Oakwood Academy (Book 1)

Chapter 4

My last class of the day, as were most of my other classes, was with him. Go figure.

Thankfully though, this wasn't one of those classes that forced you to do those ice-breakers. We jumped right into the coursework and I didn't have a chance to let myself get distracted by him. 

I couldn't afford to, I told myself. But then he laughed, at something one of his two best friends—Ander and Polo—said.

His laugh was one of the most beautiful things you'd ever hear—I was convinced. I was listening so hard that I missed half of what we were being told, but I tuned back in just in time to hear the latter part of it.

"—very important. The project itself is worth 40% of your grade, which probably doesn't seem like much, but it's greater than all the other individual parts of your grade. Its goal is to test your knowledge of the course material and see how well you apply it to real life. So, think long and hard about this one—what you'll do, who your partner will be, etc. I want groups by the end of the month."

Dammit. I would have to work with one of these rich snobs on a project this important. 

I looked around and it looked like people were already identifying their partners with smiles and nods. 

Great. Just great.

***

The first month went by in a haze of rude comments and Guzmán-filled thoughts. Then anger at myself for thinking about a guy who didn't ever acknowledge my existence unless his girlfriend made him—and it wasn't like she was telling him anything good about me. So yeah, pathetic.

Before I knew it, it was our Thursday swim tests, and I was finishing up a lap. 

Once again, it always seemed to come down to me and Lu, and she won. Of course. But I knew it angered her that she would ever have competition, especially from a peasant girl such as myself. Seriously, she'd actually called me that after I'd answered a question correctly yesterday in history.

I got out of the water, just in time to see the boys setting up.

Christian and Polo seemed to be in a heated conversation. I wonder what that's about, I thought.

 And Samu was being Samu—entranced by the red-head, who I'd learned was Guzmán's sister. She looked up and seemed to be just as interested in Samu. I wondered what was going on there.

I guess I wasn't the only one who noticed either, because just as I was thinking this, Guzmán walked over to them.

I don't know what he said, but Mariana's face turned a bright red to match her hair. She looked pissed.

Samuel looked just about ready to punch Guzmán, but the coach blew the whistle for them to go ahead and get to their positions. 

Guzmán won the race like he always did, but it seemed like he came out of the pool even angrier. He said something to Samu and all of a sudden Samuel punched him.

Before Guzmán could do anything the coaches actually managed to do their jobs and stop anything else from happening. 

I missed what happened after that, but I didn't miss the murderous look on both of the boys' faces.