"MISTER & MISS BLACKWOOD will be paired together. Mister Briggs & M-"
"Oh, sorry Sir, but I'm already paired up with Leah for this project," Leo interjected. Hopefully, his years of sucking up to Mr. Bennett could at least get him this.
"Mister Blackwood, you should know by now that you don't get to pick your own teams." Mr. Bennett frowned.
"Sir, I agree with Blackwood," Stella spoke up, not looking over at him even when he glanced at her. Since when were they on a last-name basis? She hated that the kids at their school used last names like the rich kids they were. "I work better alone. Surely you would want us to hand in our best work."
He hesitated. "Well, I suppose. Since your grades already exceed that of your peers, it couldn't do too much harm."
Stella beamed at him. "Thank you, sir!"
Leo exchanged a nod with Leah. He couldn't do science with Stella. Everyone knew they weren't talking to each other, so why would Mr. Bennett group them together?
"Actually, sir." Leo cast a glance out the corner of his eye. Some random boy wearing a Maroon tie had spoken up. "Our class is an even number, if Stella works alone then that means someone else would have to work alone too. I'll work with Stella."
Leo's gaze narrowed. He looked over at Stella, she was watching the boy with a withering glare.
The boy moved over to sit with his new lab partner and ruffled up Stella's hair as he sat down. She fixed her hair and focused on taking down what Mr. Bennett was writing on the board.
Zeke didn't wait long to begin annoying her. "Mate, are you blind? It says stir clockwise. Do you know what clockwise is? Heck, do you know what the word stir means?"
"Do you know that your voice sounds like a pre-pubescent rat? This is a shortcut. If you let it sit, the leaves don't crumble and the straining process is much easier. We can crumple them up ourselves after we strain them, it makes no difference. Don't spit the dummy," Stella rolled her eyes.
They were assigned some random lab that Stella couldn't be bothered to understand and would probably stay up late working because of that fact.
"Fine, you're the science weirdo." Zeke conceded.
"Thank you," Stella huffed. "Now we wait 5 minutes."
Stella turned her attention to her notebook, where she was organizing the Cobalt soccer tryouts — they had to retake the tryouts before spirit week in case they found 'raw talent' right before the competitions. She'd been playing defence since grade 9, so she wasn't new to the team, but this would be only her second year as captain, and she wanted it to go perfectly.
"You still haven't done your tryouts yet?" He raised his eyebrows, reading over her shoulder. Zeke was a midfielder for the Maroon team.
"Sorry I don't keep a countdown for the moment I get to wear a full outfit in neon red and not look like a complete idiot," She glared at him, snapping her book shut. She became very defensive when it came to how she ran the team.
"You're talking to the top-ranking team, captain. The gold medal around our necks compliments the neon,"
"And yet, we won the tournament last year," She shrugged innocently.
"Because of favouritism," He scoffed.
Stella snorted. "When have we ever been favourites? Everyone's too worried thinking we're gonna spray paint the dome."
Oh yeah, dome.
Rich kid school.
"Wait, that's not what you do during practice? Then why are you covered in brown paint when you return from practice?"
It was mud, not paint.
"Wow, someone's stalking me."
"It's called gossip, captain."
"So you talk about me?"
"Oh, all the time, what is Stella doing? When can I see Stella again? Oh, Stella, my love, mon cherie." He put a hand to his heart and fell into her, she promptly pushed him away. "Your name sounds like it belongs to a dog,"
"Your French accent sounds like it belongs to a dog," She eyed him up and down. Her parents had family in France, and they went yearly, so while her accent wasn't amazing, it was much better than Zeke's.
"At least I can hear." He retorted, eyes sliding to her hearing aids.
A loud screeching sound interrupted Stella's next insult. The entire class turned to see what had disrupted the silence. Leo was standing, a deadly glare on his face. No one dared say anything as he walked towards a cabin and grabbed a beaker. When he sat down again, Stella heard a faint 'we already have that' from Leah.
The classroom noise resumed, and Stella turned to Zeke to continue their argument, but he beat her to it.
"I'm sorry, that was out of line." His face was pale, and he silently turned back to watching the potion. Stella shrugged it off and turned to her notebook.
Class ended soon enough and when Stella left the classroom she was joined by Jacob and Thomas.
"Why hey there smartass," Jacob said, throwing his arm over her shoulder, Thomas appeared on her other side doing the same.
"Hello," She smiled at them, "Why does it feel like you're cornering me?"
"Someone's been challenged to a Strom Surf," Thomas grinned from her other side. A Storm Surf was a challenge where two people would surf during an especially bad storm and the first one to fall in lost. Not the safest, but extremely thrilling.
Stella gasped, "I thought the VP outlawed those after you-know-what happened,"
Stella had participated in a Storm Surf last year after she challenged a 12th grader who started a furphy about Aster. He had been a good surfer, but Stella's house was on the water, and she had grown up being taught by her brother.
The 12th grader had jumped off his board in surrender once he saw lighting hit the water not too far off, but before Stella could celebrate her victory, a huge wave had pulled her under. Little be said, the event ended with an ambulance and injuries that got her in severe trouble with her parents. She still had the scars. It was a blurry memory but she could remember asking the ambulance driver if she could turn on the siren right before she passed out.
But she had won.
The unfortunate event brought attention to the Storm Surfs, and the VP soon forbade them. However, despite the injuries, she never regretted the challenge — people stopped bad-mouthing her brothers in front of her. They knew better.
Miraculously, Aster and Leo never found out. Which was amazing considering Stella was already in pain as is and didn't want to add two angry brothers and a long lecture about safety to the list.
"Well, the VP's precautions have loosened," Thomas smirked mischievously.
"Midnight?" Stella smirked back, guessing the time that Storm Surfs had always taken place before the ban.
"Midnight," Jacob confirmed, "Will we be seeing you next storm?"
"Bet your ass," Her eyes sparkled.
"Great," He clapped her on her back and they both took off down a corridor.
YOU ARE READING
SUMMER STARS
Teen FictionStella Blackwood always believed her family would be as unbreakable as the stars they were named after. Growing up with her brothers, she was certain they would always stay close, but by her junior year of high school, Stella realized how wrong she...
