Chiara [PUBLISHED] ✔️

Four

The teaching atriums were one of the seven wonders of Astley Academy. Alongside an inside pool, Bryan's secret weed garden in the basement and girls that managed to write with two-inch long nails.

Even the elites weren't always immune to the lack of style.

The atrium was built in the shape of a half-circle and one part of the massive wall was completely covered by windows. Sunshine got through at all hours, providing natural light for our tired eyes. The dark, wooden cathedra rose above the rest of us peasants so that professors could scream at us from a higher position.

I admired the style; an interesting mix of modern and vintage. The laptops we carried somehow fit well with the posh scenery of a crystal chandelier that hung above us. The blackboard was still here, somehow surviving the age of smart boards and markers that left permanent trails.

The only issue with the blackboard were girls scratching it with those nails.

Mrs Felicia preferred us all in the front row and I didn't mind. The front row was my home, it was my ticket to valedictorian. It required constant preparation and a different notebook for each subject, but I didn't mind.

Josh wasn't here. The motherfucker was supposed to direct this play and he didn't show up at the first meeting. We didn't even know what the play was supposed to be about. He was the one in charge and he wasn't here.

I was furious. My pen tapped at my notebook, leaving purple marks all over. Mrs Felicia awkwardly taught about the acts in the story – something I have read and read about.

But today, my mind was elsewhere. The injustice pained me more than usually. I couldn't believe my chance at getting into Yale was being compromised by some good-for-nothing douchebag that simply refused to show up.

As the doorbell rang and I gathered my stuff, I felt a blinding rage wash over me.

"You should have picked me." I told Mrs Felicia and she stopped, her petite frame shrinking further as she took in my anger. "To direct the play. You know you should have picked me."

"I'm sorry, Ms Woods." She sighed. "It's never just about me, you know? The entire board decides since the final school play is a very big part of our culture. And, this is your last year."

"Exactly." I said, hoping this outburst wasn't too impolite considering the circumstances. "This is my last year. And I fought for the spot ever since I got here. And now my last chance is gambled away."

"Jacqueline." She said my name with gentleness. "You will be fine. I know you're worried about college, but you're an amazing student. Every door in this world is wide open for you. Play or no play, that wouldn't change."

"Oh, well, I'm a scriptwriter." I said, trying to cover the disappointment. "I guess that's good enough to show off my talents."

"That's the spirit." Mrs Felicia grinned. "Please, let me know if you see Josh."

I wanted to spit out something mean-spirited, like he was probably getting high behind the tennis courts, but I kept it for myself. Grabbing my notebooks and books, I left the atrium.

My uniform moved as I walked and my stockings seemed to be a size too small. I sighed in frustration, realising Steph and Bryan were right. I did need to relax. At the rate I was going, I was going to die of a heart attack in my forties.

Maybe I should have considered going to a less competitive school. Although, I would have thought of it as a defeat and I didn't like losing. So, I stuck with Astley Academy, hoping there would be a moment where my brilliance would outshine all those glimmering coins.

"Hey, Jackie!" Bryan's voice reached my ears and I stopped in the hallway. "Wait up."

He was wearing a tight, black Hugo Boss shirt and washed-up jeans. Despite my preference for girls, I knew Bryan was extremely attractive in that no-fucks-given way, with his casual smirk and his dyed blonde hair. Some girls were very disappointed when he came out.

"What's up?" I asked, but his gaze was set straight ahead.

"Kindly join me in the old laboratory." He placed his hand on my waist and guided me to the right, even thought I was about to head to the library to study.

"I feel like we're in a spy movie." I whispered as Bryan opened the door to the old laboratory, a mostly empty space with nothing but a few tables and some old carts that used to carry chemistry equipment.

"I can't talk in my room because of Jamie." His roommate. "And we can't talk in yours because of Steph."

"You're freaking me out a little." I admitted.

"It's about Josh." Bryan said. "Don't give up on the play. I've got something big coming up."

"Bry, don't mess-"

"It's too late, Jackie." Bryan shook his head, his brown eyes radiating just a tiny bit of fear underneath the confidence. "I knew this might happen when I first started posting about this school. Hayes was a small fish, everyone hated him and everyone knew he was a crook. No one was mad when I posted about it."

Hayes was a small businessman Bryan exposed in his blog a year earlier. He gathered evidence and fired which resulted in Mrs Hayes's immediate arrest. Ever since, there was no person in the world who didn't know about Bryan's blog. And consequently, everyone kept anonymously sending evidence.

"Josh's dad is a bigger fish to fry." I warned. "I don't think you should mess with that."

"I told you I'm biding my time, Jackie." Bryan said, but he was obviously nervous. His eyes darted across the abandoned laboratory like he was waiting for someone to burst in and expose him. "I already have a lot, but I need more evidence. And this time, I have a lawyer that went through it with me."

"Can you tell me?" I asked.

"Not right now." Bryan shook his head. "I'm telling you to be patient. Trust me, the play will be yours by the end of the school year. Mrs Felicia will beg you to save this thing for her."

My thoughts stopped as I watched him, a self-satisfied smirk on his lips that covered the fear in his eyes. The confident man that hid the nervousness that clawed at him.

It made me wonder whether we all simply pretended this didn't affect us. Whether I pretended my grades and my work ethic would be enough to overcome the fact I didn't belong to this world.

Whether we wanted to belong to this world.

"Are you ever afraid they'll pull you in?" I asked suddenly, unable to keep my thoughts to myself.

Bryan was my best friend in the world, right next to Steph. But unlike Steph, he had to endure the same mocking, the same discrimination I did. And now they feared him. It made me wonder if I wanted them to fear me.

"I think they already did, in a way." Bryan shrugged. "And I think you need to be aware of it in order to shake it off. We're all human, Jackie. We don't like being left out, ignored, forgotten. But if you're aware of it, you can fight it."

"I'd never want to be them." I shook my head violently. The thought of becoming like Josh, incapable and spoiled and entitled filled me with disgust.

"Never say never." Bryan murmured right as my phone buzzed.

My heart stopped beating as I read the message on Instagram. Of course, she didn't have my number.

"Chiara's texting me." I gulped down the nervousness. "She asked me to meet her in the library."

"Well, you better get to that." Bryan smiled wickedly, reading through me as always.

"Stop, it means nothing." I mumbled as I wrote back, my fingers shaking. "What if Josh and her plotted to kill me?"

"Then, you're gonna die a luxurious death."