Chapter 5

So we had classes right off the bat. Princeton isn’t joking about educating her students. As you may have deduced from my assignment to class A, I am pretty intelligent. I know you probably thought otherwise since you see how dumb I can be where Leo is concerned and how much I hate school but it’s not a big deal.

Knowing the secrets of everyone in school was quite interesting, Lindsay likes to talk and she wasted no time dishing out the most juicy secrets, even those of the staff. It was kind of interesting getting to know my classmates through the secrets I know about them and while that made class tolerable, the stinging feeling at the back of my neck made it very much unbearable.

Whose decision was it to put the redhead stalker in Class A?

I looked behind me and there he was hiding behind his History textbook pretending to read while he was actually peeping off the edge and staring at me. I frowned to make him know I was watching and for a second he hid behind his book again.

Mr. Deere, the history teacher was pacing about the class as he gave us an overview of Ancient Egypt and when he got to Redhead he gently slammed a hand on Redhead’s desk. He had caught him staring. Redhead jumped.

“Colin, wanna explain to the class why you are so invested in the edge of your book?”

Redhead turned red-cheeked and began to stutter as everyone turned to look. This is one of the reasons I hate school, you can't get into trouble in secret, there’s got to be eyes watching you especially when you get in trouble in class.

“I-I…sir,”

Mr. Deere raised his eyes and saw me staring and his lips pressed into a hard line. “Were you staring at Miss. Dark Storm? Is there something you would like to tell her?”

“S-sir…”

“Why would anyone with any ounce of sense be interested in Gin? I bet poor Colin is wondering what such a freak is doing in Class A.”

I rolled my eyes to Emerald and she stared right back indignantly.

“Personally, I think the bars for class distinctions are too low…”

“No one cares about your opinions Emerald, at least not in my class.”

People snickered, and even Emerald’s boyfriend pressed his lips together but when he caught me looking his expression changed and I swear I could feel the cold and hatred from his gaze. What is wrong with these people? Why are they so hell-bent on intimidating me? Maybe coming here was a mistake. Will Maggie understand if I don’t want to come here again?

Emerald was seething with rage as she glared at the class in general, effectively shutting them up. You would expect that for someone like her, she would shout down Mr. Deere and threaten his job but if the story Lindsay told me is true, there will be no threats.

Apparently, a year ago, Emerald had overconfidently answered wrongly during a history test and tried to bribe Mr. Deere. He threatened to report to Ms. Thompson and there was nothing Emmy could do because Princeton upholds morals above all else.

Mr. Deere left Colin’s side with a warning look at both him and Emerald before walking to the front of the class.

“Because the history of Ancient Egypt is very intricate and the history of the gods is likewise I will advise that you take this class seriously, after all this history will form the basis of what we will be learning for the rest of the school year, understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

And so the class continued and I tried not to fall asleep while he droned on and on about the gods of Egypt and their powers and why they were revered among the people of Egypt.

An hour later the bell went off and we had three more classes before lunch break. Lindsay was beside my desk even before I packed my books.

“Ready for lunch?”

I rolled my eyes up to give her my best glare. “I don’t need a friend or a puppy.”

“Yeah, you made that clear already. But now that you’ve gone ahead and ruffled Emerald’s feathers I’ll say you need some shock absorbers when she begins to take punches at you.”

“And I can handle myself just fine.”

“Somehow I don’t doubt that. You look like a toughie. I love your piercings by the way.”

“Is that your way of trying to get me to like you? My piercings are not the way to my heart.”

“But they are cool,” She shrugged.

Once again I couldn’t help but smile. And I smiled even wider when Leo came into my class and his eyes immediately sought mine.

“Not bad for the first day uhn?” he asked.

“I wouldn’t go that far.”

“But you haven’t bolted yet,” he smirked. If he keeps doing that I might have a hard time bolting just to make sure he smiles at me every time.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Emmy looking at us, the vile witch was getting ready to come snatch Leo once again just to spite me when her boyfriend, forgive me I must have forgotten his name, hooked his arm through hers and led her out of the door where her minions were waiting for her.

I smiled at Leo although I suspect he wouldn’t have known the source of my amusement. “Well, the day is getting better. Although I don’t think I agree with the class distinctions.” Just like Emerald but I’ll die before I admit that I agree with her.

Leo shrugged. "I'm not exactly as smart as you are so I can't fault that." And he turned so that we could leave the class. Once again people were staring when we got to the hall and I get it now, I look unconventional but there’s nothing I can do about it. This is my style and this is how I want to be.

But Leo on the other hand, I knew he was handsome but something about the formal uniform and how well it looked on him made him even hotter and I dare say he is a contender for the hottest boy in school. The other contender would be Emerald’s boyfriend (seriously, I really hope I can remember his name.)

We got to the lunch room which was not at all what I expected. Okay let’s backtrack a second there, I totally expected the cliché setting, the popular kids' table, the nerds, and everything – seriously this is why I hate school, everyone is a sheep and everyone falls in line like there’s some kind of blueprint about how Highschools should be.

And would you believe it that as soon as we walked in Emerald waved Leo over with the biggest smile which her boyfriend, Parker – there I remember now – wasn’t too pleased about and he leaned forward to whisper his displeasure to Emerald who waved him off. I guess she told him not to worry too.

“Are you going to join them?” Lind asked Leo.

“I guess. She’s kind of nice.”

“Nice?!” Lind scoffed. “That’s a crime Emerald has never been accused of before.”

“Somehow I don’t doubt that. She wants to get into your pants, Leo, and you know it.”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. She has a boyfriend.”

“And the sky is blue. Like that’s going to stop her.”

“Maybe you should try being nice for once, Gin, you might actually find that she’s a nice girl.”

I was taken aback by the reproach in his voice and watched helplessly while he walked away through the crowd of students into the welcoming hands of the vile witch of Princeton.

“Ouch!” Lind said from beside me. She was also watching as Leo walked away and then she saw the look on my face but whatever she was about to say about the displeasure clearly written on my face died when she looked beyond me to the glass door overlooking a well-manicured lawn and a water fountain.

She frowned.

“Who is that guy watching you? He has been tailing you since you arrived.”

I struggled to pull my mind from my loss, my heartbreak was fast turning into anger as I responded. “It’s that weird redhead kid…” my voice trailed off when I saw who she was looking at. And it was definitely not Redhead Colin.

It was Noah.

He was standing beside the fountain stiff as a soldier and when he noticed I was looking he gave a mock salute.

“He’s hot!” Lindsay sighed.

“He’s annoying.” And what is he doing here?!

“I don’t know about you but maybe I’ve been looking at the wrong guys. Do you know him?”

“Yes, he’s my bodyguard,” I made sure to stress that point.

Lindsay’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. “Bodyguard?”

I didn’t respond as I stormed out of the lunchroom, and looked for the quickest door to get to the fountain.