The Album of Perfect Moments

Lend me your book

They had earned it. The Hall of Fame.

Sometimes they were seven and other times, five. But never less. They were annoying, hateful, and the worst... They had a captivating charm for the majority of the student body. Since I wasn't the majority, I preferred to roll my eyes every time I saw them walk down a corridor at the institute. Alieth, Brianna, Christopher, Declan, and Elena were the main insufferable... Zack and Maia, I could stand them sometimes.

Whatever. I couldn't understand why everyone saw them as high school royalty. There was nothing royal about them, except for Maia. From what I had heard, she was among the heirs to the United Kingdom throne, but if that was true, surely at least a hundred thousand people would have to die before she could be queen. Which, of course, was highly unlikely.

They were, as I used to call them internally, insufferable. They thought they were the best of the best, they did what they wanted, and nobody said anything to them. They had immunity from the teachers. And if for whatever reason any of them spoke to you more than three times, you were the subject of all gossip.

Brianna, sweet and stunning, tended to be dramatic. And I got the feeling that because you learn languages ​​easily, you didn't get to treat others as fools. And there were more dangerous things, like having the most seductive and sensual smile. That's what Christopher London had and what set him apart from everyone else aside from his relentless streak of conquests. It had a devastating effect on girls and boys, according to reliable sources.

Declan McCarthy seemed the most innocent with his carefree and calm appearance, but he was the computer genius and mediator of the group. Somehow he had managed to keep them all out of trouble, with their secrets safe, and with the highest grades. Something unfair to people who strive to be correct and earn everything honestly. What Elena Viteri was not. She was pretty and surely the least devilish mind in his circle. But you shouldn't be fooled. She had no sense of loyalty or friendship. I learned it the hard way. As for Zack and Maia, apart from the latter's royal blood, I had only heard that they had been a couple forever.

Finally, Alieth Harris. Their leader, something I couldn't understand. He certainly did not inspire confidence or respect in me. He was a charming and humorous leader, though cruel to those he disliked. Oh, and of course I'd had plenty of time to watch them, especially him.

When you hate someone, you tend to pay more attention to them than to those you love. Why? The nature of the human being remains a mystery to me and the functioning of their mind even more. The thing is, the farther away you were from them, the better. It was my criteria and not that of others, of course. Because they were all desperate for a place in the Insufferable's circle.

I tried to avoid them as much as I could, but sometimes it was difficult. When I shared certain classes with them above all. Just seeing one or two of them within ten meters was unbearable, not to mention sharing classes with all of them.

Or that precise moment when I closed my locker door gently as I found Alieth Harris inches from my face, smiling when he saw me. Surely I clearly expressed the scare he had given me. He kept passing through his fingers a stupid black pen.

What the hell was wrong with him? Had a screw come loose or what?

"Lend me your book," he asked, quietly enough so that people rushing past us couldn't hear what he was saying. I moved away until I put a prudent distance between the two and put aside the shock his presence had caused me.

If there was something that we both hadn't done for a long time, it was to talk. That's what generally happens when a person doesn't care in the slightest about you and just tries to hurt you. And I preferred it to stay that way.

"You appear in front of me like a crazy psychopath, and you want me to lend you my book?" I replied in a neutral voice, giving him no clue as to how confused I was. With Alieth it was better never to show what you really felt. People like him used it against you. "You better go back the way you came and let's forget whatever's going on right now."

I started walking to my next class: literature. Alieth walked next to me and ignored my proposal to forget everything. Was I still living my reality? Was this a nightmare from which I had not woken up yet? I watched him out of the corner of my eye. His relaxed posture, his restless hands betraying how much it cost him to be calm. He had always struck me as someone full of scrambled thoughts who was unable to methodically piece it all together to make any sense.

"Lend me your book," he insisted. I stopped only to see that he hadn't erased his smile, which was beginning to look like the most irritating thing in the universe.

Again. In what world had I woken up that day?

"Why would I?" I changed my tactic. If the first one didn't work, you had to try another and another until one of them bore fruit. Basically, that was my modus operandi when it came to problem-solving. Alieth was turning out to be a very annoying problem, like a tiny thorn in your shoe that won't come out no matter how many times you shake it.

"I didn't do my homework and I don't want another reprimand from Lawrence," he excused himself. "You are the smartest in the class. Please, lend me the book."

I couldn't help it. I let out a sarcastic laugh.

"Then you also know that being the smartest in this school, I won't lend you homework to copy, right? You are very aware of the punishment for academic dishonesty."

I resumed my walk, concentrating on my digital tablet where I had all my textbooks. Books were something much more productive than focusing on the smile that kept tugging at the corners of his lips. He wasn't stupid. It was true that I didn't see the point of a group of people following him unconditionally, but he was as smart as me. And I was afraid, as simple as giving him the book was, that there was something behind that insistence. He didn't want that book, but then what did he really want? I couldn't think of a single valid reason.

Though I certainly thought I'd back my argument up by the fact that Declan would fix anything, I couldn't. He beat me to it.

"I've never asked anyone for a favor, Jane." His smile had faded, but I still didn't know what his point was. I wasn't going to lend him my book, not in a million years. "Please."

My heart skipped a beat as I realized something. Jane. Immediately the suspicion deepened, took hold, and spread through my body like a layer of rubber. I stared at it for a few long seconds. I didn't find anything that could help. His eyes had become shallow water, with no mysterious undercurrent, just what was there at the time. I admired his ability to change his attitude so quickly to achieve his goals. And I hated him because I couldn't predict what was next.

I shook my head at the end.

"I don't care that you haven't asked anyone for a favor. It just shows again how arrogant you are. Forget that I exist."

I turned and continued up the stairs that led to the second floor. To my relief, Alieth was no longer following me. However, his voice made me feel a chill that went from the roots of my hair to the tips of my toes.

"If it's not the good way, then it's going to have to be the bad way, don't you think, Jane?"

I did not turn to see. I didn't feel like visualizing his vaunted narcissistic gaze. His tone already gave him away. I didn't need more proof.