Vigilance

Maria, Don't Call Me

Months Earlier

Vanessa stared at the blank test before her.

Class was almost over, and she hadn't even started on her open response questions. Writing wasn't exactly her strong suit, and so as soon as she stumbled upon the last two questions and she drew no connections her mind disconnected completely.

She tried her best to separate her life as Leopardess from her life as Vanessa, but the lines often bled. Her suit had under performed a few days ago and was in need of updates. Particularly the retraction of her steel claws into her suit. She had an idea of how she wanted it to work in her head, but it was turning out to be quite difficult to physically fabricate.

She directed her vision to the back of  Sam's head in front of her. The boy was distracting enough to sit behind, with all his broad shoulders and dark hair. But coupled with the extra thoughts in her head and her unfamiliarity with the last chapter of Huckleberry Finn in relation to modern America, she stood no chance.

Her friend Emma pushed back into her creaky chair and folded her arms, test folded upside down in front of her. Vanessa stared at her, hoping she would telepathically feel her friend's gaze and return it.

Emma was gorgeous. Mostly Hispanic in ethnicity, her skin had a copper tint and her eyes were a warm brown. What first sparked the friendship was that despite her appearance, Vanessa spoke perfect Spanish. Vanessa's mother was from Spain but pale in complexion. She spoke constant Spanish around the house, and without her father around Vanessa absorbed everything like a sponge.

Emma finally caught her eye in return and raised her thick brows as high as they would go. It was enough to bring Vanessa back to reality. Ten minutes on the clock. That was enough to bullshit this.

Just as she hastily signed her name on the test, the final bell rang and she turned her paper over.

Emma and her slipped out of their seats, grabbed their bags, and headed for the door.

"There goes my future." Vanessa comically sucked a breath through her teeth.

Emma rolled her eyes. "As if, little miss track star. With those legs you could get a bag of rocks accepted to Harvard." Vanessa scoffed and elbowed her best friend, while hastily scrolling through an entire school day's worth of texts. Her gaze was pulled, however. As Samuel Bishop walked by.

Tall, and confident, and smelling of soft laundry detergent. Sam made her weak in the knees. He had, for nearly three years. His smile was brilliant, his steely grey eyes curious, his dark brown hair wild.

"You want me to wipe the drool off your face?" Emma pulled her coiled dark hair into a ponytail to draw attention away from her smirk.

"Girl, I will smack you." Vanessa warned.

"Careful, I might like it." Emma taunted.

Vanessa shouldered her friend into the lockers.

+++

Sam, later

As Sam plugged his soldering iron into the outlet behind his desk to heat up, his desk lamp clattered loudly to the floor.

He didn't even flinch as he pushed it out of the way with his socked foot. He wasn't worried about someone coming up to investigate. He knew the routines of all of the hotel staff like clockwork, and they were shut down for the night. That's what living there your whole life will buy you. The only possible variable was his father, but even then, that was a rarity. He thought of it as one more bonus of his father owning one of the most successful hotel chains in Manhattan.