Maisie
I crawled out from under the desk on my hands and knees, cheeks burning under Headmistress Atlas's razor-sharp stare. Her nose wrinkled with disapproval the second she got a full look at me.
My shirt was twisted halfway up my stomach. One side of my bra was still unhooked. And I could feel the sting of what had to be a constellation of fresh hickeys blooming along my neck.
I forced a bright, nervous laughter as I stood, straightening my clothes.
"Headmistress! Hi. Didn't see you there." My voice came out an octave too high. "Jer--Professor Ivanov and I were just discussing my… academic performance. Very impressive. And then my pen fell, so I was just... looking--retrieving it-- " I gestured vaguely under the desk and my hand bumped into Jericho's boat of marking pens.
The entire thing tipped and crashed into the ground in different colours, and one bright pen rolled in Atlas's direction and tapped gently against Atlas's foot.
