Gold Rush

Chapter Nine

Rian let out an aggravated groan, slumping his head onto his desk. I turned to him, raising an eyebrow. He glowered up at me, his eyes darting to the quiz in my hand our Spanish teacher had just given back. "What did you get?" he demanded.

            "Um, I got a good grade," I said vaguely.

            "But what grade?"

            "Um, a hundred," I murmured bashfully, giving him a sheepish look.

            Rian made a face, thrusting his quiz to me. Curiously, I took it and held it up to my face. A large, red twenty-eight was staring back at me. My eyes widened. "How did you manage that?"

            "I don't know!"

            "Did you study?"

            Rian hesitated. "Yes..."

            I gave him a flat look. "You don't learn Spanish by just looking at the word once. This is an honor's class, Rian."

            "I know," he snapped, furrowing his eyebrows.

            "Then why did you take it if you don't study?"

            "Because I have to," Rian told me, his frown deepening. "My producer says learning another language will be helpful."

            I cocked an eyebrow. "Helpful to what?"

            "In case we tour in Spain or something..."

            I returned my gaze back to the paper, scanning over all his incorrect answers. It was amazing he'd lasted a full month of this class without failing out. "Rian. Puente wasn't even in this set of vocabulary."

            "What? Doesn't it mean above?"

            "No," I responded with a small laugh. "It means bridge. Not even close."

            Rian scowled, yanking his paper back. In one quick motion he crumpled it up into a small ball, stuffing it into his pocket. "Why do we even learn this stuff? It's not like I'm ever going to need the words still life painting in English, let alone Spanish. Same goes for obra."

            "Well if you go to an art museum..."

            "I don't even like art!"

            "Okay class," Ms. Walker started, raising her voice. "Necesito recordar las pruebas."

            Another laugh left my lips as Rian groaned yet again in frustration. He bent down, retrieving his quiz from his backpack and unwrinkling it the best he could, grumbling under his breath. We passed our quizzes up the row, and when Ms. Walker picked up Rian's, she sent him an annoyed look. "I hate this class," he muttered under his breath.

            The bell rang, saving me from having to respond to Rian's negativity. Just as I stood up from my desk, girls enclosed Rian's, like usual.

            "How'd you do on that test?" Sabrina asked, sending him a flirtatious smile.

            "Awesome," Rian responded confidently.

            Rolling my eyes, I headed out the door. As soon as I stepped through the doorway, someone wrapped an arm around my shoulder, squeezing me tightly. "Hello, Iris!"

            "What are you doing here?" I demanded, trying to shrug out from under Noah's arm.

            He gave me a smug smile. "I escaped from class a little early so I could meet you. Aren't you happy to see me?"