Two Player

1.

D.S

Desire Simmons couldn't seem to stop her leg from bouncing. She's usually never this nervous when it comes to getting tests back, but she didn't feel as confident this time around. For one, she didn't study as much as she's accustomed to.

She watched in anticipation as her classmates received their tests back. She watched her peers faces lite up in happiness and sigh in relief. She couldn't wait for the look of defeat and annoyance from them once they hear she got the best score.

She listened to them praise their 75's and 80's in humor. Amateurs she would think to herself. She shook her head and sat patiently for her paper.

Mrs. Harrison stood in front of Desire's desk with a small smirk. Desire looked at her with anticipation.

"You seem uneasy." Mrs. Harrison pried.

"I never am." Desire lied, looking at her challengingly. Mrs. Harrison rolled her eyes and let out a small chuckle. Desire was one of her favorite people. For Desire, the feeling was mutual.

She handed Desire her test and pretended to snatch it back. Desire sucked her teeth and played along before finally snatching it from Mrs. Harrison's small hand.

Desire immediately flips the paper over and tried to hide her feelings of relief. Instead, she leaned back and stifled her smile. She acted as if she knew she would get this score, when she knew damn well she was nervous this time around.

"Don't play coy now," Mrs. Harrison joked and walked to her desk.

"What'd you get, Desire?" A boy by the name of James asked her.

"Ninety." Desire said calmly, not turning around to look at him. James sucked his teeth and began to whisper with his friends.

Despite Desire's obvious academic ability, she was never a bragger. She knew she was smart, teachers knew she was smart, and students knew. So, what was the point? She didn't choose to not brag to spare anyone's feelings- she honestly didn't care. The grades showed for themselves, so there was no reason to boast.

Due to this, she didn't have a lot of friends. They envied her and thought that she was a stuck up bitch. Which, Desire didn't think she was. She cared about her grades and that's all. But, she was a little competitive here and there. She hated to see anyone do better than her. Her grades and brains were her stronghold, and no one was going to take that reputation away from her.

"She has to be cheating." A small girl with clear glasses whispered. Desire turned over to her and shook her head.

"Honey, if anyone is cheating it's you." Desire said calmly. "We all know you didn't get that 85 on your own."

"Bitch, I actually fucking did." The small girl snapped back.

Desire simply shrugged and looked away. They've been in the same class for a month now, and she still didn't know her name. That's how irrelevant she was to Desire's life.

After Mrs. Harrison set up her things for today's pre-calculus class, she began her lesson. Throughout the class, Desire answered multiple questions. Some of her peers asked her how she got the answer, and Desire would simply tell them to listen to Mrs. Harrison and they'll find out.

Not only did she care deeply about her academic reputation, but she would be damned if she helped someone get to her level.

No, she wasn't a genius and she wasn't spectacular at everything, but in this school, she was. Her guidance counselor told her that she's very likely to become valedictorian of this years graduating class. This was her incentive. She had to maintain her ninety-eight average to make that speech on graduation day. It would kill her if someone tried to take that from her.

Desire wasn't always like this. She was always a bit of a perfectionist, but never was she this willful. When she was younger, she helped people and school wasn't that important. But after her father died, she never took anything other than school more serious. Her father educated his daughter to be strong, independent and smart. He died during the second half of her sophomore year. She took his word and got her shit together quick.

She's independent to a certain extent, she's stronger than she looks, and her marking period grades never go below a ninety.

As much as she loved Brooklyn, she wanted to get out. She wanted to go away to Harvard, Howard, Hampton-anywhere where she felt would justify her smarts. She had a goal, and it was going to be met.

The ringing of the bell thirty minutes later dismissed the class. Desire calmly grabbed her things whilst her classmates paraded out the room. Walking out with a prideful attitude, she walked through the hallways unbothered.

∞

A/N: Just a lil intro type thing. Even though I was never particularly fond of third person, I've read multiple stories in that tense and I've learned to accept it more. Now, I'm going to try out writing in third person. So, bare with me if I mess up between first and third person and the tenses. :)