Playing Perfect

10. Trahision

She blinked, standing from her seat.

"You'll be partnered with Julia Mathews."

Alice spun to meet eyes with Julia. She was a tall girl with dark skin, tight black curls, and bright brown eyes. She sent Alice a friendly smile. Julia had been in Alice's chemistry lab for the past two years, but she didn't think she'd ever spoken to her.

The seat beside her was empty, so Alice gathered her things and began to move to her.

"See you," Emily whimpered as she left. "Try not to suffer too much."

Alice sent her a curt smile before walking across the lab and sliding onto the bench beside Julia.

"Hi," Alice greeted.

Julia smiled back, her glasses reflecting the fluorescent lab light.

"I'm Julia Mathews," she said, her voice quiet but sweet.

Alice grinned. "I'm Alice—"

"Travers," Julia interrupted, eyes wide. "I know. Your family is so cool."

"Oh, I guess." Alice laughed, used to the reaction. "What does your family do?"

Julia's eyes moved to her desk. "Oh, they're just teachers."

Alice blinked at Julia's embarrassed reaction and opened her mouth to apologise, when she continued.

"I'm here on an academic scholarship, though. It's not a big deal."

"A scholarship?" Alice asked. "That's really cool."

Julia perked up, meeting Alice's eyes again. "Really?"

"Yeah." Alice smiled. "I could never get a scholarship. I'm not smart enough."

"No way. You're, like, the smartest in the class!"

"After you," Alice pointed out.

Julia looked at Alice coyly through her lashes, a small smile playing on her lips.

Mr Farrow began droning on about the assignment—some kind of presentation—and started assigning topics to each pair. Julia's smile grew wider when they were assigned the topic of thermochemistry.

"I guess we should probably exchange numbers so we can work on the project," Alice offered.

Julia's face glowed as she pulled out her phone, and the pair quickly exchanged numbers. The lesson continued, Alice meeting Emily's eyes across the classroom. She chuckled, noticing she'd been paired with Theo who was even worse at chemistry than Emily.

Maybe she'd have to tutor them both.

"Don't look now," Julia whispered suddenly. "But Finn Cauley has been staring at you all lesson."

Despite Julia's wishes, Alice's eyes flickered directly to Cauley, who was not so subtly glaring at her from the front few rows of benches.

He met her eyes and his jaw set, his eyes dark and narrowed at her. His blond hair had been pushed back, though some stray locks fell over his forehead and brushed his eyes.

Alice pursed her lips, turning away from him with a huff.

"He's incorrigible," she spat, immediately forgetting her manners.

Julia's eyes widened. "Finn? I have writer's club with him. He seems nice."

Alice's eyes snapped to Julia, wide and confused. "Cauley's in writer's club?"

"Yeah." Julia nodded. "He's really good. And he always leaves me some great feedback. Although, I write reports. He sticks to fiction."

Alice clenched her teeth, glancing back at Cauley. He still glared at her, his partner beside him seeming too scared and shy to discuss their project. Her phone felt heavy in her blazer pocket. With the way he was staring at her, she wouldn't be surprised to find another text waiting for her after class.