“We’re less than two weeks from opening night and I run the sound board. And I’m pretty sure we’ve all already gotten our college acceptances.” I looked to Brian, our other group member who observed the whole interaction looking like he was pissed he hadn’t popped a bag of popcorn before coming to class. But no help from him.

“I have practice, so after school won’t work for me,” Dare snapped. He turned to Michelle. So, it seemed he did remember there were other people in the room.

“The paper is due next Tuesday and a presentation the Tuesday after. And I’m not getting stuck doing all this myself.” Her voice squeaked and she gripped the edges of her paper tight.

“You got that stick up your—”

I railroaded whatever was coming next. “Hey, Michelle, I’m sure we can figure out how to divvy up the work so no one is doing more than their fair share.”

“This paper and presentation are five percent of our grade.”

Dare stared down at his paper, sketching in the corner of the page. “A whole five percent? Wow, we’d better devote the next month of our senior year of high school to this assignment.”

Michelle’s fingers tightened around her pencil. “Some of us care about our academics. Some of us stick to our commitments. Some of us aren’t self-centered assholes.” She came out of her seat with each line, bracing her hands on the front of her desk.

Dare flicked his gaze to her and then me. He followed my gaze, and if I wasn’t losing it, a hint of pink colored his cheeks. Turning over his paper, he refocused on Michelle and braced his hands on the back of his head. His elbows out wide and biceps tight under his fitted black t-shirt. “Can the screech volume come down by at least half, Chelle?” His hand twisted in the air like he was turning a knob.

She gripped the front of her desk like she was a second from leaping over it and going straight for his jugular.

“Thanks.” He winked and laughed.

Chelle? Did they have a history? I’d kept firmly out of the high school gossip mill, not that anyone was chomping at the bit to add me into the mix.

She sputtered and glared at him, scribbling something down in her notebook.

Picturing Dare and Michelle together was as weird as, well picturing him with me.

My shoulders sagged slightly. And that was why I was a delusional idiot.

Dare plucked the paper with our names written at the top off my desk and scanned it.

I grabbed for it, but he evaded my grasp. “I was reading that.”

“This is what he does.” Michelle hissed, leaning close to my desk.

“Steals people’s papers off their desks?”

“No, whatever the hell he wants.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

He turned the paper sideways and ripped it down the middle.

Michelle yelped and grabbed for it, coming out of her seat and nearly toppling her desk.