mr remmy's class had proved thus far be no more than a standard english class. one estella had perhaps already taken. she sat in the back next to anne, aimlessly doodling a guitar resembling hers on the corner of the notebook page.
"especially for russias moneyed class. english culture also had its impact. for instance, tolstoy's favourite author?"
"dickens," stella called out, unknowing of the glare she was receiving from a certain dirty blonde sitting in the front row. her sisters glance, fleeting although holding an unspoken sense of envy.
"wonderful miss gilmore. last week we covered dostoevsky's main authorial impacts," remmy was leaving his statements open for answers.
"george sand and balzac," stella voiced once more.
"good. as tolstoy commenced writing both war and peace and anna karenina, count leo would turn to?"
"david copperfield," this third answer received a smirk from anne as she watched paris become more and more angered by the academic rival she'd never had. rory also turned to look at her sister, seeing she wasn't even paying attention. she was appalled, she had never noticed how smart estella really was. although perhaps it was just english or maybe even simply russian literature.
"correct, it was to copperfield for whom he turned for inspiration-"
the door opened, interrupting the lesson. "ah, mister dugray, you've decided to join us, have you?"
"sir," the boy nodded and handed him the late pass.
"i hope your grandfathers better?"
"much better sir," the boy nodded once more before finally making his way to his seat in the second row up from the back.
estella looked up to meet his eyes which seemed to have been examining her beforehand. he was conventionally attractive, blonde hair, blue eyes, sharp jaw. a lean figure and a well ironed uniform. as the boy took his seat, she looked back down to continue her sketch as the teacher continued his lecture
"great expectations, a tale of two cities, little dorrit. all major influences on leo tolstoy. of these two literary masters, tolstoy and dickens," mr remmy finished just as the bell rang. "class dismissed," he smiled.
estella and anne both stood from their seats and began gathering their things. "i think paris hates you already," anne giggled, covering her mouth.
"huh? i didn't notice, how come?" stella slid her notebook into her bag.
"everytime mr remmy would ask a question she'd raise her hand and you beat her to it every time. its was pretty funny," she smiled, pulling the straps of her bag over her shoulders.
"oh wait c'mere," estella motioned for her to come over.
"what is it?" anne asked turning around as stella spun her finger in a circle.
"your curls are tangled," the brunette told her best friend as she fixed the perfect blonde curls and let them fall against her best friends back once more.
"oh, thank you," anne smiled and turned only to find tristain standing in front of the two.
"a mary and an eve," tristan smirked, looking estella up and down as she zipped up her pencil case and slid it into a front pocket of her bookbag before pulling one strap over her shoulder and picking up the small black lunch bag from the ground.
"biblical insults," estella nodded. "not bad. 1 Kings 10:12, lets see how good you are," she left the insult open and walked away with anne.
"what did you tell him?" anne giggled as they walked towards the door.
