Chapter 4

Sakura

With tears in my eyes, I stared at the word DETENTION, written in large red capital letters, on the slip of paper in my trembling hand. In all my years of schooling, I had never once gotten detention, been written up, or even scolded by a teacher.

But today, on my eighteenth birthday, my favorite teacher had given me detention.

For nothing. I had done nothing!

Maybe he had caught me rubbing my legs together during class and wanted to punish me for it. Maybe I had angered him by not paying attention, but people didn’t pay attention in class all the time. 

Why had he singled me out?

I walked down Redwood’s hallway toward the detention classroom, unsure if I wanted to demand why he had forced me to come here tonight or bawl my damn eyes out. I tried so hard to be a good girl, someone who colleges competed for, a student who excelled not just in the classroom, but in volunteering and athletics as well.

Stupid Mr. Avery.

Deciding to push away the tears because I didn’t want Redwood’s worst students to see me cry, I grabbed the door handle and prayed that this was all some sort of mistake. Hell, I didn’t even believe in a god, but I needed one right now.

“Sakura has detention?” someone asked from behind me.

My heart leaped in my chest, and I jumped away from the door, glancing over my shoulder at Gunther Zurn. He shook his head playfully and snickered, walking into the classroom and throwing his backpack onto a random desk.

After swallowing my pride, I stepped into the room and let the door click shut behind me. I glanced around nervously at the students in the room, students that I would never get caught dead with. They either did drugs, hung around Poison—Redwood’s gang—or vandalized school grounds for fun.

Mr. Avery sat at the front desk and arched a dark brow when I walked into the classroom, his full lips pulled into a smirk. I hurried up to him and placed the detention slip on his desk, shaking my head.

“Please, Mr. Avery,” I pleaded. “This has to be a mistake. I can’t have detention.”

“Miss Sato, I thought I made myself very clear in class,” Mr. Avery said, crossing his arms over his chest, his muscles flexing through his light-blue shirt. “You have detention tonight, and there’s nothing you can do to get out of it.”

“But I …” I glanced down at the desk and pushed away more hot tears. “I didn’t do anything. It’s my birthday. I have a perfect record and even perfect attendance. Whatever you think I did, I promise I didn’t do it. Please, you have to believe me.”

“Ahh, that’s right; you turned eighteen today, didn’t you?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said, nodding like a madwoman and hoping he’d show sympathy. “I did.”

“Well then …” He paused and leaned forward toward the desk, placing his elbows on the top and glancing at the students behind me. Then, he lowered his voice. “There is something you can do.”

My eyes widened. “What? Please, I can’t have this on my record.”

After clearing his throat, he gestured to the other students. “You’re dismissed from detention for today. I need to deal with Miss Sato for now. Make sure you’re back tomorrow. Some of you are facing suspension.”

Most of the students behind me shot up from their desks and hurried out of the room before Mr. Avery could change his mind. Most, except Gunther and his three partners in crime—Frazer, Conway, and Torrence. For some reason, they lingered behind.

But all I wanted was for them to leave, so I could do whatever I needed to get out of this detention. I would grade all his papers, wash his classroom floor by hand, even buy him groceries, if that was what he asked for. Anything.

“What’re you holding Sakura back for?” Gunther asked, like he gave a fuck about me.

“That’s none of your business, Mr. Zurn.” Mr. Avery leaned back in his chair, flipping one ankle onto his opposite knee, his suit pants tightening around his crotch. “You’re welcome to stay if you and your hooligan friends have nothing better to do.”

I nervously glanced over my shoulder at Gunther, Frazer, Conway, and Torrence, who looked at each other and then … took a seat in the front of the classroom, taking up the desks and watching Mr. Avery intently.

After a couple of moments, Mr. Avery narrowed his intense hazel eyes at them, almost as if daring them to stay. The four guys looked at each other, and then Gunther glanced over at me. Then, they all stood up and hurried out of the classroom.

When they were gone, Mr. Avery turned his dark eyes on me. I sucked in a breath and swallowed nervously, shifting from foot to foot. Whenever I had seen him before, his eyes always looked so welcoming, so soft.

Nothing like this.

And for some awful reason, it was making me hot in all sorts of places.

“Please, what can I do?”

Mr. Avery pushed back his seat and placed both his feet on the bright white tiled floor, his legs spread in the way all guys at Redwood did to take up the most fucking space possible. And all I could seem to stare at was how tight they were around … that area.

“Miss Sato, eyes up here,” he said.

Cheeks flushing, I looked back up at him and pressed my lips together.

“You want to know what you can do to make this detention go away for good?”

“Yes, sir,” I said.

He patted his knee. “Come here.”

My eyes widened, and I sucked in a sharp breath. Mr. Avery patted his knee again, his large hand sliding up his long leg.

“It’s your eighteenth birthday today, right, Sakura?” he asked, grabbing his throbbing cock through his suit pants and stroking it down his thigh to the head. “I have something for you to suck on to get out of this.”

“Mr. Avery,” I whispered breathlessly, my nipples hardening in my bra. “Isn’t this …”

“Isn’t this what?” he asked, tilting his head at me, almost in a condescending manner. “You think if anyone finds out, they’ll say something to the principal? The school board? This is Redwood, Miss Sato. They don’t give a fuck if I bend my best student over my desk and fuck her senseless.”