I leaned against the door frame, my eyes settling on the sleeping figure in the bed. The covers were just barely covering his lower half, leaving his chest very visible. His blond hair was out of control, the light from the window making the brown in it stand out. My gaze traveled to his lips where a satisfied smirk held my attention. Giving him one last look, and basking once more in yet another conquest, I slipped down the hall and out the front door of the man's apartment.

I shut the door softly behind me and called for an Uber from my phone. The car took less than five minutes to appear, and once in the car, I leaned back, thinking about the night before. The way his body felt under my hands, the way his hands felt moving over my body, the way he moaned my name over and over, the way he—

"We're here, ma'am," the driver spoke, startling me from my thoughts.

"Thank you," I said. I handed the driver a five-dollar bill as a tip before climbing out of the car and walking up the steps to my own apartment. I unlocked the door as silently as I could, hoping that Lissa wouldn't be up yet, knowing that I was bound to be in for another lecture if she was.

The door swung open before I could remove my key from the deadbolt. Lissa was standing on the other side, glowering at me.

"Rosemarie Hathaway!" Lissa, my best friend, scolded me as I walked in. "Where have you been?"

I looked up and grimaced. "Liss, please. I have a headache."

"That's too damn bad. Why didn't you call or text?" she demanded. "You know I worry when you don't call or text me."

"I'm sorry, Lissa. I could have sworn that I texted you," I said. "But I was busy."

"Again, Rose? Really?" Lissa's green eyes oozed with disappointment.

"Lissa, I don't want to hear it," I said. "I know; you think it's unorthodox, yadda, yadda, yadda."

Lissa's eyes narrowed. "I don't care that you're sleeping around, I care that you're being safe and not going home with every random guy that you meet, especially after—"

"Don't." I cut her off. "I'm definitely not talking about that. But if you must know, I am being safe. I promise. Now, if you excuse me, I need to shower."

Lissa smiled slightly. "We're leaving in 20 minutes. Christian, Sydney, and Adrian are meeting us at Shipley's for breakfast."

I nodded. "I'll be ready."

I showered quickly, turning the water a little hotter than normal so that there was enough hot steam in the bathroom to relax me as the water pounded down my back, rolling out any kinks. I stepped out of the shower ten minutes later, steam surrounding me. When I walked into my room, I found a water bottle and a couple of aspirins sitting on my dresser.

Thank you, Lissa.

Opening my closet, I searched for the perfect outfit to kick off senior year. I pulled out a pair of black skinny jeans and a short-sleeve red lace crop top. My leather jacket was hanging up in my closet too, and I grabbed that before walking back to the bathroom to brush my hair. It took another five minutes to maneuver the brush through my hair, which nearly reached my waist while wet, in an effort to get all of the tangles out.

"Rose! Are you ready?"

"Five minutes," I called back, reaching for my makeup bag.

I quickly applied mascara and a thin layer of lip gloss before leaving the bathroom. My red wedges were sitting next to the front door, and I slipped into them, zipping up the sides before turning to face Lissa.

"Ready," I said.

"You're wearing those?" she asked with a pointed glance at my wedges.

"I'm hungover, not drunk," I said, rolling my eyes.

"If you say so," she said but led the way out the front door.

Grinning, I followed her to the second love of her life: her black Maserati convertible, a gift from her parents when she turned 16 two years ago. The first love of her life was Christian, her boyfriend.

Christian, Adrian, and Sydney already had a table on the patio at Shipley's waiting for us when we pulled into the parking lot. They had also already ordered, which I was grateful for considering that I was starving and the line was wrapped around the building.

Adrian handed me my coffee and two donuts before even saying a word to me, and I laughed.

"You know me too well," I said, biting into a donut.

We didn't stay long, knowing that we had to be at the school by eight in order to make it to class on time. Christian joined our car, having gotten a ride to Shipley's with Adrian and Sydney, which relegated me to the backseat of the convertible. I didn't mind since the top was down, and better yet, I couldn't hear a word that Lissa and Christian said.

When we pulled into the senior parking lot, it had just started to fill up with other cars, and Lissa easily found her assigned parking space. The giant sign reading Vladimir High School hung over the school's main entrance, and as we walked into the school, it almost felt as if the sign was mocking me.

As we walked down the hallway, I could feel people staring at us. Staring at me. I knew that I was attractive. Or as the boys here would say: I was hot. I had made a rule a while ago about not sleeping with others at the school, or rather anyone who looked as if they could be a potential classmate. That would just be awkward when they inevitably wanted more than I wanted to give.

But I also knew that that wasn't the only reason that I was being stared at this morning. I tugged the sleeves of my leather jacket down a little lower and tried not to let the discomfort get to me as I continued walking to my locker.

Sydney and Adrian were already at their respective lockers, a few down from where mine and Lissa's were. Christian's locker was on the opposite side of the hallway, but he still stood next to Lissa as she entered her combination.

"Rosie, I picked your schedule up for you," Adrian said, reaching past Sydney to hand me a piece of paper. The nickname sent a shiver down my spine, and a dark room, lit by one single dangling light bulb filled my brain. I stumbled, and Lissa shot me a look.

"I knew you shouldn't have worn those," she said.

"I'm fine." I brushed her off in favor of swinging open my locker. I could feel Lissa staring at me for a moment before she looked away in favor of continuing her conversation with Christian.

"So, who did you sleep with last night?" Adrian asked, leaning against the locker next to mine.

"Adrian!" Sydney exclaimed.

"What? It's an innocent question."

Sydney rolled her eyes at him. "I have to run to the office, but I'll see you later."

She kissed him quickly before walking away down the hall, and Adrian turned back to me.

"So?" he said.

I grinned lazily at Adrian. "What makes you think I slept with anyone?"

"Because I've known you for my entire life, Rose. I can tell." Adrian smirked.

He wasn't wrong. We had known each other since we were babies. Our parents had been friends. Not to mention, Adrian had been a huge playboy before Sydney finally agreed to go out with him.

I shrugged. "His name started with an I, I think. Ian, Isaac, Ira," I shrugged again. "Ooh, it was Ivan. That was his name."

Adrian shook his head at me, his disappointment obviously fake. "What's your first class?"

"American History through 1865," I said, looking down at the room number. "I assume I'll get the second course of history from 1865 through the present next semester."

"We're together for first period then." Adrian smiled and held his hand up for a high-five.

"And last period," I said, taking Adrian's schedule. "HOPE with Belikov."

Lissa leaned over to glance at Adrian's schedule and then at mine. "We'll have Theater together, Rose, but it looks like that's it this year."

I sighed. "The school knows better than to put us in the same classes anymore."

Lissa laughed as the first bell rang. "I'll see you later."

I followed Adrian to the history room and took a seat next to him. At least I had one friend in the class so I wouldn't be completely bored out of my mind.

I spent the class daydreaming about last night instead of actively paying attention. If I slept with the same person more than once, I would definitely be giving Ivan a call. He made sure to program his number into my phone last night before falling asleep. But I avoid that to prevent any future complications with unrequited love.

My thoughts soon drifted to my many casual affairs. No guy had ever said no to me. Everybody already knows that Rose Hathaway was damn good at flirting and even better in bed. I was, in a way, a queen. And my prize was the hearts of those I seduced. Not once had I slept with someone who never asked for a date afterward. Sleeping with someone more than once just made the letdown harder for the other party.

I was jolted from my thoughts as the bell rang, signaling the end of class. I realized then that I had absolutely no idea what had happened during first period. I had a free period next, so I made my way to the library, hoping to catch up on some sleep. I had math next, which would require my attention since I was terrible with it.

I found an empty beanbag chair in the back corner of the library and stretched out, setting an alarm on my phone. It didn't take me long to fall asleep, but when my alarm went off an hour and a half later, I was more tired than when I had fallen asleep. The bell signaling the end of second period and the beginning of first lunch rang as I walked out of the library.

I was taking statistics this year, having chosen that over pre-calculus and glancing around the class, I could see that a lot of the other seniors had chosen statistics as well. Even though I paid attention in class and took notes, I still had no clue what we had covered by the time I walked out of class ninety minutes later. Thankfully, no homework was assigned since it was the first day, but I was dreading the day that it would be assigned.

As I rounded the corner into the cafeteria for second lunch, I could already see Adrian and Sydney sitting at our usual table. I set my bag down as I reached them before joining the lunch line to get food. Lissa and Christian had joined the table by the time I got back.

"Ready for HOPE, Rose?" Adrian teased. "I've heard that the new teacher is a hard-ass."

"I wish you luck," Sydney and Lissa chorus. They, of course, already filled their requirements for this lame-ass class during their freshman year.

"We have woodshop with McCall," Sydney said.

"That doesn't sound much better," I pointed out.

She shrugged. "We'll see. Maybe getting to create stuff will be cool."

"Speak for yourself," Lissa grumbled.

I laughed. "It won't be that bad. Maybe you can make a birdhouse to put on the balcony."

Lissa glared at me, which only made me laugh harder.

The warning bell rang, signally the end of lunch, and I sighed.

"We never have enough time," I complained.

"You better go before you're late though," Sydney said. "Isn't your class on the other end of the building?"

Adrian and I shared a look before dashing for the room. The final bell rang just as we slipped into the room, taking the only available seats, which just so happened to be in the front of the classroom.

Great.

Adrian and I shared another look before sitting down.

Written on the whiteboard were the words Mr. Belikov. I glanced around the room, looking for the teacher, and spotted him a moment later when the door to the teacher's office opened from behind the desk and a man, probably in his early to mid-twenties, walked out of the office. He was wearing a crisp white button-down shirt and a pair of black slacks. He had brown hair, pulled back at the nape of his neck, and his brown eyes, shades lighter than mine, missed nothing. His eyes connected with me and my mouth went dry.

"My name is Mr. Belikov and I will be your teacher for Health and Physical Education this year," the man said, gesturing to the board. "Any questions before we get started?" he asked, turning around to face us.

My breath caught in my throat as his eyes locked on mine again. Something passed in his eyes too quickly for me to decipher, but there was something innately familiar about him that I knew I should recognize. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't place why he felt familiar to me. The longer I stared at him, the more a certain realization became. I vowed then and there that I would have him. After all, nobody ever said no to Rosemarie Hathaway. I was the queen of hearts.