CHAPTER ONE

Stephanie arrived at the office at the exact time she was supposed to be there. It was a first. She was always late for everything. “You needed me for something?” she asked the secretary, Mrs. Windell, when she arrived.

“Yes, you’re going to show around a new student today,” said Mrs. Windell. She was a gray-haired chubby lady with a warm smile and a nice voice. She motioned to a male student sitting in one of the chairs by the principal’s office. He was an attractive guy. He had light brown hair and deep brown eyes. He had a naturally tan complexion, probably from some Hispanic origin. He had nice arms, Stephanie noticed. She had a thing for arms. He was well built. He stood up when the secretary motioned to him. He was a little shorter than average, probably about five eight or so.

“Hi, I’m Stephanie.” Stephanie extended her hand in greeting.

“I’m Mat.” He shook Stephanie’s hand.

“So did you just transfer here?” The answer was obviously yes, but Stephanie wanted to make small talk.

“Yes. My scholarship finally went through, so….”

“Oh, you’re on scholarship? Nice. Do you have your schedule and everything?”

Mat gave a nod, reached into his pocket, and took out a folded up piece of paper. He opened it up and handed it to Stephanie.

“Okay, well. I’ll show you around a bit and get you to your first class in time. Sound good?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Hey, we have gym together, last period. Come on, let’s go.”

Stephanie showed Mat to all the important parts of the school: the cafeteria, the gym, the different dorm wings. On the way she told him all of the “important” facts about the school that all the students were supposed to know.

“I’m sorry, I know this is dull,” Stephanie said as she walked Mat to his first class.

“Oh, no, its not so bad,” Mat said with a kind smile.

“I’ll meet you outside of this classroom to take you to your next class, okay?”

“Sure thing.”

“Good luck.”

Stephanie left Mat and walked to her own class, BC Calculus. She took her usual place in the back, next to her friend Mary.

“Hey, who was that cute guy I saw you walking around with this morning?” Mary asked, leaning over her desk towards Stephanie.

“A new transfer. Windell called me down to the office to show him around.”

“Oh, is that part of your punishment for the whole pool incident?”

“I suppose so. Don’t know why they’d trust me with new students though.”

“True that.”

The two of them laughed as their teacher, Mr. Malcolm, walked into the room. “Alright class, quiet down and let’s get started.”

Mat made it through his morning classes without much trouble. When it came time for lunch, Stephanie left him to his own devices. He found a seat at an almost empty table, and began eating.

“Hey, Mat!”

Mat glanced up as someone took a seat next to him. “Joe!”

“Yeah, man, glad you remembered. So you finally made it in to the Academy, huh? I knew you would.”

Mat and Joe had gone to the same high school until Joe had applied to the Elgin Academy. It was a boarding school for gifted students in upstate New York. Joe and Mat had both gone to Hackensack High School in New Jersey. Mat hadn’t gotten in on his first attempt, but had been encouraged by advisors to try again. So he did, and got in the second time around. Joe had started school in the spring, and Mat was just started now, in October.

“Thanks, Man. So how are you liking it here?”

“Its great. You’re gonna love it. Have you met anyone yet? Made any friends?” Joe took a big bite into his sandwich.

At just that moment Mat saw Stephanie walk into the cafeteria with a group of people. He stared at her for several moments. He had been trying to ignore the fact that she was gorgeous all day, but now he could admire without worrying too much about it. She had black hair, cut in layers and mixed in with streaks of purple underneath. She was slightly pale. She had a slim figure, but good curves, and she had altered her uniform to make it fit her body perfectly. But most stunning about her was her bright green eyes.

“Dude, what’re you staring at?” Joe asked, bringing Mat back to attention.

“The only person I’ve really met so far is the person that’s been showing me around. Her name is Stephanie. She’s right over there.” Mat nodded with his head towards her.

“Oh, I know who she is,” said Joe with a sarcastic smile.

“What?”

“Everyone here knows who she is. She’s the resident slut of Elgin Academy.”

Mat frowned. It sounded more like high school rumors than fact. He wasn’t one to just take people’s words for things. He liked finding things out for himself better. “How do you know that? Just because random guys brag about doing her? They could be lying.”

“Dude, she is not quiet about it, alright. I mean, she’s done it in the bleachers, in locker rooms, dorms. Whenever and wherever, Man. That’s the kind of girl she is.”

“Again, how do you know? Word of mouth?”

“Dude, I just know, okay? Everyone has done her at some point.”

“Have you?” Mat asked with a smirk.

“Uh, no. But I don’t want to. I’d probably catch an STD or something.”

Mat rolled his eyes. Joe wasn’t fooling him. He wanted her just as badly as probably every other guy in the school did.

“Besides, you don’t want to hang with her,” Joe continued. “She’s one of the rich.”

“What does that mean?”

“There are two types of students that go to this school. There are those like you and me, who get in on scholarship. We have to bust our asses, keep up our grades; our whole futures depend on this. Then there are the rich kids. Their parents pay for them to get in, and then they just keep paying until their kids make it to Harvard or Stanford or any other school they want to go to.”

“And Stephanie, she’s one of these rich kids?”

Joe scoffed. “Yeah, probably the richest. Her mom owns a crap load of companies. Its insane.”

Mat looked over at Stephanie again. She was sitting down now with a big group of people, laughing and talking. She seemed normal enough to him. And she had been so nice to him all day. He refused to just write her off because she was rich.

Mat finished his lunch, talking to Joe about anything other than Stephanie. When it was time for class, Stephanie came up to his table. “Hey, ready to go?”

“Yeah.”

Mat said goodbye to Joe and followed Stephanie out of the cafeteria.

“Good lunch?” Stephanie asked.

“Uh, sure.”

“Sorry, that was a stupid question. Lunch is lunch, right? Nothing really special about it.” Stephanie didn’t know why but she felt flustered around Mat. She wasn’t used to feeling that way. She actually normally felt the most comfortable around guys. They were easier to interpret than girls and had half the drama.

“Well, how was your lunch?” said Mat with a smile, trying to make her feel better.

Stephanie laughed. “It was good, thanks. Here’s your classroom.”

“Thanks.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

Stephanie and Mary had Spanish together as their next class. The teacher let them pair off to tell each other about their weekends while speaking Spanish. Stephanie and Mary just talked in English, and not about their weekends.

“So what’s the scoop on the new kid?”

“His name’s Mat. He’s in on scholarship. He’s from Jersey, went to Hackensack, if I remember correctly.”

Mary made a face. “Oh, so he’s one of the studious types, I guess.” She gave an overly dramatic sigh. “No fun.”

“Oh, I don’t know about that. He seems really nice. And he’s kinda cute.”

“Yeah, nice and cute. Sounds like a real thrill.”

Stephanie didn’t know why, but she was feeling defensive. “He seems like a really great guy. Maybe you shouldn’t just write him off like that.”

Mary looked up at Stephanie in surprise. “Whoa, you don’t have to snap at me. What’s up with you? Hey, you’re blushing.”

“I am not!” Stephanie rested her chin in her hand in an attempt to hide her cheeks.

“Steph, is it possible that you might be interested in him?”

Stephanie rolled her eyes. “Don’t be stupid. I’ve known him for, like, five minutes.”

“I think you like him.” Mary clapped her hands in excitement. “Oo, this is gonna be so much fun. I’ve never seen you with a crush before.”

“Hey, now, this is getting way out of hand. I don’t have a crush, okay? I don’t even know him.”

“Sometimes, Stephanie, people just have a connection.”

Stephanie shook her head. “That’s a load of crap.”

“Fine, deny it all you want. But when you find yourself pining after him in the middle of the night, don’t come crawling over to me to help you.”

Stephanie gave a sarcastic laugh. “Yeah, me pining. Right.”

Mary laughed too. “Okay, okay, so maybe there won’t be any pining involved. But still. Two people can meet and like each other, Steph. Not everything has to be about sex.”

“I know that,” said Stephanie, slightly offended. She knew how relationships worked; she just didn’t care to take part in one.

“Then maybe you should act like it sometimes.”

Stephanie shot Mary a nasty look before picking up her backpack and moving to another empty seat. She threw her bag down roughly and slumped onto the seat with her hands across her chest.

Stephanie was too pissed off to pay attention the rest of the class period. She knew Mary would try to talk to her after class was finished, so she made sure to have her bag packed before the bell rang so she could make a fast getaway. She met Mat outside his class and without saying anything, motioned for him to give her his schedule. Looking it over, she remembered that they now both had P.E.

Stephanie started walking, and Mat trailed behind her, trying to keep up with her because she was moving so fast. When they got to the locker room, Stephanie didn’t say anything as they went their separate ways. She didn’t really care if she was being rude, she was too irritated to care.

All the girls changed into their gym clothes in the locker room, and then headed out into the gym to meet the boys to play basketball. Stephanie was glad when she saw that they would be doing basketball. She was on the school team and she loved it. The class split up into four groups and each group used a different hoop to play at.

It was not a good class for Stephanie. Halfway into the game, she went in for a shot and received an elbow to the stomach from Veronica, a girl she hated. Veronica was a typical blond-hair, blue-eyed bitch, in Stephanie’s opinion. “What the hell is your problem?” Stephanie asked as the ball went out of bounds.

Veronica just smirked.

Stephanie couldn’t help it. She was annoyed enough already. She attacked Veronica and the two got locked into a hair-pulling, face-scratching rumble.

“Prestol! Carrigan! Break it up now!”

Stephanie felt hands on her shoulders, pulling her away from Veronica. Once they were apart, the two girls straightened themselves out, panting from exersion.

“What the hell is this?” the gym teacher, Mr. Hendricks, asked.

“She just attacked me!” Veronica yelled, pointing at Stephanie with a trembling hand.

“She fouled me!” Stephanie argued. “She elbowed me in the stomach. Ask anyone!”

A bunch of the other kids all started talking at once, until Mr. Hendricks bellowed for all of them to be quiet. “Enough! Okay, okay, let’s just not let it happen again, alright? Or you two are getting sent to the dean’s office. Got it?”

The two girls nodded, and the game continued. When the bell rang, Stephanie started heading back to the locker room.

“Prestol!”

Stephanie stopped and turned to face the gym teacher, Mr. Hendricks. “What?”

“Why don’t you gather the balls today, put ‘em back? You can show Martinez over here the storage room.”

“What the fuck, Coach? Why me?”

“Hey! Language, Prestol. You’re already on thin ice today, so watch it!”

Stephanie kicked the ball next to her angrily and sent it flying. Then she reluctantly got the ball rack from the corner of the gym and brought it into the center. Mat had already started gathering the balls. Stephanie joined him. Once they were all on the rack, Stephanie started wheeling them towards the doors.

“Hey, are you okay?”

Stephanie stopped abruptly and turned to face Mat, who was walking behind her. “What?”

“You seem upset about something. Sorry, I know it’s none of my business. I just thought I’d ask.”

“You don’t know me. How do you know if I seem upset?” Stephanie snapped.

Mat shrugged, undisturbed by Stephanie’s negative response. “Its not like you keep it well hidden.” He laughed.

Stephanie was about to yell at him for making fun of her, but stopped herself. He was only being honest, and she knew he was right. Really, it was nice of him to notice and take interest. Stephanie turned back to the ball rack. “Its nothing. Just been a rough day.” She started towards the doors again, and Mat followed.

“Well, if you want to talk about it, I’ll listen.”

Stephanie was surprised by how sincere Mat sounded. She had never encountered a guy who actually wanted to listen to her problems. She realized that by Mat just saying those words, she already felt better. She laughed. “Its really nothing. Stupid fight with my friend. I’m over it.”

Stephanie showed Mat where the storage room was. It was right across the hall from the gym doors. Stephanie put the rack inside and then closed and locked the door. She took the key to bring back to Mr. Hendricks.

“So you’re pretty good,” Mat said as they walked back to the locker rooms.

Stephanie frowned, confused. “At what?”

“Basketball.”

“Oh, yeah, well I’m on the team here.”

“Ah, okay.”

They had reached the locker rooms. “Will you be able to make it back to your dorm okay?” Stephanie asked.

“Oh, yeah, I’ll be fine. Thanks for putting up with me all day.”

“No problem. I’ll see you around.”

Stephanie went into the girl’s locker room and changed back into her uniform. Then she went over to Mr. Hendricks’s office, which was right outside the locker rooms. “Here ya go, Coach,” she said, tossing him the key to the storage room.

Mr. Hendricks caught it with ease and set it on the desk. Stephanie had turned to leave and had her hand on the doorknob when Mr. Hendricks said something. “Steph, you need to watch your behavior more carefully when you’re in class. I don’t want to have to suspend you from the team.”

“Sure thing, Coach,” Stephanie said without turning around. She opened the door and left.

Alright, so what do you guys think? Worth continuing? I'd love to hear your thoughts.