Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 65

In three days, the Undead Lord will be on his way to Sancova.

* * *

It took Lainey a few seconds to realize she wasn't in her own bedroom when she woke up. She sat up, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand.

"What time is it?" she groaned as she reached underneath her pillow for her phone. About twenty minutes until her alarm goes off.

"You're up early."

Lainey turned to her mother's bedroom entrance and shrieked.

"What are you doing here?" she said, quickly hiding underneath her comforter.

"I wanted to see you," Benjamin said.

"Seriously?"

"Is that a bad thing?"

Lainey sighed.

"I have to get ready for school."

"Why are you hiding?"

"I-I'm not hiding."

"Show me your face."

"No!"

"You're hiding." There was amusement in his voice.

"You can go any time now."

"But I came all this way just to see you."

"What, it took you all of a minute or two?"

"Doesn't subtract the miles between us."

Lainey couldn't help but smile.

"God, you're so cheesy," she whispered, revealing half her face. "There. Happy?"

Benjamin's eyes softened.

"Actually I came here to ask you something. I guess I didn't realize how early it was. It can wait."

He walked away.

"Benjamin, wait!" Lainey said, jumping out of bed.

He stepped back into the doorway.

"I get home from work around ten-thirty. You can come see me around eleven."

"I'll be here." He nodded toward her and smiled. "Nice bed head."

She shrieked again as she buried her face in her palms.

"You weren't supposed to see me like this," she squeaked. "I swear I don't usually wake up like th--"

When she looked up, Benjamin was gone.

"Miss Wright!"

All eyes were on Fawn as she sat up, awoken from her sleep for the third time during Webb's lesson.

"Apparently my lesson isn't stimulating enough for you," he said, approaching her desk. "Maybe you're . . . above all this. That it? You know it all?"

"I had a long night, Mr. Webb," she croaked. "I'm sorry."

He began laughing.

"She had a long night," he repeated to the class, laughing louder. None of the other students joined him. "We all have responsibilities, Miss Wright. I stay up until three in the morning every night, grading papers and planning lessons only to have my students fall asleep in my class and fail it." He leaned in Fawn's face, something he was good for doing. "But you want to be treated like a special little snowflake, don't you?"

Fawn grimaced.

"I'm going to ask that you get out of my face," Fawn whispered. "And I'm only going to ask once."