Gabriel couldn’t think through the six questions on the board—not like it would matter. He scribbled random numbers, his mind spinning through the events of last night.

That dude is a hero.

He sure didn’t feel like it.

He’d gone there to be close to a fire. Not to save someone.

Thoughts gripped his mind so tightly that he couldn’t say a word to Layne—but she had her head down over her work, anyway.

He passed his paper forward with everyone else, and he didn’t even care what he got. The substitute was lecturing, but he didn’t hear a word. His ears were full of Hunter’s words from last night.

We could do this again. Think about it.

When the bell rang, Layne bolted from her seat without looking at him.

Gabriel bolted after her, intending to catch her in the hallway.

But Ms. Anderson’s voice stopped him before he got out of the room. “Mr. Merrick, I’d like to speak with you.”

Mr. Merrick. He hated when teachers called him that, like he was an old man stopping by to learn a few math tricks.

He stopped beside her desk and glanced at the door. “Yeah?”

“You didn’t turn in last night’s homework. Or the day before.”

He shrugged his backpack higher on his shoulder and looked at the door again. “I forgot it. I’ll bring it tomorrow.”

“And I was reviewing the quizzes from the other day.”

That got his attention. “I thought they didn’t count.”

She leaned back in the chair. “They don’t. I was concerned about how you answered the questions.”

Who gave a crap how he answered the questions? “So?”

“Some were right, and some were wrong. I’m having a hard time with the fact that nothing was wrong the same way.”

He could hear his own breathing. “I don’t understand.”

“I think you do.” She paused. “And in class the other day, when I called you to the board, you struggled with the formula.”

“Look, could we get to the point?”

She raised her eyebrows. “My point is that someone with an A average shouldn’t be struggling with anything at this point in the year.”

“Well, if I’ve got an A average, two homeworks shouldn’t matter too much.”

“Maybe not.” She leaned forward and looked up at him. In a creepy way, it reminded him of Taylor, though she was hot, and Ms. Anderson was . . . not. “Do I understand that you have a twin brother?”

God, it was hot in here. “Yeah?”

She gave him a level look. “He’s in AP Calculus, so he’s presumably taken this class before?”

Gabriel stared at her. He sure as hell wasn’t going to volunteer anything now.

“Look,” she said. “I’m not trying to hassle you. But you need a math credit to graduate. And you need to earn it yourself. If you need help, I’ll give it to you. But you can’t expect me to turn a blind eye to blatant cheating. You’ll need to work harder, apply yourself . . .”