Katie swore under her breath and dragged Aaron over to the opposite side of the room from the voice; Aaron was looking frantically around the room trying to see who had spoken, but was having no luck since Katie was dragging him so quickly.

“Man, you’re still as strong as ever,” Aaron muttered, massaging his arm as Katie pushed him into a seat beside her.

She was taking a book out of her bag, but she managed to give him the evil eye pretty well anyway.

Aaron leaned over to her. “What was that all about?”

Katie was staring straight ahead now, looking down at where the professor would be standing within moments. “Nothing. Just forget it.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever forget about some ass thinking you think you’re too good for everybody.”

As she was flipping pages in a notebook, she looked over at him. “That made very little sense.”

“You know I don’t make sense when I’m angry.”

“Aaron, just leave it, okay? He’s an ass so let’s not talk about him. Tell me how Brendan is. I haven’t seen him for a while.”

“He’s fine; don’t change the subject.” He leaned over so his mouth was right next to her ear. This move served two purposes. One was so that they wouldn’t be overheard by all the students filing in around them, and the second was because he knew it would unnerve her and she’d confess. “Katie, why is that jerk being…a jerk?”

She shifted her head slightly to look at him; to an outsider, it would probably have looked like they were about to kiss, but Katie looking pretty pissed so it was obvious to Aaron he wouldn’t be getting any romantic overtures.

“I wouldn’t go out with him. Can you leave it alone now, PLEASE?”

Aaron pulled back a little and stared at her. “That’s it? You turned him down?”

“Yup.” She turned in her seat again so she wouldn’t have to look him in the eye.

“What a bastard.”

“No kidding.”

The professor came in and set a briefcase on the table in front of him; everyone around them quieted down slightly.

“So, how do you know him?”

“What do you mean?” Katie questioned, a pen poised over a blank page of notebook paper. “He’s in this class.”

“I mean, do you know him?”

Katie sighed in aggravation and leaned over to him to hiss into his ear. “He came to my apartment. He wanted me to go to a party. I said no. I don’t like parties. Especially the one he was suggesting we go to which, by the way, was called Dress to Get Screwed. He didn’t like being turned down and attempted to force himself on me. I said I was going to call the police. He said ‘What, are you too good for me?’ and then he proceeded to call me ‘baby’. I kicked him in the balls; he doubled over in pain. He’s been pissy with me ever since.”

Aaron’s eyes were wide when he asked the next question. “How long ago was this?”

Katie thought for a minute. “Freshman year, I think. He’s been calling me that ever since. As fate would have it, he’s been in a class with me every freaking semester. I’m tickled pink, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Aaron agreed wryly, tapping his fingers against the desk and looking around. “So, which one is he?”

“Can you be quiet now? I need to pass the next exam.”

Aaron gritted his teeth and leaned over to her again. “Which. One. Is. He.”

Katie sneered at him but indiscreetly pointed two rows below them to the right, where a guy with a thick neck was draped across a thin, blond stick insect.

“Name?”

A sigh. “Aaron.”

“No, that’s my name. What’s HIS name?”

“Jock McJock.”

“Ha ha. Katie, come on. You know I won’t rest until you tell me.”

“Bruce.”

“Bruce?”

“Yes.” She pointed to the professor, who was talking about some sort of painting that was being projected onto the wall. “Education now. Okay?”

Aaron nodded mutely and leaned back in his seat, tuning out everything around him. He was too busy to pay attention, as he was formulating a plan.