under Ben’s
rule, lying to friends that everything was fine, that I was simply
too busy to see them but perfectly happy nonetheless.

Now, happy was scrubbing the bowls I’d used
to drunkenly fix myself Easy Mac at 3AM. I couldn’t remember the
last time I’d stayed out so late.

“Ha!” Kelsey’s voice surprised me as she
came through the front door, pulling her rolling suitcase behind
her. “I knew I’d walk in on you cleaning,” she teased.

“Shut up. How was it? Did they win?”

She had gone home to see the lacrosse
semifinals game at the high school. Both our younger brothers were
on the varsity team, but I didn’t go home to attend for fear of
having to talk to anyone about Ben. Every last PTA mother knew
about him, thanks to my mom.

“They lost. By like, eight, so it was really
boring. You didn’t miss anything.” She plopped down on the couch.
“Not that you’d care even if you did, since you were having a much
more interesting weekend. Hung out with the Todos girls on Friday,
right?”

“
Si
.”

“
Si
? That’s it?”

I nodded, though as I scrubbed at my coffee
mug, I wondered if I should tell Kelsey about Mr. Cole. I wanted to
see her absolutely lose her mind over the story but at the same
time, I suspected it might be a bad idea. Regarding certain topics,
Kelsey could never keep her mouth shut. I could imagine her calling
all her friends from Woodhill and bragging excitedly for me about
my Friday night encounter. The story would then spread around town
like wildfire and get embellished with scandalous details along the
way, and eventually, there would be a story about Mr. Cole sleeping
with dozens of students over the course of his tenure. And if
history repeated himself, there would be new accusations. And
lawsuits.

“Really no crazy stories about Ade?” Kelsey
was skeptical. “Aren’t there always interesting stories whenever
you hang out with her? I figured you guys would pick up right where
you left off. Like, lingerie parties and Bushwick raves all in one
night. Meeting random hot guys. Yes? No?”

I could see Kelsey staring at me through the
corner of my eyes. She knew my friends too well. “Not that night,”
I lied, quickly changing the subject so I wouldn’t be tempted to
spill. “So, how’s everyone at home? Did you see any people at the
game?” I was fishing, hoping for her to bring up Mr. Cole somehow.
I couldn’t talk about him but I could certainly listen, and Kelsey
always brought him up after visiting the high school.

“Nope. At least no one from our year. Which
is weird because it’s almost July. Classes should’ve ended awhile
ago, right?”

“Probably.” I shrugged. “See any
teachers?”

“Nope.”

Damn it.

“But –
oh
!” Kelsey sprung onto her
knees on the couch, her face suddenly flushed with excitement. “I
do
have stories. Oh my God, how did I forget? Everyone was
talking about it like it was an effin’ soap opera or something.
Okay, so guess who’s single again.” I had a feeling I knew who, but
I shrugged anyway. Kelsey held her giddy hands to her mouth before
tearing them away to hiss, “
Dat ass
.”

I burst out laughing. “Mr. Cole? I didn’t
even know he was dating anyone. And I didn’t know he told people
about that kind of thing.”

“You didn’t know because you’re a freak and
fell off the stalking train early. And he still doesn’t tell
anybody about his personal life… but you can’t keep it a secret
when you’re dating a
Woodhiller
. Especially one whose mom
has a big mouth.”

“
What
? Who?”

Kelsey beamed at my curiosity. “He was
dating and very briefly engaged to… wait for it…” She drummed her
hands on the ruffly Anthropologie pillow. “Cara.
Fulton
.”
She held her arms out, incredulous at my lack of a reaction. “So
basically they were the most perfect-looking couple on Earth? Nina,
are you alive? I
freaked
out when I heard they were
together. It was like Woodhill’s Brad and Jen.”

“Those two aren’t together anymore.”

“Well, exactly.”

I stripped off my rubber gloves and stared
at the tile wall for a moment. “That coupling does make a lot of
sense though.” Cara Fulton was essentially the female version of
Mr. Cole. The boys in school were completely in love with her. She
coached the cheerleading squad and choreographed all the school
plays. Her nickname around town was “Barbie” because she was so
skinny and always wore her hair in a perky, blonde ponytail. Plus,
she was super bendy. “Any idea why it ended?” I asked
curiously.

Kelsey gave me a look. “Girl, I just came
back from three days in Woodhill. Of course I know why it ended.”
She got comfortable on the couch, running her fingers through her
straightened red hair as she spoke. “So. You know how our moms are
good friends with Bree Hannigan who runs that stupid book club
thing that Cara’s mom is in? Well, they got the whole story from
her and basically, Cole and Cara had some tiny little fight over
like, when they wanted to have kids? Something
really
stupid.”

I wrinkled my nose.
Seriously?
Kelsey
caught my expression.

“I mean it could totally be propaganda since
it’s coming from Bree Hannigan’s mouth, but it was definitely
something super small because apparently, perfect couples fight
over stupid, small stuff. Anyway, my mom said they’re definitely
getting back together because they were
engaged
, which is a
pretty big deal, and Cara’s apparently ready to, so it’s only a
matter of time. And when they do get back together, they’ll have
beautiful makeup sex and make perfect-looking babies who’ll go to
school in Woodhill and win all the superlatives and grow up to be
the hot, popular teachers and the cycle will continue.” Kelsey
sucked in a deep breath and exhaled in the form of a big sigh once
she was finished speaking. “The end. Though of course, I’m going to
pretend that Cole isn’t actually getting back together with
frickin’ Gymnast Barbie. I literally did a dance when I heard he
was single again. All I want in life is for him to look at my butt
just once. Something like that.”

I laughed. “Dream big.”

“Yeah,” she sighed as she fished through the
pillows to find the remote. She turned the TV on, quiet for a bit
before heaving a sigh, her lower lip protruding. “I really thought
Cole would be at the game. Half the kids on the team are his
wrestlers. My brother. Your brother. He should’ve been there.” I
eyed her with a sly smile. “And yes, you jerk, I dressed up for
him,” she exhaled. “Your mom was like, ‘Why are you wearing
lipstick?’”

I laughed, my toes actually curling with the
need to tell her about Mr. Cole. But I suppressed the urge. It
helped that my phone was suddenly blowing up with text messages.
Kelsey craned her neck to look at the screen.

“Who is it? Em? Adriana?”

Both of them. I bit my nervous smile back,
already anticipating trouble.

“Why are you smiling like that? You
definitely didn’t tell me stories. Which is unfair because I told
you stories.”

“Kels, hold on,” I murmured, leaning away
from her as I opened up Em’s message and read it.

You’re gonna hate us.

“Oh God,” I breathed, my heart pounding as I
opened Adriana’s.

You’re gonna love us
. I burst out
laughing.

“What? Tell me,” Kelsey whined. I couldn’t
help ignoring her as I typed a response, asking both of them to
clarify. Em’s reply came first.

Linh got a certain someone’s number on
Friday night. Did you really expect for her to flirt with a cute
guy and NOT get his number??

Shoot. Of course not. I really should’ve
paid more attention to Linh that night. I’d seen her exchanging
eyes with Mr. Cole’s friend from the get-go. As I slowly clasped a
hand to my mouth, my phone vibrated again with Adriana’s reply.

Remember Mike? He’s meeting us all for
drinks tonight, and he promises to bring a certain friend ;) Be
ready by 8, pretty girl! And wear my heels.

~

The bar that Adriana picked was in Nolita,
just blocks from the restaurant where we ate last week. There were
big drapes over the warehouse windows and it was dark, the room lit
through filters to give off an undeniably sultry vibe.

Having spent forever picking an outfit, I
was the last to arrive – and about twenty minutes late, which meant
some hefty vodka punishment.

you’re up to four shots missy
, Linh
had texted me.

I was okay with that. The place was nice
enough that they couldn’t pick anything too nasty. Plus, I’d needed
the time to peruse through the East Village and buy the perfect
outfit. My paltry wardrobe was in desperate need a boost since I’d
left most of my Ben-purchased clothing at his apartment. Plus, the
only wardrobe I’d owned prior to our relationship consisted of work
T-shirts or leftover things from high school, all of which were
Mom’s picks — boat neck blouses, sleeveless polos and more linen
cardigans than necessary for a single person’s closet.

I wanted to wear something new that Mom and
Ben would both irrationally disapprove of. If the night played out
logically, Mr. Cole wouldn’t show – it was a school night, and he
had to be in Woodhill at 7AM the next morning – but I wanted to
look good just in case. And so I dared to wear a cream crop top
short enough to bare a few inches of skin above the waist of my
saffron maxi skirt. I had my calorie-blasting double shifts to
thank for pulling off that kind of outfit. It made me feel sexy and
vibrant in a way that I hadn’t felt in a long time, if ever.

As I weaved through the crowd, my phone
vibrated with another text, this time from Em.

We’re at the bar. Hurry up, woman. We want
to sit down.

I frowned. No mention of whether Mr. Cole
was with them. My heart sank slightly, then completely as I spotted
the girls across the room with Mike and a few other guys, but not
Mr. Cole. Damn it.
All dressed up and no hot guy to impress.
Trying to mask the utter disappointment on my face, I turned the
corner toward the girls – and walked straight into someone’s hard
chest.

“Oop!” I nearly toppled over in Adriana’s
heels.

“I’m so sorry. Are you okay?”