Delectable Benefits

One

Anastasia adjusted her black rimmed glasses as she glared at the paper she was holding. The paper was graded a B minus, she sighed and glowered at the sheet of paper as though it was made out of  combustible substance.

"Glaring at you paper is not going to change your grade," her best friend said dryly as he plopped down next to her in their favorite hangout spot. It was the only isolated area in the campus. It was a basically what they categorized as the woods. People rarely ventured out there unless they were going to make out or seek some privacy. Anastasia or Anya loved her privacy.

She looked up at Paul Marley, he could have passed as a wrestler with looking like John Cena with his blond hair and muscular built. His easy six feet would have pegged him as a basketball player or even a football quarterback, no one would have guessed that this hunk of man was a member of the swim team. She gave him the stink eye and shoved her paper inside her accordion envelop.

"What did you get for midterms?" She asked sourly.

He flashed her a smile and showed him his list of grades. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at his straight A's. "Show off," she muttered.

He chuckled, "Hey, you asked. You just need to study harder."

She gave him a sour expression, "How could I possibly study when you have a job that takes more than your study period?"

"Why don't you just ask your parents to pay for your college education?" Paul and his girlfriend were the only ones who knew about her identity as one of the Santini heiresses. "I think my sister has that covered."

"It's not as though your family is about to go bankrupt, they can afford it," he reminded her.

She shook her head, "They didn't want me to go to school, Paul. We weren't exactly on good terms when I left years ago. They just wanted me to stay in the kitchen and cook." Anya didn't want to visit the past. Especially when she finally got her acceptance letter. Her parents were furious that she refused to follow tradition. The only one who supported her was her grandfather. He was the one who gave her the money to get her on American soil. It was a world away from Italy.

"They are funding your sister's education."

That was what hurt her. Her sister, Ryushka, followed her two years later and her entire family had given her sister one hundred percent support. Her sister was smarter that was mainly the reason why they invested in her education. But the actual knowledge to implement what she knew was beyond her. Her sister was a complete basket case when it came to execution. 

Anya let out a heavy deep breath. "Well, I'm not her. My grandfather is the only person who believed in me. But my Russian father believes in the Russian mafia and thinks he's a member of one, thus what he would say goes. The only reason why they haven't come after me is the agreement my grandfather made my father sign."

Paul wrapped an arm around her shoulder, "Well, you're doing great than most people. If you can study this well with a full time job at the bakery and a full time job as a student, imagine what you can do if you're a full time student."

"A full time failure?" She dead panned.

Paul narrowed his eyes at her, "Don't be so hard on yourself my friend. You are a force to be reckoned with. Hey, have you asked anyone out for the Sadie Hawkins dance?"

Her brows moved to frown. "What is this, high school?" She blurted out.

"Don't forget, all that studying has given her a non existent love life," Pam, Paul's girl friend said as she joined them.