Beneath the Gilded

Chapter 1

It was spring, and in Southern California, that was practically the same as midsummer. As if to announce the warmer air, the girls' tank tops had become even more revealing, and their shorts had long violated the school dress code. I was in a hoodie and long sweatpants because I never really minded the heat. I was always more liable to the cold. A junior wearing booty shorts wrinkled her eyes at my outfit across the classroom. I ignored her, really, how small minded could she be, and returned my attention back to the front of the room.

"... So this is where the process of osmosis comes in. Turn to page ninety-one, and you'll see a model of the red blood cell on the lower left corner," Ms. Lauran's voice droned. Seriously, you'd think she did it on purpose. She was one of those teachers, speaking from experience, who would kick you out if you came in during lunch to ask a question. To be fair, she was still unmarried to this day, and she was forty-five and looked sixty. She probably was taking her frustration about her failure of a life on her students.

Biology, in itself, was an easy class, really, the only non-AP class I was taking other than Spanish because I wanted to concentrate on my Humanities subjects. But this harpy did her best to make it insufferable. No wonder no man had taken it upon himself to marry her. Evan, one of my two best friends, sighed with exasperation on my left, and we made eye contact. He rolled his cerulean eyes at me, yawning exaggeratedly. The corners of my lips tugged up.

He was the only one I know that could pull off being both geeky and cool at the same time. As the only child of the Marlene Markus, the director of at least ten award-winning blockbusters, and Sebastian Markus, the owner of the largest law firm in the country, you'd expect him to act snotty and entitled. He didn't. He'd spent most of elementary and middle school in boarding schools in England, hence his accent (I secretly have a thing for British accents, but God forbid I admit that to him), and arrived in the middle of his freshman year, after everyone had made friends. So he'd been in need of a friend as much as I was. He was fairly handsome as well, with his deep blue eyes and light brown hair. To be honest, I had a bit of a crush on him.

"The cellular wall... nutrients... " Ms. Lauran went on and on.

Half of the class, wait screw that, three-quarters of the class was asleep by now. I was tempted to do the same, but I had to suck it up because I wasn't going to relearn this at home. Showcasing my awesome self-control, I concentrated and frantically took notes. God forbid I got a B in this class; that would dock my grades brutally. I couldn't risk that; my scholarship was only valid if my GPA kept above 4.5.

Then, Ms. Lauran said the only interesting thing she'd said since we walked in the classroom.

"...We're going to do a partner project on this topic."

It was hilarious, how the class suddenly perked up. A dozing freshman sat up so fast, she swayed. Evan grinned at me, and I smiled back.

"I think I will let you be my partner. Lucky you, since I'm the genius and all," quipped Evan. I rolled my eyes. Not that this was untrue; he really had the highest GPA in our grade and an IQ of 145. But he always made sure to remind me.

"Oh, I think we both know we're equally intelligent," I lied. Evan raised his eyebrow and smirked. That irritated me every time; the raising eyebrow, I mean. I couldn't do it to save my life. I've tried and looked like I had swallowed my cat Betty's cat droppings.

"Before you ask, I've already chosen your partners for you," Ms. Lauran said, interrupting my internal rant about eyebrows. This might've sounded witty in someone else's voice, but in hers, it just sounded mean. A collective groan swept through the class.

"Of course she did. She bloody hates us," Evan muttered.

"Tell me why she hasn't been fired yet?" I asked. I made of habit of asking this one every single Biology class.