Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

stated she preferred to be called Adrian? Even as she opened her mouth to protest, she saw how small the teacher’s eyes were, and she knew it would do no good.
    “Yes sir.” She turned around in her seat. “My name is—”
    “Stand up, so everyone can see you.”
    Her face felt hot, but thank God, no one would ever know because she never blushed easily. It was a useless talent usually, but here, it was her saving grace. She rose to her full height and stood next to the teacher. It gave her a small satisfaction to realize she was taller than him.
    They were all watching her.
    Everywhere Adrian looked, she saw guarded expressions. She’d seen most of them outside, hanging near Alex. And even if they hadn’t been there, self-preservation united these students. No one wanted to associate with the girl who’d insulted Alex Montgomery’s on-and-off girlfriend and who’d drawn the teacher’s ire.
    Alex had his head tipped back. Even from here, Adrian saw amusement in his eyes. He was the only one smiling, and that made things worse.
    “Hello. I’m Adrian Blake, and I’ve just moved here from Chicago. As you already know, I will be Alex Montgomery’s stepsister.” Now she put on a smile that felt natural. “I usually like English. But I hate English when it’s mauled by small-minded teachers who abuse their positions because it’s how they get off. Thank you.”
    Someone barked out a laugh before burying his head in his arms. One of the female students, a pretty Asian girl, exchanged incredulous glances with an Asian guy as if confirming they’d heard what she’d just said. Even Alex’s friends looked surprised, but in the end, they all stared at the teacher.
    The man quivered from head to toe. That was the only way to describe what was happening to him. “Detention,” he snarled.
    “Yes sir.” She lifted her chin. “I’d like some fries too.”
    “Detention for one week.”
    “Yes sir. Are you going to make it two?”
    “Are you mocking me, Ms. Blake?”
    “That would be pretty hard to do, sir, when you’re doing a good job, yourself.”
    More gasps and more snorts of laughter from the students. They’d abandoned the pretense they weren’t amused.
    The teacher stomped toward her. His face was so dark that Adrian almost feared for his health, but he just pointed to the door.
    “Dean’s office,” he spat, still trembling. Even his finger bobbed up and down in the air. “Consider yourself an honored guest of the detention room for a month. I want a ten-page essay about why insubordination is not allowed, on my desk tomorrow. I look forward to teaching you, Ms. Blake.”
    Adrian grabbed her things. “I look forward to being taught by a man who is so threatened by his students that he has to resort to bullying.”
    She walked out of the room with people’s whispers filling her ears.
    Once she was outside in the hallway, she closed her eyes and sagged against a locker. “Oh my God,” she whispered. What had just happened back in that room? She had never talked back to her teachers in Chicago. Never.
    The last half hour flashed in her mind like a film projector. The gauntlet of harassment she’d faced from Mandy Fitzpatrick, Quentin Maxwell, and now this teacher. Had she been too harsh, too confrontational? Sure, she’d mouthed off to the teacher, but it wasn’t her fault he hated her just because he hated Alex.
    Unhappy, Adrian trudged to the main office. One of the secretaries directed her to one of the deans’ offices. Apparently the deans dealt with disciplinary problems while the principal dealt with administrative problems.
    A guy was already sitting outside Dean Efken’s office. His spiky hair extended a full three inches, his light brown hair dark from so much hairspray. The sweet incense smell emanating from his blue shirt and khaki shorts told Adrian why he was here, but since he beamed at her, she smiled back. It was quite possibly the only nice smile she’d had