Fix Up Read Online Free

shoulder and walks toward the other Teacher Assistants, TAs, waving at him with stacks of papers to give us.
    Taking a deep breath, I walk to the first available seat and rummage in my backpack for my MacBook Air protected in a case. Occupying myself is the best way to ignore them all whispering to each other while their eyes are still on me, looking at my bruises They are now almost vanished, but still visible enough under the make-up Kate put on me to mask them as best as possible. You have to look closely to see them, but they still can be seen. I feel all the more self-conscious because of it. Why is it taking so long to heal?
    Once I'm all settled and Dr. Dills is still not here, I look for Duke. He's on the right side of the room, several rows above mine, and he is talking with an attractive brunette I’ve seen flirting with him before, back when we were going through a rough patch. She's playing with her shiny brown hair, her red nails adding to her alluring look. Her mischievous smile is not lost on me, and what is worse than seeing her flirting with my boyfriend, is seeing my boyfriend sharing a playful smile with her before resuming his task of giving the papers to the students. It's like a slap to my face.
    I focus on my laptop screen and don't look up for the rest of the class. I'm not even sure what notes I’ve taken, and I don't really care. I know I should, but I can’t stop thinking about Duke’s behavior. I can’t focus on anything else.
    I thought that when he confessed his love for me things would work out, that we would be stronger as a couple. Another mistake on my part. He did nothing wrong actually, but before he never flirted back when we were trying to work things out between us. The only times I saw him flirting was when we weren't together and were not speaking to each other. Today we are on speaking terms, and more, we are in a committed relationship. Aren’t we?
    As soon as the class is over I pack my stuff and leave without looking back, and I'm not even sure if he saw me or even cared. His attention is back on the brunette, who has walked to him immediately with a sway of her curvy hips.
    Loving someone is definitely painful. My insides feel like they are bleeding, and I just want to find a secluded place to let the tears fall. I close my hands in tight fists. My nails digging into my palms, I walk faster toward my room, away from everyone.
     
    ***
     
    DUKE
     
    I smile absentmindedly at the brunette. I don’t even remember her name. Is it Jena? Jana? But really, I don’t give a shit about her name or about the fact that she’s babbling again and again. Her light voice and playful smile are lost on me as I watch Skye walk out the room, not once trying to catch my attention—and I know why.
    I’m a dick.
    I’m running again, pushing her away when she needs me the most. Staring back at the girl in front of me, there is not a single thing I want. She’s easy on the eye and her confidence is quite attractive, but she’s not the one I want. I’m not even trying to chat her up, I have no interest in cheating on Skye, but somehow I find myself doing everything in the dickhead handbook to drive away and hurt my girlfriend.
    “So? Are you going to help me, Duke?”
    I blink at the girl in front of me, Jena or Jana or something. “Uh, yeah, sure.”
    She smiles at me again, and it reaches her blue eyes. She grabs my wrist and leads me toward the library, chattering about this or that party where she saw me last semester and how she’s thankful that I’m helping her with the new psychology material. All I can think about is how I’m making a huge mistake. And yet, I let her lead me; I let her bat her eyelashes at me while my girlfriend is somewhere out there on campus on her way to her second session with a shrink I know nothing about aside from his name, Marshall. And she’s alone.
    “Duke? Is everything okay?”
    I shake my head and force a smile to my frozen face. “Sorry, I have