Filed to story: Once Upon a One Night Mistake Book PDF Free by Simone Shirazi
“I’m being sent home,” she grumbled. “You staying or coming with me?”
He matched her step for step, giving her his answer. “You didn’t get in too much trouble, did you?”
“No. Well, at least not yet. Turns out Zak was dumb enough to use his own phone to send those photos, but I got reamed for letting him take them in the first place. Hawthorne accused me of knowingly releasing those, which is bullshit. The only bright side is that Zak could be facing child pornography charges.”
“And if we can’t prove you had nothing to do with it?”
“Then I might be expelled for creating the photos and charged along with him. It’s all shitty victim blaming.” She shot him a sour look. “But I don’t want to think about it.”
He nodded understandingly. “You want me to drive you home?”
“Not home,” she said quickly, as if a thought had just occurred to her. “Take me to Thomas Sweet. I want ice cream. I? deserve ice cream.”
Sebastian couldn’t help but smile slightly. “Your wish is my command.”
The ride to the ice cream shop was a silent one, and the only thing that escaped Taliana’s lips upon arriving was a demand for a waffle cone with three scoops of coffee ice cream, making Sebastian consider how badly this whole affair had affected her. Like a champ, she played it off as if it weren’t a huge deal, but he was starting to see the cracks in her facade.
The only time he took his gaze off her was to order a scoop of mint chocolate chip and slide a twenty to the man behind the counter, but his attention was back on her as they grabbed a table outside.
When she spoke again, she’d already managed to get through the first two scoops and was staring forlornly at the last one.
“You should’ve let me kick his ass,” she mumbled, shooting Sebastian a peeved look.
He raised an eyebrow as he finished the last melted bite and tossed the spoon into the empty cup. “I thought we were past this.”
Taliana shook her head and dumped what was left of her cone into the trash can a couple feet away. “I really wanted to punch Zak’s lights out.”
“Didn’t you get that out of your system by practically fighting me?”
“It’s not the same,” she sighed, casting her eyes to the table before locking on him again. “What Jude accomplished will pale in comparison to what I plan on doing next time I see that bastard.”
“Don’t worry about Zak.” The words were out of his mouth before he could catch himself, and he only hoped the plan he’d put in action earlier would work. “I’ll take care of it.”
She cocked her head to the side. “Oh? And what are you planning on doing?”
“Just leave it to me,” he said, flashing what he hoped was a comforting smile.
What she had said earlier was true: nothing so far had really happened to him. In fact, he remained practically unscathed while Taliana had taken blow upon blow. Even he could admit that it was unfair, so he figured it was time to step up in the only way he knew how.
Bribery.
Taliana didn’t really look like she believed him but nodded nonetheless as she got up from her seat. “I’m going home. You going back to school?”
“Yeah. You need a ride?”
“Nah, I’m close enough to walk.” She shouldered her bag and took a step back. “Call me later and tell me how big the shitstorm at school is.”
He nodded, finally seeing the exhaustion in her eyes, which only reinforced his drive to take care of this for her. She deserved that much. “I will. Now get out of here.”
A weak smile pulled on one side of her mouth as she turned away and started down the block. Sebastian watched her until she disappeared around the corner before getting up and making his way back toward the car.
Third period was just a few seconds away from starting when Sebastian strolled back into Trinity, but instead of encountering empty hallways, he was met with a crowd. He somehow managed to find Marcus in the sea of people and leaned down to ask what was going on.
“Hawthorne’s got Blair cornered,” he whispered, nodding toward the pair a few feet in front of them. “Michael told him she had something to do with those pictures too.”
“Wait, did she really?”
Marcus shook his head. “Nope. But he wants her gone too. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
It really would have been. And even if it hadn’t been her fault, she still deserved to have something pinned on her.
“Mr. Richardson,” the headmaster said, obviously not pleased that one of the school’s biggest troublemakers was somehow involved with this. “You say you know of someone else who’s involved in the scandal currently rocking my school?”
Obviously unafraid of being a snitch, Michael pointed at Blair. “No one other than this conniving girl, sir. She had something to do with the distribution of the photos, even if it was Zak Huntington who actually sent them. She’s had it out for Taliana since day one.”
“So I’ve been told.” Hawthorne sighed, glancing down at Blair, who was openly glaring at Michael.
“I had nothing to do with this,” she angrily refuted. “It was all-“
“Miss Bakhtiar, I think you’ve caused enough trouble for one day,” Hawthorne interrupted, and it was clear then that she wouldn’t get a chance to defend herself. “I’m going to have to contact your parents and inform them of what you’ve done, then we’ll settle on a punishment.”
She scoffed humorlessly. “My father’s overseas this week for work. I doubt you’ll get ahold of him.”
Headmaster Hawthorne frowned. “And your mother? Where is she?”
Sebastian froze as he watched Blair lift her chin a fraction of an inch. Her mother was always a touchy subject, something no one ever brought up unless they wanted to be on Blair’s shit list forever. A twinge of pity for his ex flared in his chest, only because he wished what she’d been through on no one.
“My mother is dead,” she said simply. “You should know that, given you attended her memorial service.”
Hawthorne’s face turned a deep shade of mauve. “Forgive me, Blair. I wasn’t thinking.”
“Obviously,” she snapped. “Now if you’re going to call my father, hurry up and do it. It’s getting late on the other side of the world.”
Hawthorne muttered something inaudible as he ushered her down the hall. As they passed Sebastian, Blair lifted her eyes to shoot him such a jarring glare that he couldn’t help but take a half step back. Still, he managed to keep her gaze until she and the Penguin made it past him, soon disappearing into the main office.
Now that the show was over, the crowd began clearing. Sebastian only managed to get a nod of acknowledgement to Michael before he too was swept away to his next class.