SOPHIE BLUSHED A deep shade of scarlet. "I didn't mean it like that," she said quickly. Her heart pounded inside her chest. He cocked his head slightly and watched in amusement as Sophie jumped to her feet. She hugged her phone to her chest and eyed him.

"I'm going to go back to my dorm room now," she announced.

He leaned back in his chair and folded his arms behind his head. His button down shirt stretched over muscles that Sophie hadn't noticed until then. She gulped. "I'll see you tomorrow then," he said.

Her lips pressed into a firm line. She whipped around on her heel and then stormed from the classroom. His dangerously low chuckle seemed to echo within the silence that coated the corridor. The hairs on the back of her neck rose. Her heart clenched tightly inside her chest. Every instinct in her body practically begged her to run back into the room and tell him the truth. She wanted to let him know that she did happen to find him drop dead gorgeous, and sexy, and also mysterious. She wanted him to smile that cocky smile and return her opinion. Sophie was almost overcome with the need to confess to him.

Her mind spun, even more chaotic than it had been earlier.

Sophie ducked into a bathroom and rushed to the mirror. She pushed the faucet on and ran her hands under the gushing water. She splashed at her face. Her entire body trembled.

Mr. Wolfe hadn't seemed offended, or even put off that she'd so casually mentioned she was attracted him. Instead, he'd been amused. She didn't know what to think of that. Did that mean that Sophie actually had a chance with him? Or was it simply that he thought she was funny? Did he think of her as a kid, too young to really understand love?

She rubbed at her face again. Sophie was definitely not a child. She was almost a legal adult. Mr. Wolfe was obviously young; he had to be in his early twenties or so. Sophie shuddered. To him, she probably was a child.

Which posed as a major problem, should she want to get with him.

"What am I thinking?" Sophie shouted to herself. She rubbed at her eyes furiously again and huffed with frustration. This was her teacher that she was thinking about.

Sophie stormed from the bathroom. Tabatha had already left for dinner by the time she returned. Sophie flipped on the lights and then plopped down onto her bed. She contemplated joining her friends. They were probably looking for her. But chances were that if she went, she'd have to sit with Eli again. Sophie just couldn't handle him at the moment.

She stretched out across her bed and groaned.

The next day came a lot quicker than Sophie had expected it too.

Tabatha shook her awake, having already showered and gotten ready for the day. Sophie rushed a shower and then brushed her teeth as she wrestled into her clothes. Once she was remotely presentable, she joined Tabatha in the kitchen area of the dorm hall, and swallowed a bowl of cereal. Her stomach was in a jumbled knot -half starved from missing dinner the night before, and half concerned about how class with Mr. Wolfe would carry on.

She fiddled with her fingers as she and Tabatha walked toward the classroom. Tabatha eyed her. "Do you want to talk about it now?" she pressed.

"Not really," Sophie muttered and shook her head.

Tabatha frowned. The duo turned toward the classroom and Sophie paused. Mr. Wolfe leaned against his desk, his arms folded across his chest. Aubrey stood in front of him, her own arms crossed, looking as fabulous as ever. The space between them was almost nonexistent, and the sight made Sophie's heart scream. She suddenly felt very sick. Aubrey's gaze remained focused on Mr. Wolfe as Sophie and Tabatha stepped inside the classroom, but Mr. Wolfe seemed to tense and glance Sophie's way. Their eyes locked.

Sophie tensed.

Tabatha tugged at Sophie's arm and, after glancing back at Mr. Wolfe once more, Sophie made her way back to where the two usually sat. She eased into her seat and pulled her notebook out of her bag. Tabatha did the same. An unsettling quiet had fallen upon the room, as more students filed in and noticed the unfairly gorgeous addition near the front of the room. Once Sophie had run out of things to do, she allowed a small peek at Mr. Wolfe.

He stood, partially hidden behind Aubrey. His arms had moved from his chest back down to his sides, and his hands clenched tight around the edge of the desk. He seemed irritated. Aubrey glanced back over her shoulder, her gaze ice cold.

Sophie forced her gaze down toward the notebook opened in front of her. She could feel Aubrey's stony gaze focused on her for a moment, and then the feeling vanished. When she looked back up, Aubrey had returned her attention toward Mr. Wolfe.

Sophie sighed.

It was awkward for Sophie. She couldn't quite explain why. Her gaze flickered down to her wrist, to the already cracked tattoo on her skin. The memories of the arcade date fluttered through her, and her heart sank.

Eli was her age too, Sophie reminded herself. Eli seemed to care about her, and really did want her attention. Her heart clenched tight inside her chest. A frown spread across her lips.

Then something strange happened. A weird, almost tugging feeling nagged at her, and it pulled her attention toward the front of the classroom. Her gaze landed on Mr. Wolfe, who looked at her almost absently over Aubrey's shoulder. His gaze remained focused on her, almost absently, and he blinked when Sophie's gaze met his.

She felt herself flush and forced herself to look down.

Mr. Wolfe took that moment to address the class. "Alright, it's time to begin," he said. He moved away from the desk and walked to the center of the front. His arms folded across his chest again. "As you may have noticed, we have a visitor from the Night Class this morning. This is Aubrey, and she's here to address the class concerning the games."

He gestured toward the model. Aubrey stepped forward and flashed a blinding smile. "Good morning! I hope that you all have had a great morning so far."

Sophie couldn't help but watch Mr. Wolfe step backward, toward his desk. His gaze scanned over the class and found hers almost immediately. He held her gaze, curious. That strange pulling sensation returned, and Sophie pressed her lips together. She flushed and returned her attention to Aubrey.

Aubrey's gaze was focused on Sophie. Her eyes were ice cold again.

"I know that it's a little out of character," she said, her eyes never leaving Sophie's. "We usually announce the final contestants on a more wide-spread scale, using the televisions. I just wanted to personally visit the class of each lucky winner and reveal it to them before we formally announce it to the student body."

She sighed a little airy sigh. "Especially since one of the final contestants is so new. This way, she will have more time to prepare herself to be relocated for the game."

Sophie's heart sank.

A look around the classroom revealed her worse fear; there were no other nominees in her first period and Aubrey was talking about her.

"Congratulations, Miss Sophie Brooks," Aubrey said in a painfully bored tone. "It's my pleasure to announce that you've been chosen as one of the female contestants representing the Day Class. You've got the rest of the day to celebrate with your friends. Once the formal announcement has been made at dinner, you will be relocated to the Game Wing, where the actual events take place."

Sophie glanced at Tabatha, who wore a shocked, yet happy expression. Then she met Mr. Wolfe's gaze. His jaw was clenched with irritation. He frowned slightly at her.

Then she reluctantly returned her gaze to Aubrey, who flashed another warm smile at her classmates, and then looked at Mr. Wolfe. She winked and wiggled her fingers in a flirtatious goodbye.

Sophie ground her teeth as Aubrey left the room, completely forgetting about the announcement.

The door clicked shut behind the model, and a tense silence settled across the room. Sophie glared at her desk. She felt so stupid for even thinking she had a chance with Mr. Wolfe.

Tabatha cleared her throat. She looked up and around at her classmates. Most of the hostile glares had faded into a pained resignation.

"Congratulations," most of the students chimed. Several "Good lucks" and "I'll be rooting for you" followed.

Sophie just blanched.