A sharp clang pierced through the silence in the AP Calculus classroom.

No one moved.

“Alright young ‘uns, testing time is officially over,” a loud, male voice boomed from the front of the room, “Please stop writing. And I am not giving anyone a pass for their next class this time, mind you. I had about ten teachers complain to me about your tardies. I didn’t exactly savor the experience, especially as the scapegoat.”

Yet no one moved.

“That’s enough guys. I’m going to start docking points off. And I’m sure that’s not your greatest wish on this particular test,” Mr. Collins, the AP Calculus teacher, said with a smirk. He walked towards the door, ready to receive test papers and disgruntled comments.

Slowly the class started to show signs of life. A few people rose to deposit papers, and calculators, while shoving the rest of their belongings hastily into their backpacks. Yet a significant part of the class remained seated, furiously punching the keys on TI-84s.

“Have I mentioned the tardy policy for the week before break?” Mr. Collins asked with a straight face.

No one answered.

“Apparently not. Well, if students are late to any of their classes, the week before break, they are in danger of in school suspension, and they must make up two days of school during break. If there is no make-up work, the instructors will provide it. I have heartily agreed to donate some thrilling Calculus worksheets to the instructors,” Mr. Collins said, striving for a serious tone.

No one budged.

“Well then, has anyone forgotten that it’s Stay Day today? Delicious food from fast-food restaurants being served in the gym. What more could a student want? It is first come, first serve, though.”

Instantly students scrambled up and raced to the door to give him their test papers.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, why the rush, my dears? You all seemed to think the test was marvelously fun, and all of a sudden you are ready to dispose of it?” Mr. Collins asked sarcastically as he tried to straighten his growing stack of test papers.

“I’d completely forgotten about Stay Day! Lunch is much more important than that horrifying last problem on that horrifying test. Anyways, gotta go. See ya later, Mr. Collins,” a feisty senior named Gretchen called out to him, before sailing towards the gym. The rest of his 25 seniors made similar remarks and left. Only Sapphire Johnson and Eric Jacobs remained.

“What, Stay Day doesn’t appeal to you lot? Or maybe you two have something secret planned…” Mr. Collins suggested innocently.

Eric Jacobs chuckled and glanced towards Sapphire. She was deeply engrossed in rechecking her answers. Not unusual. She probably hadn’t even heard what Mr. Collins said. He turned his gaze to his teacher again, and smiled. Mr. Collins was highly atypical for a high school teacher, especially one teaching calculus. He took a genuine interest in each of his students’ welfare, and did whatever possible to help them prepare and pass his class. Although his teaching methods were a bit eccentric, nobody seemed to have any major difficulties with the material. Minor ones were different.

“No, Mr. Collins we don’t have anything secret planned. Actually, some of the guys from the basketball team are coming over to my house for the lunch period, after we grab some food from the gym.” Eric stood up and stretched leisurely, and then sauntered towards his teacher to turn in his test.

“It was a hard one,” Eric commented, referring to his test.

“Sure was. But—”

“Not if you really know your stuff,” Eric finished with a smile. “That’s what you were about to say, right?”

Mr. Collins clapped him on the back. “You know me well, young ‘un.”

“Only because you say that exact phrase after every single test,” Eric replied sarcastically. He effortlessly swung his backpack on one shoulder, and strolled towards the door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Mr. Collins.”

“The game’s tomorrow night, right?”

“Yeah. Are you coming?” Eric asked.

“Maybe. Scouts coming to this one?”

“Two. The rest are going to come for the last three games. Wish me luck.”

“You don’t need luck, Mr. God’s gift to basketball,” Mr. Collins chuckled. “Go on, I’m sure your friends are waiting.” He raised his hand in a half-wave.

Eric stepped out of class and dug deep into his pockets to pull out his car keys. He had definite plans for lunch with his friends, yet he decided to stay outside the calculus room till Sapphire was finished. She was the only one who’d be able to answer his questions.

He and Sapphire had spoken once or twice, when put in groups together in class, but never individually. She wasn’t in his social circle, and although she had a small group of friends, she didn’t seem very outgoing. She was rather shy in class, and always spoke in hushed whispers when called on. And he’d certainly never seen her at any of his basketball games, or any of his other extracurricular activities, other than the National Honor Society. Academically, she certainly was his equal. All AP classes, and he assumed she maintained a pretty decent grade in all of them. He wasn’t too bad off himself, although he knew for a fact that she spent a much longer time on schoolwork than he did.

Eric heard a patter of footsteps, and looked towards the door to see Sapphire step over the threshold of the classroom. She carried a stuffed backpack and juggled a couple of textbooks in her right arm. Her left hand clutched a jade green lunch sack.

“Sapphire?” Eric called out.

She glanced at him, a surprised expression on her face. “Yes?” she asked quietly.

“Got a couple of minutes? Or do you have class?” he inquired.

“No, I have lunch next,” she said, shifting her arms upward and trying to get a better grip on her books. Her black bangs swung forward into her eyes, and she tried to push them to the side, with the hand holding her lunch bag. The bag fell with a thump. Sapphire sighed, and bent to retrieve it.

“Yeah, me too. Hey, you want some help with those books? From the looks of that backpack and lunch bag, you’ve got enough to carry,” Eric offered. He inwardly smiled at the astonished face she made after hearing his offer.

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Sapphire Johson stared at the incredibly handsome face of Lakeview Senior High School’s resident hero, Eric Jacobs.

Eric Jacobs.

What was he doing here, waiting for her, and then offering to carry her books? And of course, she’d just made a fool out of herself, dropping her bulging lunch sack like the ungraceful klutz that she was.

He was looking at her expectantly, and she realized that she was gaping at him, without even responding to his offer.

“Um, no thanks. I’m used to carrying these everyday after all,” she said quietly, giving him a small smile.

They had never talked to each other, alone. She had absolutely no idea what he wanted, or what she should say.

Despite her envy of him, she grudgingly had to admit that she admired him. Eric Jacobs was an all-rounder. A fantastic student, but also the captain of their famous, nationally renowned high-school basketball team, the Lakeview Jaguars. He was in several other extracurriculars, for she’d seen his picture associated with numerous campus organizations in the school newspaper. As for the cherry on top, he was rich. Very rich.

The entire school knew of his vast, inherited wealth, especially after the horrific incident that had occurred a couple of years ago, leaving Eric Jacobs an orphan.

It was what she admired most about him.

Not that he was an orphan, but how he handled himself through the situation. She’d been in the same school as him since middle school, and he’d always been a leader, one to see and be seen with. But after the accident had occurred, he hadn’t come to school for a month. When he’d returned, everything was normal. His face had been calm and collected, and he accepted fake and genuine sympathy alike. He had continued his duties, and had played an excellent season with the team. Façade or not, he hadn’t broken down. She, on the other hand, would have collapsed like a blubbering idiot, everyday, if it had been her mom in that accident. It must have cost him dearly to keep a straight face everyday, but he had. Kudos to that.

Enough of that. What in the world could he possibly want to ask her? She was most likely a Ms. Nobody to him.

She stared at his silky dark brown hair, sapphire blue eyes, and strong jaw. She watched as he reached up to scratch the side of that jaw. Even his movements were flawlessly agile. The only blemish on his face was a slight scar right above his left eyebrow. Yet even that suited him.

It really wasn’t fair. Orphan or not, he was everything perfect rolled into one. No wonder all the girls raved about him. If only his grades were lower. She really wished she could know the few things that made him human, but he hung out with the popular crowd, so that would never occur. Nor did she want it to.

Now that she thought about it, he was an ideal hero for the clichéd romances that she loved to read. She smiled inwardly, none of her friends knew that she actually read those things.

Actually she was the complete opposite of him. An ideal heroine. She almost giggled out loud at the thought. At least she wasn’t a loner. She had a small circle of friends to keep her happy. Her grades were good, and she was involved in a few extracurriculars. She had a loving mom at home. Her looks were definitely not stellar, but she didn’t mind that much about her appearance. After years of being taunted about her scars and coloring, she had ceased to care, anyway.

“So, heading to the gym for Stay Day?” he asked, shaking her out of her reverie.

She glanced at the lunch in her hand. “Actually, no. Um, I forgot that it was Stay Day today, and packed my lunch. I don’t want to waste it. But maybe for dessert, I’ll go later,” she exclaimed.

Great, she just admitted that she forgot Stay Day, which nobody ever does. She was too busy studying for the calculus test, anyway. Calculus test or food? Definitely calculus test. It wasn’t even a valid question.

He nodded. “Good plan. TCBY is here,” he said.

“Yup, I love their frozen yogurts,” she responded, brightening at the thought of ice cream.

He indicated for them to start walking with a jerk of his head. His car keys made a jingling noise as they ambled down the silent hallway.

“So, I wanted to ask you about that academic competition. You are doing that right?” he asked, and glanced sideways at her.

Of course. The academic competition.

She verbalized her assent, “Yeah. It’s in three months. I’ve gotta start practicing soon.”

“When’s the deadline to sign up?” Eric inquired.

“July 17th. It’s the 13th today, so you’ve got four days, including today,” she replied.

Great. He was going to do the academic competition too. And he’d probably finagle the winning title away from her.

The National Academic Competition was something she’d been looking forward to since her freshman year of high school. Participants would compete in different academic subjects, hers was United States History, and the winners would receive $100,000 scholarships for college. She desperately needed extracurricalar experiences and money for college.

Yet she dreaded the trip as well.

Each participant would be assigned a partner. Not only would participants have to spend an absurd amount of time practicing with his/her given partner on their subject, but they would also have to make a road trip all the way to Los Angeles, California. With each other. Alone. With required stops along the way.

She lived in Lakeview, South Carolina. Quite a few miles away from Los Angeles, California.

It was a one-month, all hotel expenses paid road trip. With someone she would barely know.

To some the trip sounded like an opportunity of a lifetime. After all, get to know your partner even better, see some fantastic American sights. Win, lose, at least the road trip would be memorable.

To Sapphire, the trip was a stupid requirement of the National Academic Competition committee. Apparently the board members wanted the partners to get to know each other really well before the convention. The pamphlet about the competition mentioned that students nowadays don’t spend as much time together socially, but only academically. Sapphire glanced at Eric, and almost snorted. As if he spent all his time indoors studying away for tests five weeks away.

“So is it true, we have to go on a road trip?” Eric asked.

“Mm-hmm,” she replied unenthusiastically.

“Sounds great. I love road trips,” Eric replied. He glanced at her, and noting the expression on her face, said, “What’s the matter? You don’t sound too excited about it, to say the least. Don’t you want an awesome senior trip, like everybody else?”

“I do want one. But not with somebody I barely know. What if she isn’t compatible with me? A month is a long time, you know,” she answered.

“How do you know it’s a she? Could be a he. Hey, you never know. Maybe you’ll end up having a steamy affair wth your partner, huh? Trip wouldn’t be too bad then, would it?” Eric joked. He nudged her arm with his hand.

Despite the fact that she knew it was a joke, she blushed deep down. She’d thought about that impossibility. She wasn’t exactly a guy magnet, even if most of the guys in the competition were rather nerdy ones.

Except for Eric. And Eric’s kind were usually repulsed by her.

They had reached the exits. The parking lots and gym were to the right and the cafeteria was to the left, so they’d have to split ways. Thank goodness for that. She glanced at his group of elite guy friends waiting for Eric near the gym door.

Eric looked over at them and then glanced back at her, granting her a smile. “Where do we sign up?”

“Ms. Blue’s room, Building B, room 101. You have to tell her that you want to participate, and she’ll give you the assessment test. If you qualify, you’ll take the road trip and go to the competition. I’m in, already. After the 17th, she’ll have a meeting with those who’ve qualified,” she explained to him.

“Hey, thanks for all the info. Gotta go. Maybe I’ll see you around, aside from calculus and history, that is,” Eric exclaimed, and briefly touched her shoulder. He pushed open the door and stepped into the outside heat. “I hope I qualify.”

Sapphire just smiled in turn.

She doubted they’d ever run into each other outside of class. Paltry as it sounded, they were from completely different social worlds.

Yet she knew he would qualify.

And he had a chance of winning.

He already had money, a lovely social life, and had won several titles. Did he really need this one too?

No. But then again, life was unfair.

AN:

Hi everyone! This is my second story on fpress. I hope you like the beginning. This is a cliché, yes, but it will go deeper than a cliché, I promise. As you’ve seen, both leads have problems. Eric is an orphan, he has it all, but he doesn’t as well. You’ll see that soon. And you’ve heard of the scarring and taunts that Sapphire has faced. You’ll get the story behind that too. And a road trip? Very interesting indeed. : ) Please, please, please, review!!