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up his books and follows me outside. Running to catch up, he falls in step beside me. “He played you, you know. You walked right into his trap.” He laughs softly, but I have no idea what he’s talking about.
    I shrug. “What’s he going to have me do? Clean the desks and knead all the erasers until my hands cramp?”
    The corners of Carter’s lips twitch as he tries to hide his amusement. “Nope. You just signed up to be the model in the Tuesday night figure drawing class.”
    “What?” I stop walking and every thought flies out of my head. “I did not!”
    He’s laughing. “You totally did. He suckered you into it. Dr. Jax always pulls shit like that.”
    I punch Carter’s arm to make him stop sniggering, but he just laughs harder. “I can’t be a model!”
    “No one wants to be the model. Like, ever. But it is difficult to learn how to draw when there aren’t any volunteers.”
    I’m standing in the quad with my jaw on the grass. “I volunteered to be a model?”
    “Yup.”
    “In a figure drawing class?”
    “Yup. Now, connect the dots, freshman.” Carter’s eyes sparkle, the smile on his lips growing broader.
    Horrified, I look him in the face. “It’s a figure drawing class, so the model is… Oh God.”
    Carter chuckles. “Yeah, God can’t help you. You signed up to be the nude model. It’ll be way better than drawing the same old, wrinkled dude that usually shows up.”
    My eyes shift slowly to the side, and glance at him. “You’re in that class?”
    “Kerry, every upper classmen in the department is in that class. Don’t worry. I bet you won’t be the only model he suckers into it.”
    “Really?” I ask hopefully.
    “No. I seriously doubt it. I was just trying to make you feel better.” He pauses and smiles. “Come on, it’s not like it matters. You’ve drawn nudes before.” Carter tugs my elbow and starts us walking toward the main building.
    My feet move slowly, but my mind is reeling, spinning like a top, struggling to figure out how to get out of this situation. “Yeah, I’ve drawn nudes, but they’re other people. I’m not a model! Carter, you have to help me.”
    “I tried.” I give him a look and he amends his statement. “Okay, I didn’t try very hard. I’m selfish and you’re beautiful. I bet he lets you wear a drape or something. Don’t worry about it.”
    “I’m going to puke.”
    Carter pulls the glass doors open and walks inside with me. We grab lunch and he takes me over to a table filled with art freaks. My people. I sit down next to a guy with blue hair and a pierced face, like everything is pierced—his nose, eyebrow, cheek, lip, and tongue.
    Blue-haired boy points a fork at me. “Who’s the new girl?”
    Carter answers, “Kerry Hill. She fell for Jax’s setup.”
    Blue looks me over and shrugs. “Score.”
    I want to bury my face in my mashed potatoes and die. “Why doesn’t the school hire models? Like, real models who don’t care about taking off their clothes in public?”
    Sitting across from me, a girl wearing a solid black outfit laughs, “Like that’ll ever happen. They’re tightwads and don’t want to pay for it. So we get to draw the same old geezer over and over. Frankly, it’ll be nice not drawing wrinkles for a change.” She glances up at me and points her fork at my chest. “Don’t you dare back out of it.”
    Carter answers, before I can explain. “She can’t. Kerry made a public declaration that she was up for whatever he could dish out.”
    Goth Girl’s eyes widen slightly. “You poor kid. He really suckered her that badly?” Carter nods. “What an asswipe. Did he ask you to leave?” I nod. “Yeah, he did the same thing to me a couple of years ago.”
    “You modeled?”
    She laughs, like I’m adorable. “Hell no. He needed a sucker to rebuild the class parade float in two nights because some asshole got shitfaced and torched it to the ground.” She stuffs a piece of hotdog into her mouth and adds,