ZOE'S POV
My head felt like someone was using it as a drum. The sunlight streaming through my bedroom window made everything worse, and my mouth tasted like I'd licked the bottom of a shoe.
Wine. Too much wine. The memories of last night came flooding back, and I groaned into my pillow.
The restaurant. Professor Mercer looking worried about my drinking. The cab ride home. And before that...
The kiss.
Oh God, I'd kissed my professor.
I dragged myself out of bed, my legs shaky and unsteady. I needed water immediately, or I was going to die.
I stumbled toward the kitchen, squinting against the bright lights Marcus always insisted on keeping on. All I wanted was to grab a glass of water and crawl back into bed until this headache went away.
But Marcus was standing by the coffee maker, fully dressed and looking like he'd been awake for hours.
"There she is," he said, his voice cold. "The party girl."
"Not now, Marcus," I mumbled, reaching for a glass from the cabinet. "I feel like death."
"I'm sure you do. Care to explain why you were out so late last night with Leo Mercer?"
I paused with the glass halfway to the sink. "How did you—"
"You stumbled out of a taxi at midnight, reeking of alcohol. It doesn't take a detective to figure out you weren't studying."
"I drove him to see his physiotherapist," I said, filling the glass with cold water. "He was having problems with his hand, and I offered to help."
Marcus scoffed. "His physiotherapist? At night? Come on, Zoe. You're smarter than that."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means this is probably just his way of trying to take advantage of you."
I nearly dropped my water glass. My half-closed eyes snapped wide open, and I turned to stare at him.
"What? Where is this coming from?"
"You're a young, attractive woman, and he's a man with a reputation—"
"A reputation for what? Being a good teacher?"
"A reputation for taking advantage of people or..."
"That's not true." I cut him off.
"Isn't it? Then why did he look ready to kill me yesterday when I tried to discipline you?"
My cheeks burned with anger. "Discipline me? Is that what you call trying to hit me?"
Marcus didn't answer, which was answer enough.
I pushed past him, heading back toward my room. "I'm not having this conversation."
"Zoe, wait—"
"No." I spun around to face him. "You followed me, yelling about me getting drunk. Well, guess what? I'm twenty-two years old. I'm an adult. If I want to have a glass of wine, I can have a glass of wine."
"A glass? You had an entire bottle—"
"I had a few glasses, and it's none of your business anyway."
I drank the entire glass of water in one go, then refilled it. The cold liquid helped, but my head was still pounding.
"Marcus," I said, turning to face him again. "This needs to be the last time you try to hit me. If you ever raise your hand to me again, I'll have you reported. To the school, to social services, to whoever will listen."
His face went pale. With that, I walked away, leaving him standing in the kitchen looking stunned.
Back in my room, I headed straight for the bathroom. A hot shower might help wash away the rest of this hangover and the awful conversation with Marcus.
The hot water felt amazing against my skin, and I stood under the spray for longer than I probably should have. When I finally got out, I felt almost human again.
I was just pulling on jeans and a sweater when my phone started ringing.
"Hello?" I answered without looking at the caller ID.
"Hey, babe," Kai's cheerful voice came through the speaker. "You ready? I'm downstairs."
"Ready for what?"
"We were going to grab breakfast, remember? And then hit the bookstore?"
I had completely forgotten. "Oh. Right. Can you give me like five more minutes?"
"Sure thing. Take your time."
I hung up and quickly finished getting dressed, grabbing my bag. I headed downstairs when my phone rang again.
This time I looked at the screen before answering, just as Kai’s face appeared beside his car.
It was Professor Mercer.
My heart skipped a beat, and suddenly I was back in that restaurant last night, my arms around his neck, his lips warm against mine.
"Aren't you going to pick up?" Kai asked. I hadn't realized he'd come close to me.
He was looking at my phone screen, reading the name. "Mercer's calling."
I nodded and swiped to answer. "Hello, Professor."
"Miss Washington." His voice was formal, professional. Like nothing had happened between us. "I wanted to let you know that I won't be available for our session today. I have a faculty meeting that's running long."
"Oh. Okay."
"You don't need to come in either. Use the time to prepare for the trip tomorrow."
"What trip?"
There was a pause. "You didn't receive the email from the administration?"
"I... I haven't checked my email this morning."
"There's a competition in Los Angeles. It's just for two days. You'll be representing our conservatory against other music programs. Didn't you get the notification?"
My heart started racing, but not from anxiety. From excitement.
"I'll check my email right now," I said.
"Good. We leave tomorrow morning at six. Don't be late."
The line went dead.
I immediately opened my email app, scrolling through until I found the message from the conservatory administration.
"Annual West Coast Music Competition - Los Angeles, California. Selected students will compete in various categories..."
I squealed, actually squealed, and started bouncing on my toes.
"Good news?" Kai asked, but he was watching me with a strange expression.
"I'm going to LA! There's this competition, and I get to represent the school, and—"
"Who else is going?"
"I don't know. Probably some other students, and Professor Mercer will be there as faculty supervisor."
I was practically vibrating with excitement. Two days in Los Angeles with Leo. Two days away from Marcus and his controlling behavior. Two days where we could just focus on music and maybe figure out what was happening between us.
Even though he hadn't mentioned the kiss on the phone, I wasn't bothered. We were going on a trip together. That had to mean something, right?
"Zoe," Kai said, as he opened the car door for me to enter. Something in his tone made me look at him. "Can I ask you something?"
"Sure." I replied and slouched into the car seat.
Kai walked round and also got into the driver's seat, ignited the car engine into action before asking me. "Do you like him? Romantically?"
My jaw dropped. The question hit me like a physical blow, probably because I'd been trying so hard not to think about the answer.
"I... what? Why would you ask that?"
"Because of the way you just lit up when you found out you're going on a trip with him. Because of the way you've been talking about him for weeks. Because you look like you're in love."
Before I could formulate any kind of response, he added quietly, "Just be careful, okay? I know you think he's this great guy, but he's your professor. And he's a lot older than you. I don't want to see you get hurt."
I stared at him, my mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water.