"The answer is 'A,'" I say, keeping my voice light and kind.
Carter snorts from beside me. "No, it's 'C.'"
Bingo. I was hoping he'd say that. "The question clearly asks you to round to the nearest tenth. If I'm not mistaken, which I don't believe I am, answer 'C' has two decimal places."
I smirk as his mouth twitches into a frown. We're still standing.
"Very well, Miss. Jones," Mr. Neilson says, projecting another question.
"I can't stand you," Carter mumbles in my ear.
I turn my head towards him, pressing my lips against his ear. "Then sit the fuck down, Conners," I whisper. "I'm winning."
...
Fairridge Prep is for the best of the best.
Sadie Jones, stubborn and clever, is set on being the best. Returning from winter break feeling, more so than ever, that she has stolen her sister's dream, Sadie is determined to spend the rest of Junior year proving that she deserves everything she's worked towards.
Carter Conners, notorious flirt (only when it comes to Sadie), will do anything it takes to not spend the rest of his life working at his parents' diner. Whether it's running for the track team or debating, Carter is always competing, and competing to win.
Sadie and Carter have been rivals since freshman year, constantly bickering and trying to best each other. But when the rivals are thrown into a week long debate competition that, along with getting the top spot on the Principal's List, will guarantee one of them the title of Valedictorian next year, they find themselves enjoying each other's company more than they would've ever expected.
And it leaves them wondering: "Do we really hate each other?"
"You ungrateful bitch. I keep a roof over your head, and this is the thanks I get?"
"You could have killed her," I retort, trying to muster up confidence that I don't possess. "What if she goes to the cops, Dad? That bruise on her face is enough to get you arrested and charged with assault."
"What? You mean when she tripped over the mess you made in the kitchen?" His smile is so wicked that it chills me to my core. "She ain't going to the cops. Hell, she'll probably be back here tomorrow."
"You're a bastard," I whisper, tears filling my eyes. "No wonder Mom left! She probably couldn't bear to spend another second with-"
I'm pushed to the floor. I scramble backwards as he approaches me, his cheeks scarlet with rage, his pupils the size of needle points. In fourteen years, I've never seen him this mad.
I've really done it this time.
--------------------
(COMPLETED) Life is hard when nowhere feels like home.
For Layla Dodds, there is only one goal: survival.
Abandoned by her mother and abused by her father, she dreams of the day she can finally escape the hick town she's been forced to call home. She just has to graduate first. With a genius level IQ and her best friend, Damian, by her side, she thinks she can weather any storm.
Except the universe might have other plans.
Four Walls is a tale of friendship, first loves, heartache, a little bit of magic, and a lot of self-discovery. Join Layla as she tries to make it through the hardest part of any teenager's life: high school.
~Book One in the Mind Over Mayhem series.~