Life After Life

•C h a p t e r F i v e•

The professor's voice flew in through one ear and out the other. He had begun teaching and I was in no mood for it. My hands picked at a piece of lined paper, tearing it into small pieces in my binder.

Avery's words were running through my mind and I couldn't believe I never noticed how true they were. For lack of better words Hunter was a dick. And my mom liked him, that should have been enough of a hint.

He wouldn't let me ride on my motorcycle, keep my hair up, wear red lipstick and at events he always picked my outfit.

Liam's voice from next to me interrupted my thoughts, "The plaintiff is correct because according to the Privacy Act they had their personal information disclosed with third parties without their consent."

I rolled my eyes from the sound of his voice. Unfortunately, since both Liam and I were the last ones to arrive, there were only two seats left and they were right in front of the professor.

Now I had to listen to Liam's stupid voice. This was the third time he answered a question.

"Okay," the professor wore a satisfied smile on his face. He turned around to scribble something on the whiteboard behind him.

"Try hard," I coughed under my breath. "You're not the only one who did the pre-reading." I huffed. I had done it with Avery briefly the night before, but I hadn't expected that Liam would be one to show off. He was pretentious even in this life.

"Idiot," Liam shot back without hesitation. I eyed him from the corner of my eye, only to see a smug smile on his face. I gritted my teeth. There was no way I'd let him win.

"Is there a different way we can look at this?" the professor's voice echoed through the room and I turned my attention back to the front.

My hand shot up at the same time Liam's did. He gawked at me from his seat which I returned it with a toothy smile.

"The defendant actually consented when he signed the terms and conditions without reading it," I said all in one breath.

"Oh please, that's a novice's answer," Liam whispered in my ear. My shoulders tensed at that comment and I took a deep breath. It was the only way I could keep from strangling him.

"Excellent, just what I was looking for. That concludes our class for today," the professor beamed at fact that someone other than Liam actually participated.

"Tell that to the prof," I smirked at him.

"I'll need everyone to read the cases from pages 15- 50 for tomorrow's class. That's all," the professor continued from the front.

Immediately, the class erupted in the relieved voices of other students, mixed with groans about the amount we had to read tonight. I stood up to pack my binder and pen away.

Novice. I was anything but that. Here Liam was, acting arrogant and rude when he had no right to be. If anything I should be the one throwing insults — not him.

I brushed past Liam on my way to the door as I mentally prepared myself for my option class soon. I had chosen Anatomy and Physiology for the fun of it but now I was suddenly regretting it.

A pair of hands tugged on my backpack, pulling me backwards. I staggered back with a grunt. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

"Hey!" I snapped, glaring at Liam.

"I think you owe me an apology, Ophelia," his voice was low as he leaned in close to me, but there was still a smug look plastered all over his face. "For yesterday."

I swallowed hard, taking a step back to calm my racing heart. All of a sudden, my brain became muddled. He seemed satisfied at my reaction.

My eyes traveled to his jaw and sure enough there was a bruise on his face — an ugly shade of yellow and purple.