Hailsmith Academy

Chapter 10: Marry Lorenzo

I really like fridays.

Besides the obvious fact that it's the last day before the ever longing weekend, it was also a pretty good school day.

The day starts off with psychology class in the morning, which can actually be pretty interesting sometimes. After that is chemistry, which despite the fact that it's a terrible subject, is bearable thanks to Spencer. After that, I was basically free except for English class in the afternoon. So all in all, fridays were great.

I finished eating lunch with Christian and Spencer (since Allison was doing bookworm stuff in the library and Jackie was sitting with the cheerleaders), and headed off to English class.

When I entered the room, Evans was already seated in his usual spot right next to my desk. He waved to me as I sat down, but I ignored him. I had to remind myself who this guy was. He's my brother's fucking best friend. He's godamn evil.

Professor Harvey walked in and started the class. "Good afternoon everyone! Let's pick up where we left off shall we?"

We all pulled out our Merchant of Venice book, and Harvey had asked two of the students to read it as though enacting the scene. Once they were done reading, he made them sit back down, and proceeded to start a discussion.

"You know, as we read this scene, I wonder what all of you really think of Jessica's character. Feel free to share your thoughts."

He looked at the class expectantly, waiting for someone to chime in. A girl spoke up.

"Sir, I think she's an excellent character. She's really brave and beautiful."

Harvey smiled at her. "That's nice, Lena. Would anyone else like to add to that?"

I decided to speak up. "Actually sir, I disagree with that statement."

"Interesting. Why is that so?"

"While she may have ran away from her father in the name of love, she did not have to steal from him like that and leave him with nothing. It's wrong."

Harvey looked towards Lena, waiting for her to say something to that. Instead, I heard Evans speak up right next to me.

"Why is that so wrong?" He asked, with a hint of anger in his voice. "She wanted to marry Lorenzo; a Christian. She knows her father would never approve. So she took the necessary measures to be happy."

Lena opened her mouth to speak, but I cut her off before she could. "Happy? She stole from a father who'd never done anything but love her. She grew up rich after all. So what if he might have been disapproving? She never even gave him the chance."

Evans looked straight me, his fists clenched and his jaw tense. "She was smart enough to escape from her father by dressing up as a man. Lorenzo even describes her as 'wise, fair and true'. She knew exactly what she had to do to be with the man she loved."

"She stole a ring from her father that was his dead wife's; her very own mother's, and sold it for a monkey. A literal monkey. Is that the description of a person who is 'wise, fair and true'? No father deserves that kind of treatment."

Evans tried to say something against that, but Harvey stopped him. "All right boys, let's not let a spirited discussion turn into angered shouting. Now, does anyone else..."

He continued to go on about something, but I didn't hear him. Evans and I were glaring daggers at each other, his green eyes nearly looking like glowing orbs as he stared at me. I wanted to deck this guy into a gutter or something. Everything about him was so very infuriating.

The class ended, both of us walking out without so much as looking at each other. I hoped that would be the last I saw of him today, but my asshole brother had decided to keep a make up practice today after the last one got rained out. So, that's just brilliant.

I went back to my room and took a power nap for around half an hour before getting ready for practice. I pulled on my sweats, staring at myself in the mirror after I put on the ensemble. I still could not believe this was my life now. That I had actually become one of those guys who had a thing such as lacrosse team practice. It's so weird to think about.

I was one of the last few people to reach the field, running into Daniel Novak as we arrived around the same time. He was one of the new additions to the team as well; a junior year student who was surprisingly nice. He was one of the only guys on the team I got along with.

After only being thirty minutes into practice, I was just about ready to murder Jason in the most violent way possible. He had us running the most exhausting and excruciatingly long drills ever. We hadn't even touched our sticks yet.

"Fucking hell, is he trying to kill us before our first match even starts? What went up his ass today?"

I stood next to Daniel, panting with my hands on my knees as I finished my turn. "I have no idea. He's mental."

I glanced towards Evans, who seemed to have no problem with running the drills himself. Normally, whenever Jason went too hardcore on us he would make sure to still keep him in check. Today however, he didn't even give the slightest inclination towards our plight. He just kept on running, as the rest of us struggled to keep up.

Once Jason finally let us go, all of us collapsed onto the benches. I gulped down my entire water bottle in one go, feeling more tired than I've ever felt in years. Yeah, now I remember why I avoided sports for so long.

Soon enough, everyone had left and I was the only one left on the field. Mostly because I didn't have the energy to walk all the way back to my room yet, and partly because I was simply enjoying the cool air. I didn't even realise how much time had passed until I saw Jackie walk up to me on the field.

She gave me a huge smile as she approached. "Hey."

I grinned back. "Hey. What are you doing here?"

"I came here to look for you. Spencer told me you'd be done with practice twenty minutes ago. I got worried, so I came here. Plus, he mentioned you've been spending a lot of time here lately."

I sighed, carding my hand through my sticky hair to push it away from my face. "Yeah, I suppose I do since I'm on the team and all. I wouldn't have kept you waiting if I knew."

She stepped towards me, placing her arms around my neck, her beautiful smile lighting up her face. "I know."

"God, your perfect."

I pulled her in for a kiss, stopping only when I heard the sound of grass crunching under shoes coming towards us. Evans had walked out of the locker room, and he was looking right at us. He stopped right before us, a slight frown on his face.

"I'm guessing this is your girlfriend?"

He studied Jackie's face, analysing her with a strange expression that I couldn't quite make out. It disappeared quickly though, returning to his emotionless state almost instantly.

"Yeah. What's it to you?"

He looked between the two of us, with no apparent recognition. "What's your name?" He asked her, suddenly.

"Jackie." She replied, looking extremely uncomfortable at the way he was watching her.

"Oh, right. Jackie. Nice to meet you. I'm Jeremiah."

He gave her half a smile and walked off, leaving us standing there, confounded. "What the heck was that?" Jackie asked.

I watched his retreating figure, still wondering what that was all about. "He's just like that, I guess."

I turned back to face her, slinging my bag over my shoulder as I took her hand in mine. I led her out of the field. "Come on. Forget about that. Let's go have dinner."

I smiled at her to put her mind at ease, but in that moment, for the first time since I've known her, it didn't feel genuine.