Keeley avoided school for a week by pretending to have a terrible flu. She knew her father's aversion to illness—he was a sympathetic puker and incredibly squeamish over all.

　　All she had to do was put a baggie of hot water on her face for a few minutes each day to fake a fever and she was able to stay safely away from Aaron Hale.

　　In between makeup a.s.signments her teachers emailed to her and watching a lot of bad reality TV (a guilty pleasure), she tried to think of ways to get Aaron off her back. She had nothing.

　　If he only wanted her to fall down and wors.h.i.+p at his feet, why had he gone so far as to kiss her? Was he trying to get together only to dump her and show everyone how insignificant she was?

　　She wouldn't put it past him considering his cla.s.sist nature. More likely than not, the whole thing was nothing but a twisted joke not to be taken seriously. But how should she react when she saw him again? She couldn't avoid school forever.

　　Keeley mailed the box of presents back to him using a fake name and address so his father wouldn't be able to investigate her. She preferred to avoid confrontation.

　　Maybe she could pretend nothing happened when they met again. As of right now, she had no plans to ever speak to him again. Having partic.i.p.ation points docked would be far superior to interacting with that creep.

　　Luck wasn't on her side though. The day she came back, Keeley was dismayed to discover that an important partner project had been a.s.signed that was worth a significant chunk of their grade and she was stuck with the last person on earth she wanted to work with.

　　They had to co-author a series of Shakespearean love sonnets to inanimate objects instead of people within the next three days.

　　Wouldn't this sort of writing a.s.signment be better done individually?! Why did teachers always have to emphasize group work? Literally no one liked group projects!

　　"So when do you want to do this, partner?" Aaron asked coolly, looking over at her as she laid her head on the desk exhaustedly. "Lunchtime in the library?"

　　School was definitely out of the question. Too many people could spread gossip and incite Lacy's rage.

　　"No, I have something else going on at lunch."