Love, Hate and the Line

Chapter 3

By the time I had changed into my uniform and reached the Science building, I was seething. I was used to the arrogance of people attending the Academy but I'd never been so easily insulted.

Not for the first time, I wondered why I hadn't just gone to a public high school. Serenity Lake Academy wasn't exactly a high school, since the youngest pupils allowed to attend were 16 years old. Students finished their high school education here but started college at SLA too. You graduated at the age of 21 and when you left the Academy, you could go straight to any University you wanted to go. There hadn't been a single student who had applied and didn't get accepted to an Ivy League university after finishing at SLA and it had been one of the reasons I applied to this school.

The real incentive for me, however, was the fact that I could do three years of high school in one and at the same time start pre-med and biochemistry. I needed the challenge because I had always felt the odd one out in middle school, never having to study for a test and never learning something new.

This way, I could graduate in three months together with the 18-year old students and start pre-med and biochem subsequently. I would be the youngest to graduate ever at SLA at the age of 16 and it was one of the reasons many nearly-graduates didn't like me. Even though I never attracted attention, they still found a way to harrass me every chance they got and it had made me rethink the posh upbringing all the students here had had. You'd think that they would have been taught some manners but nothing was less true.

I was snapped out of my thoughts when I felt someone tugging at my low ponytail. I didn't have to turn around to know that it was my best friend, Owen. And indeed, he was behind me, grinning.

'Hey An, how's your morning going for ya?'

'Same old, same old,' I lied. I didn't want to tell him what had happened just now. I knew it would just accentuate the vast differences between me and everyone else here. 'You're looking awfully chipper this morning, what's up?'

He sighed. 'Nothing new, just the hottest guy ever arriving here today..'

I arched an eyebrow. 'And who would that be?'

'You didn't hear Ben Ashford is going to go to school here? Really, you should get out of the library some time,' he joked.

I sighed. 'And why would that be a reason to jump up and down like a squirrel on stereoids?'

He blushed and stopped skipping. 'Well Mrs. Meaninthemorning, didn't you hear what I just said? He is hot with a capital H!'

'You have a boyfriend,' I reprimanded.

'Oh come on, don't tell me you don't want a piece of the Greek-goddish deliciousness that is Ben Ashford.'

'I don't,' I stated simply. 'Just another arrogant, rich and priviliged jerk. What's new.'

'Hey, I'm rich and priviliged and you like me,' he said in mock-offense. 'Don't be quick to judge, maybe he is as soft as a bowl of teddy bears. Unless I'm in his vicinity, of course,' he winked.

I rolled my eyes at his not-so-subtle innuendo. 'I'm pretty sure he's straight, O.'

'I know, but a man can hope, can't he?'

We continued walking down to the Chemistry lab, where we both had class. When we opened the door to the modern and luxuriously equipped lab, I smiled. I loved Chemistry.

I sat down on my seat as I waited for the teacher to arrive. I would always sit alone as I had already done everything there was to do in this class. My teacher allowed me to spend my time researching a subject I could choose myself and I loved every second of it.