Page 11 of Shine Bright

My fingers twitch, and then my hands clench as I seethe inside. She stole Isabel’s necklace, and I want it back. I need it. I’m going to get it back, but not here, not now. Later. Tomorrow. Eventually, the opportunity will arise. Until then, I’ll do what’s expected of me: I pull myself together.

I give her a bland, polite smile, stretch my fingers, and relax my tense shoulders.

Chapter 6

Lia

“Nice to meet you,” Phoenix says, his voice velvety smooth. He smiles, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. Everything about it is wrong.

“We’re so happy you’re here, Mr. Sutherland.” Katie beams at him, and I feel like I want to cry. How will I ever be able to call him Mr. Sutherland? After everything we did, how can I pretend that night never happened?

“Don’t get too excited yet. Maybe I’ll turn out to be a terrible teacher.” His smile has a sharp, precarious edge that makes the muscles in my stomach tighten.

“Oh, I can’t imagine that,” Katie says with a coquettish laugh. The way she’s talking to him bothers me, especially because his eyes are fixed on her. It’s not only inappropriate; it feels so completely wrong that I want to rip my heart out and bury it so it stops feeling this way.

“I hope not,” Pearson says, but he doesn’t sound at all like he’s worried about Phoenix’s abilities as a teacher.

“Your name is Katie?” Phoenix asks, as if Pearson hadn’t just introduced us three seconds ago.

“Yes, exactly.” She blinks as she gazes up at him, clearly pleased to hear him speak her name. He’s really hot and super young. Jackpot.

I’m getting a headache. Katie isn’t half as sweet and innocent as she always pretends to be, and I have to suppress the ridiculous urge to push myself in front of her so he’ll look at me again and not her. So he forgets her immediately. But it turns out that’s not necessary, because his eyes wander back to me, so dark and penetrating that it sends a shiver down my spine. The necklace burns on my skin, red hot, and I want to rip it off my neck right now. I want to give it back to him and hold on to it, both at the same time.

Instead, I force myself to hide the pendant in the neckline of my dress, keep my hands still, and not look away or lower my eyes. To pretend that nothing happened.

We aren’t Ophelia and Phoenix anymore.

We’re Lia and Mr. Sutherland.

God, this is so wrong.

“What was your name again?” he asks me, and suddenly there’s something challenging in his eyes. Somehow, I manage to straighten my back, offer my hand in greeting, and give him a friendly smile while my stupid heart pounds in my ears. “Ophelia,” I reply. “But everyone calls me Lia.”

“Lia is one of our most talented dancers,” Mr. Pearson says, and at any other time, I would have been delighted by the compliment. But right now, my entire attention is focused on Phoenix. His gaze lingers briefly on my hand before shifting back to my face. As his fingers close around mine, my breath catches for a moment. I can’t help it. His grip is firm and familiar.

I didn’t think about how I’d react to the feeling of his skin on mine. I feel his touch in every cell of my body. For a split second, the world around us ceases to exist. My body remembers him with almost painful clarity. And he’s only holding my hand.

“Nice to meet you, Ophelia,” he says, and something inside me is thrown off balance by the way he says my name, even though he doesn’t sound pleased at all. I let go of his hand—I have to—because this doesn’t mean anything. Not him or the way my heart is racing in my chest. I can’t look at him anymore, I just can’t. I turn to Pearson before the chaos inside me can take over and make me lose control.

“We also wanted to ask if we could take the freshmen with us,” I say, even though that’s not true. This isn’t why we came over here, but I don’t care right now. I just want to get away, and taking the newbies to the dorm for the traditional first night on the roof terrace is my best excuse.

It’s the only evening when Pearson turns a blind eye to alcohol on campus, and that’s only because he knows that none of us will overdo it. Our studies are too important to us for that. No one would dare show up hungover for the first day of class. In the last three years, no one has ended the evening even remotely drunk. One glass of wine or a beer, that’s all most of us ever have.

“Of course. Have fun, but don’t overdo it,” he replies.

I smile. “We never do.”

“I’m counting on you, Lia. You’re the oldest now, you have the responsibility.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pearson,” I say, feeling ridiculously proud of myself for somehow managing not to look at Phoenix again.

“I’ll see you in class tomorrow morning,” Phoenix says, and without meaning to, I stiffen at his words. Tomorrow morning. And every morning for the rest of the semester. Maybe even for the rest of the year. Help!

“Absolutely.” Katie smiles at him again, her eyes sparkling. She’s not very good at hiding her excitement.

“See you.” I quickly grab her hand to pull her away.

“See you tomorrow, Katie,” Phoenix says, and this time he’s definitely doing it on purpose. My stomach turns; it’s awful.