Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“You know the drill,” he said as he fumbled with the papers. “Say ‘here’ when I call your name. Adams, Jessie.”
“Here,” a redhead in the front row squeaked.
Mr. Jones marked the paper. “Alton, Gage.”
“Here,” was the bored reply from a gangly boy a few seats down from Taliana.
“Avilla, Taliana.”
“Here,” she called, causing a few stunned heads to turn her way.
Taliana tried to ignore the stares, choosing instead to busy herself by drawing random patterns with her fingertip on the desktop. A whisper passed between two girls in front of her, bringing on a bout of giggles.
“Ladies, please,” the teacher scolded, making the two fall silent. “Bryant, Maxwell.”
And just like that, Taliana was out of the spotlight again. No one was staring at her anymore, but a couple phones had been whipped out, their owners furiously texting. The unmistakable sound of a phone camera came from the girl beside Taliana, who blushed and put away the device when Taliana shot her a glare. Apparently, she was some sort of celebrity around here, famous enough to get her picture snapped by the resident paparazzi.
She already couldn’t wait to get out of there.
Homeroom ended not long after, and Taliana left as soon as she could. This time, however, there was a noticeable difference when she entered the busy hallways. Stares followed her and whispers sprung up, and she had a feeling they weren’t just talking about the length of her skirt.
“I can’t believe she’s actually back,” Taliana heard someone murmur as she passed by.
“Didn’t she get expelled back in sixth grade?”
“Guess they took her back. I wonder if Sebastian knows.”
Taliana sunk her teeth into her bottom lip to keep from cursing. She’d almost forgotten she needed to keep an eye out for him, since running into Sebastian was the last thing she wanted to do. Now that she had her ring back, any contact with him was absolutely unnecessary and would probably bring about pain for both of them, physical and emotional.
Luckily, Taliana was able to breathe a sigh of relief when she breezed into Ms. Cohen’s classroom without having seen Sebastian anywhere. Most of the class had already taken their seats, leaving two empty desks side by side near the door. Taliana took the one on the inside and dropped her bag, this time occupying herself by fiddling mindlessly with her phone. The bell signaling the start of first period sounded just as the last person slipped inside the room and took the seat beside Taliana. Curious to see who the latecomer was, she glanced to her left, expecting to see an unfamiliar face.
It was anything but.
“Oh god, not you,” Taliana groaned, staring into the face of none other than Sebastian Phillips.
It took a second for him to register who she was, but a scowl soon made its way to his face. “This has got to be some sort of joke.”
“I’m just as unhappy about this as you are,” she hissed, turning away from him. “Don’t talk to me and we’ll be fine.”
“All right, people,” Ms. Cohen began, choosing the perfect time to interrupt. “I recognize most of you, so we’ll save roll call until the end of class and just get started.” The young teacher pushed a few books aside and perched on the edge of her desk. “This year we’re going to be putting the buddy system into effect. This person will be your partner for the two group projects we have this year, so hopefully you’ll work well together. Rows one and two, get to know whoever’s sitting next to you, because you’re now partners.”
Taliana’s head hit the desk with a bang and a loud groan came from the asshole next to her. This was just her stupid luck.
Out of the corner of her eye Taliana saw the teacher raise an eyebrow.
“Is there a problem I should be aware of?” she asked, turning to Taliana and Sebastian.
Taliana lifted her head off the desk and shot her a pleading look. “Ms. Cohen, unless you really want to witness a bloody brawl every morning, it would probably be a bad idea to pair us together.”
“A very bad idea,” Sebastian concurred. “If you weren’t aware, this is the girl who tried to kill me back in sixth grade. I don’t think anyone would blame me if I said I fear for my life every time she’s in my presence.”
Of course he had to use the same argument every damn time.
Taliana threw her hands up as she turned to him. “I didn’t try to kill you!”
“You hit me with a baseball bat!”
“Only because you punched me!”
“You pushed me first!”
“Well, you were badmouthing my mother!”
Sebastian looked too smug for Taliana’s taste. “Yeah, but you were the one who started the actual fight.”
“Don’t even think about putting all the blame on me.”
“Too late for that, Stick Girl.”
Taliana was seeing red by that point, and hearing her past nickname wasn’t making anything better. “Stop calling me that!”
A taunting smirk found its way to his lips. “What are you gonna do to stop me,
Stick Girl?”
“Oh, I’ll show you what I’m gonna do about it,
Cry Baby .”
She lunged for him, but he narrowly missed being sacked to the ground by sliding out of his seat just in time. However, she stopped short on a second attempt when a furious Ms. Cohen stepped between them.
“That’s enough!” she shouted. “Headmaster’s office,? now!”
* * *
“I wish you had never been? born .”