I leaned against the door frame, my eyes settling on the sleeping figure in the bed. The covers were just barely covering his lower half, leaving his chest very visible. His blond hair was out of control, the light from the window making the brown in it stand out. My gaze traveled to his lips where a satisfied smirk held my attention. Giving him one last look, and basking once more in yet another conquest, I slipped down the hall and out the front door. I shut it softly behind me and called for an Uber. He took less than five minutes to appear, and once in the car, I leaned back, thinking about the night before. The way his body felt under my hands, the way his hands felt moving over my body, the way he moaned my name over and over, the way he-
"We're here, ma'am," the driver broke into my thoughts. I threw a five dollar bill on the front seat and climbed out. I walked up the front stairs and opened the door as silently as I could.
"Rosemarie Hathaway!" My best friend scolded as I walked in. "Where were you?"
I looked up and grimaced. "Liss, please. I have a headache."
"Too damn bad. Why didn't you call or text?" she demanded. "You know I worry when you don't call or text me."
"I was busy," I said.
Her eyes widened. "Again, Rose? Really?" Lissa's green eyes oozed with disappointment.
"Lissa, I don't want to hear it again," I tell her. "I know; you think it's unorthodox, yadda, yadda, yadda. Not everybody has a boyfriend who loves them like yours does." I mumble the last part under my breath.
Lissa's eyes narrow. "Maybe if you stopped sleeping around, you could have boyfriend too!"
I roll my eyes at my best friend and make my way back to my room. It's just the way I left it: clothes strewn about and schoolwork from last year that I never finished littered the desk
"Rose," Lissa follows me. "You do realize that today is the first day of senior year, right?"
"Mhmm," I nod, dancing to a silent beat.
"Are you really going to school hungover?" she questioned, half surprised, half not surprised.
"Yes, I'll be fine with some aspirin and a hot shower," I said, dancing past her and into the bathroom. "Give me thirty minutes."
I showered quicker than I normally do, but still long enough that the hot steam relaxed me as the water pounded down my back, rolling out any kinks. I stepped out of the shower twenty minutes later, steam surrounding me. When I stumbled out, and into my room, I found a water bottle and a couple of aspirins sitting on my dresser. Thank you, Lissa.
Opening my closet, I searched for the perfect back-to-school outfit. I pulled out a long sleeve blue romper along with a pair of lace up black wedges. I yanked my brush through my dark brown, almost black hair, trying to get every tangle out. It was a long process, and by the time I was done, my arms were starting to ache. Glancing in the mirror, I saw that the makeup from last night was still there for the most part. Thank God for waterproof makeup. Wiping away the excess that had gathered under my eyes, I walked into the kitchen where Lissa was sitting with Christian, her boyfriend. Our other best friend, Sydney, was also sitting at the table.
"Are wedges really such a great idea?" Lissa questioned, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm hungover, not drunk," I replied. "And I want donuts."
Rolling her eyes, Lissa jiggled her keys and walked out the door. Grinning, I followed her to the second love her life: her black Maserati convertible, a gift from her parents when she turned 16 two years ago. Christian kissed her goodbye, saying he would meet us at school, while me and Sydney got into the car.
After stopping at Dunkin Donuts and getting donuts and ice fruit drinks, we pulled into our school. It felt like the huge sign reading Vladimir High School was mocking me.
"Let's make senior year our bitch!" Sydney announced as she climbed out of the car. Her white knee-length skirt and conservative sweater screamed 'Goody Two-Shoes' but Lissa and I knew otherwise. We also knew that I was definitely rubbing off on her.
"Ooh, perfect Sydney Sage cussed," I laughed and she mock glared at me. "Are you ready to de-nun your closet and buy some real clothes?" I teased and she rolled her eyes at me.
"Sure, Rose," she tells me as we make our way towards the front doors. "I'll buy a new wardrobe, as soon as you wear something out of my closet. Something that I pick."
I wrinkle my nose. "Like hell." I could feel the eyes of the guys on us as we walked through the halls. "I will never, swear on Lissa's life, wear nun clothes."
"Why my life?" Lissa broke away long enough from Christian to interrupt.
Christian guffawed and wrapped his arm around Lissa tighter. "I think Rose would rather die herself than wear something appropriate."
"Damn right." I nodded. Sydney and I shared a smile.
"Sydney Sage!" An arm appears on her shoulder and she smiles up at her boyfriend, Adrian Ivashkov. He was good looking, with chestnut brown hair and emerald green eyes, but he definitely was not my type. Adrian was a senior with us, and I made a rule against sleeping with anybody who could be a potential classmate. That would just be awkward. Not to mention, he's been infatuated with Sydney since the tenth grade.
"Rosie, I picked your schedule up for you," Adrian turns his head to look at me and hands me the piece of paper. The nickname sends a shiver down my spine, and a dark room, lit by one single dangling light bulb filled my brain. I stumbled, and Lissa shot me a look. "I told you not to wear those."
"I'm fine," I brushed her off in favor of swinging by my locker.
Christian and Lissa immediately lean up next to my locker, whispering to each other, while Adrian turned back to me. "So, who did you sleep with last night?"
I grinned lazily at Adrian, snapping out of my thoughts. "What makes you think I slept with anyone?"
"Because I know you, Rosie, for my entire life. I can tell," Adrian smirked. Damn. We had known each other since we were born and he knew everything about me. He was the male Lissa, in a way, when it came to my secrets and trust.
I shrugged. "His name started with an -I, I think. Ian, Isaac, Ira," I shrug again. "Ooh, it was Ivan. That was his name."
Adrian shakes his head at me, his disappointment obviously fake. "What's your first class?"
"AP European History with Matev." I said, looking down at the room number.
"We are together for first period then," Adrian smiled and held his hand up for a high-five. "The two of us can fail AP together."
"Speak for yourself," I teased. I took his paper to glance over it. "We also have last period together. HOPE with Belikov."
I part from Lissa and Christian who were off to English, while Adrian and Sydney follow me. Sydney wasn't in our class, having taken it last year, but her AP Calculus class was in the same direction. I was glad to have Adrian in the class, instead of being completely alone.
I spent AP Euro daydreaming about last night, since everybody knows that the first week of classes doesn't mean shit. If I slept with the same person more than once, I would definitely be giving Ivan a call. He made sure to program his number into my phone last night before falling asleep. My thoughts soon drifted to my many casual affairs. No guys has ever said no to me. Everybody already knows that Rose Hathaway was damn good at flirting and even better in bed. I was, in a way, a queen. And my prize? The hearts of those I seduced. Not once had I slept with someone who never asked for a date afterwards. I was jolted from my thoughts by the bell ringing overhead, and Adrian elbowed me.
"Daydreaming on the first day?" he teased, tsking.
I shrugged. "You know as well as I do that the first week doesn't matter."
We had to separate from each other for our next class, with him going to culinary, and me to chemistry. I wasn't completely sure how I ended up in chemistry instead of another science, but I was just thankful that it wasn't physics. Chemistry was actually interesting, and for once, I could see myself enjoying science.
I knew for sure that I would be alone in my third period, since it was algebra two, and I was most likely the only senior. Most of the students in the class were sophomores and juniors, with one or two freshmen.
"Miss Hathaway," Mr. Carmody says as I walked in the class. "Didn't you take this last year?"
"I failed, remember?" I told him. Instead of taking algebra two in my sophomore year, like I was supposed to, I took financial algebra instead, which was way easier once I got the hang of things. I was hoping to be put into statistics, but the school required that I take algebra two, which didn't go well.
The period went by the slowest of all, likely because I actually bothered to pay attention. Carmody assigned homework, probably the only teacher to do so today, even though it wasn't due until we finished the section next week.
When the bell rang, I was the first one up, ready to leave the hellhole of math and get to lunch. I was beyond hungry, having burned so many calories last night, plus it meant that I got to see Lissa.
"Ready for HOPE, Rosie?" Adrian teased, sitting down at the table beside me. "I've heard that Belikov is a complete hard ass."
"You should have just taken it when we did," Sydney said. She and Lissa had been put into it freshman year, which I had managed to avoid it until now.
"I was trying to use it to fulfill my online requirement," I mumbled. "I already know how to stay healthy."
Lissa rolled her eyes. "That's not what the class is about and you know it."
When the bell signaling lunch was over rang, Sydney and Lissa went the opposite way, off to woodshop. Our classroom was in the opposite direction, and we slipped inside the classroom as the warning bell rang. The room was mostly full of students and we sat in the first paired seats we saw, which just happened to be in front of the desk.
There was a door behind the desk that was shut, and I assumed Belikov was in there, since he wasn't anywhere else in the room. This was one of the newer classrooms that had an office added to it to allow for students to visit with the teachers. About half of the classes had these now, and I had heard that the school hoped for all of the classrooms to have them by the time we came back from winter break.
The door to the teacher's office opened and a man walked in, wearing a crisp white button down shirt and a pair of black slacks. He had brown hair, pulled back at the nape of his neck and his brown eyes, shades lighter than mine, missed nothing. His eyes connected with me and my mouth went dry.
"My name is Mr. Belikov and I will be your teacher for Health and Physical Education this year," the man said, writing on the board. "Any questions?" he asked, turning around to face us.
"How old are you?" A girl called from the back.
"That's not particularity any of your business, but I'm 24," he said, scanning the class with boredom.
"You married?" A guy two seats over asked, jealousy evident in his voice, as the most of the freshman and sophomore girls stared at Mr. Belikov with lust.
Please, please don't tell me that he-. My breath caught in my throat as his eyes locked on mine. Something passed in his eyes too quickly for me to decipher, but I knew right then and there that I was going to make him mine.
"No, I'm not," he answered. "Are there any questions about the class? I'm here to teach you, not spill about my personal life."
A few people actually did have questions, but I zoned out, already thinking about how this was going to end. Screw that he was my teacher. I vowed then and there that I would have him. After all, nobody ever said no to Rosemarie Hathaway, I was the queen of hearts.