Perfect Student

Chapter 3

I walked into school and headed straight for my locker, reciting my combination as I went.

34, 12, 22. 34, 12, 22.

I almost didn't notice Hunter leaning up against it until I was a foot away. He was dressed in a loose black shirt and dark ripped jeans that fit tightly but bunched around the ankles.

"There you are!" he said in annoyance, standing up and placing one arm around me. "I thought you were dead or something. Perfect Adeline not arriving early to school?"

"Bryce was running late," I said, leaning my head onto his shoulder and rolling my eyes. He laughed and nodded, leaning down to press a kiss to my forehead. I faced my body towards him and angled my head up to give him a kiss on the lips, but he pushed me up against the locker instead, and kissed me like we were alone, making my breathing become shallow. 

I pressed my hands to his chest and shoved him back lightly, feeling his chest rumble as he laughed. My cheeks were red as I scanned the hallway to make sure nobody was watching.

"Hunter!" I chastised, giggling as he smirked at me.

"I love being your boyfriend," he said as I spun towards my locker and twisted the black dial to the right. 34, 12, 22. It popped open on the first try, making me sigh with relief.

"Oh yeah?" I asked playfully, pulling textbooks from my locker into my backpack. "Why is that?" I turned to face him and gave him an expectant smile as he thought about it.

He tucked one finger into the waistband of my skirt and tugged me towards him before whispering into my ear. "Because you're a good girl to everyone else. But I know the truth."

"That I'm perfect?" I asked as if it were a secret, making him chuckle.

"You are to me," he replied, before spinning towards the group of his guy friends that were gathering down the hall. He knew I wanted time alone to study.

"I'll text you," he called over his shoulder.

"I'll probably answer," I replied jokingly. 

I bit my lip at the thought of his kiss and began walking towards the benches in the courtyard, trying to calm my breathing as other students filled the hall. 

I had found this study spot my freshman year when I was had been kicked out of a class for being two minutes late. I didn't know where to go to hide my tears so I rushed around a couple of walls before finding a miniature courtyard with a single oak tree and little grass are beside it, perfect for sitting and thinking. 

By the time I sat and had my textbook open, there were only ten minutes left until the bell rang. I scanned chapter one of my math and history textbooks, relieved to find that they began with review. The bell rang and I leaped up, pressing my books to my chest, and walking to my first class with gusto. I texted my best friend, praying that she wouldn't be late on the very first day of school. It wouldn't give the right impression, although she would certainly continue the trend later in the semester. She assured me that she had just parked her car and would meet me in the classroom, making me promise to save her a seat.

I sighed when she walked into math with a minute to spare, keys jangling and blonde hair bouncing as she booked it down the aisle to where I was sitting. We were seated in the second row, desk closest to the window and farthest from the door.

She sighed, falling into her plastic chair with a grimace, somehow still managing to make it look beautiful. She had always reminded me of Elle Woods from Legally Blonde, but significantly smarter.

"Do we always have to sit in the front?" Trinity demanded, light brown eyes shooting daggers at me though her mouth tilted into a smile with amusement. Despite being some of the most popular girls in our grades, we were also very successful in our classes. We met in eighth grade and instantly singled each other out as competition, comparing test scores and quiz grades until we realized we were evenly matched. Now we worked together, sharing notes and study guides so that we could become valedictorian and salutatorian, in whichever order.

"It's been proven to increase productivity and correlates with good grades!" I reminded her, worried she forgot about our mission already. She considered that for a second and then nodded, facing the front.

"Fine," she decided, pulling out her notebook and a sparkly green pen. "You choose our seats in Math and Art, but I'm choosing the seats in AP Lit and AP Environmental Science."

"Deal," I said with a grin, shaking her hand with a giggle. As seniors, our school allowed us to choose which class times we wanted for each period, and we'd managed to get four out of five together.

Our teacher called the class's attention as the detention bell rang, introducing herself and scribbling her name on the board squeakily.

"Hello class, I'm Mrs. Cartwright and I know this is going to be an amazing year. Because this is an AP class, I'll admit that you can expect a lot of homework to be completed daily. Your first assignment for the year is..."

My pen hovered over my planner book eagerly, awaitingher instructions. I could picture the valedictorian sash on my shouldersalready.