Laila was just starting to get winded when Doctor Green finally blew his whistle. She slowed to a walk, then finally stopped completely. Amanda was panting loudly beside her, bent over with her hands on her knees. Her entire face was pink and her forehead was covered in beads of sweat.
“Im... dying,” Amanda huffed, pausing to take a big gulp of air. “That... was.. ridicu--” She cut off to start coughing. Laila patted her roughly on the back, trying to look concerned instead of amused. She had told Amanda numerous times that she should really get more in shape. If this wasn’t proof enough she didn’t know what was.
“Everyone sit!” Doctor Green barked. Students dropped to the floor where they stood, scared of being forced into more laps or pushups if they took too long. “Grab a partner.”
Laila reached out to take Amanda’s hand in her own, watching as everyone paired up with their friends. “I hope we’re not doing more laps.” Laila muttered. She was the first to agree to a good workout, but more laps would just be ridiculous.
“Is everyone paired up?” Doctor Green paused as a few students nodded, and a few others shouted “yes sir!” He looked across the students before his eyes landed on Jace. “Good. Now get up while I assign your partners.”
Laila’s mouth dropped. She stood, sighing angrily. She could already tell she was going to hate this class and the man teaching it. She stood, hands on her hips, as Doctor Green pointed to random students and assigned them new partners, making a point of separating friends. Laila watched sadly as Amanda was sent to work with some random girl, and a second later Doctor Green’s finger was in her face. She blinked, taken aback.
“You! Over there, with british boy.” He commanded, placing a hand on Laila’s shoulder and turning her toward Jace. She grimaced, walking over to him. She smiled at him, to no avail, and turned aimlessly to avoid the awkwardness of his hostile stare. She caught Amanda’s eye and pouted, silently complaining about her less than friendly partner.
“Everyone, sit!” The general blew his whistle again, and Laila put her hands up to her ears.
“I hate that damn whistle.” She muttered, lowering herself to the ground beside Jace.
“Pick a partner to lay on the ground,” He ordered. Laila looked to Jace with the unspoken question, and he held out a hand for her to lay down. She obliged, laying on her back, stretching her legs out, and resting her hands over her stomach. “Now that’s partner A. Partner B, stand up with your legs on either side of partner A’s shoulders, facing the same direction as their legs.
Jace grumpily stood and positioned himself over Laila, opening his legs to shoulder width on either side of her. She pinched her face up, closing her eyes to avoid the awkward view. She heard Jace snicker at her immaturity but she didn’t care, she’d rather not get a faceful of crotch.
“Partner A, lift your legs up to ninety degrees and grab hold of your partner’s ankles.” Doctor Green continued, walking between all the pairs of students and stopping to make corrections as he saw fit. Laila grabbed hold of Jace’s ankles and tightened her abs, lifting her legs straight up in the air. “Now I’m sure you must all know where this is going,” He paused beside Laila and Jace. She only knew by the sound of his footsteps, as her eyes were still tightly squeezed shut. “Leg lifts, go!” He blew his whistle and Laila tightened her abs even further as Jace gave them a rough shove down. “Don’t let your legs hit the ground! Lift them up, lift them up! Keep them straight!”
The general was shouting now, squatting down beside people who were cheating. Laila gracefully pulled her legs back up, keeping them straight and perfectly together. Jace pushed again and she brought them up second time, and by the tenth one she found herself gripping his ankles tighter. She finally opened her eyes as they continued, curious to see how others were doing. She could see Amanda from where she lay, who was turning so red in the face she looked like a tomato. Laila let out a small laugh, but it was enough to get the general’s attention.
“You think this is funny? Keep going! Twenty more.” He barked, needlessly blowing his whistle yet again. The entire class groaned in unison, except Jace, who was actually laughing for once. Laila looked up at him, surprised.
“What’s so funny?” She managed, her voice strained from the effort to keep her legs from touching the ground or falling out of rhythm as Jace roughly shoved them down again.
“You.” He grinned down at her, and she tilted her head against the floor.
“Why me?”
“NO TALKING!” The general roared, before blowing his whistle for the umpteenth time. “Switch places.”
Laila glared at the ruthless P.E. teacher before letting go of Jace’s ankles, who stepped back as soon as she did so, and rolling over onto her stomach to stretch her ab muscles. She relished the burn as she stretched. She stood and waited for Jace to lie down before positioning herself where he had been a minute before. He smirked up at her, obviously enjoying the view.
“You’re disgusting.” She muttered, wishing she had worn the required P.E. shorts unrolled like she was supposed to rather than making them so short. But then, she reminded herself, she didn’t care. She was comfortable with her body, and he had seen her in her bra the first day they ever met. She put on a disgusted face nonetheless, not wanting to come across as being okay with Jace’s pervertedness.
“You’re the one who’s about to sit on my face.” Jace smiled mischievously as he waited for Laila to connect the meaning of his words, and by the time she finally realized he was referring to a sexual position Doctor Green had already blown his whistle.
“Fifty, go!”
Jace lifted his legs just in time for Laila to shove them back down, and by the tenth leg lift he still hadn’t needed to hold onto her ankles for support once. She glanced down at him, confused, only to see him staring right back. She looked away, unnerved, and wished she could move from the awkward stance of where she was standing. She may not care that much, but a part of her was still yelling that he was a dangerous delinquent and she didn’t want him to get any ideas, especially living next door. Rose’s nephew or not, she still didn’t trust him. She didn’t know why anyone would.
The general blew his whistle for everyone to get up just as the bell rang overheard, and an audible sigh went throughout the entire gym. Some students hopped up while others simply lay there, probably in too much pain to move. Laila glanced back at Jace to see him already up and moving, going toward the locker room without the slightest acknowledgement or goodbye or even ‘see you later.’ She walked over to Amanda, who had collapsed on the floor, and waited for her to get up. They walked to the changing rooms in silence, though Laila knew it wouldn’t last long. Amanda would start hounding her about what it was like to be Jace’s partner the second she stopped huffing and grunting in pain. She changed quickly, waiting for Amanda to get her clothes on so they could go to class.
“Are you ready yet?” She was impatiently standing by the door, watching Amanda fix her hair in her handheld mirror. Amanda nodded and they left the locker room side by side.
“What do you have now?” Laila asked. Amanda pulled out her schedule and looked it over.
“Italian 5-6. I wonder if any cute guys will be in it,” She grinned. “Speaking of which...”
Laila groaned as her best friend turned on her with eager eyes. “Stop being such a stalker, its not normal.” She laughed at Amanda’s offended face.
“You are such a lucky duck and you won’t even admit it.”
Laila laughed even harder at Amanda’s interesting choice of words. They came to a stop at her locker and she spun the combination, pulled it open, and yanked out her leotard, tights, and pointe shoes. She turned to Amanda, only to see her staring past her with wide eyes. She slowly turned, expecting to see a monster behind her but rolling her eyes when she realized it was only Jace.
“Hi.” Amanda murmured. Jace turned to look at her before turning right back to his locker. Laila glared at him, annoyed by his never ending rudeness. He pulled out an Italian 5-6 textbook and slammed his locker shut before turning to Laila.
“What the bloody hell is that?” He asked, making a face at the clothing in her hands.
“Dance clothes.” She replied, not at all phased by his tone.
“You’re a dancer?” He didn’t bother to hide his distaste, openly laughing at the very idea.
“Yeah.” She snapped. Amanda sighed dreamily behind her.
“What else are you, a fairy?” Jace asked, still laughing. Laila slammed her locker shut and turned to Amanda.
“Are you ready to go?” She asked, wishing Amanda would stop making eyes at Jace and act like a real person rather than an anime character. Amanda nodded but didn’t budge.
“You have Italian now?” She asked him. He stared at her, seeming as though he wasn’t going to answer at all, then slowly nodded. “Me too! You wanna walk with me?”
“No.” He brushed past them and walked away, not so much as sparing a second glance.
“Can you believe him?” Laila scoffed. She and Amanda set off for the latter’s locker to get her Italian book.
“No,” Amanda breathed. “I really can’t believe he’s that sexy. Its like a movie.”
“You’re ridiculous.” Laila announced. “I’ll see you in drama.” She waved as she walked off, running into Caleb halfway down the hall and heading to ballet with him.
An hour later dance class had just gotten out, and Laila was slowly untying her pointe shoes on the wooden floor. The class was nearly empty, even the teacher had already gone. She glanced up as Caleb dropped to the ground beside her. “I love this class. It’s gonna be so hard.” She told him, grinning. He nodded.
“I just can’t wait til jazz. I hate ballet.”
“Weirdo.” Laila stood and turned to the full length mirrors surrounding all sides of the dance studio. She checked her makeup for smudges and reached up to take the bun from her hair, letting it fall to her shoulders in waves. “I love ballet.”
“And tap and jazz and cheer and tumbling,” Caleb listed, pulling her away from the mirror. “You look fine, hurry up or you won’t have time to change before drama.” He told her. She waved a lazy hand as they walked.
“I hate all this changing back and forth.” She veered off to the girls’ locker room. “See you in class!” She waved as Caleb disappeared into the other locker room. She stuffed her dance clothes into her dance locker, not bothering to take them back to her normal once since she would need them for jazz later anyways. She absentmindedly made her way to drama, grinning as she spotted Amanda across the room. She ran over and sat beside her. A second later Caleb entered, taking the seat on her other side.
“I’m so excited for this class,” Amanda gushed. It was her biggest dream to become a hollywood actress, just as it was Laila’s biggest dream to be on Broadway and Caleb’s to make Complexions dance company. “It’s gonna be so much fun.”
“Right?” Caleb shouted. Several students turned to stare at him but he didn’t seem to care. “I hope there are hot guys in here this year, last year was such a waste.”
Laila laughed as she nodded in agreement. “Because the whole point of acting is to be around hot guys, right?”
“Right!” Caleb shouted again. The teacher stood and cleared her throat, smiling around the room.
“Welcome back, my lovely theatre geeks. I hope you all had a productive summer,” She paused as the door was pulled open and Jace strolled in. Laila watched as he sat down across the room, not even bothering to look apologetic about his tardiness. “And you must be James.” Ms. Lewis continued. “Are you new to theatre?” She asked. He nodded wordlessly and she smiled. “All the better! Everyone move your chairs to a circle, we’re gonna play a game.”
Chairs scraped as everyone got up and moved around, eventually settling in a large circle. The girl closest to Jace was staring at him with lustful eyes but he didn’t seem to care. He simply stared back until the girl turned away, embarrassed. Laila stifled a laugh. As obnoxious as he was, his attitude was really kind of entertaining. As long as it wasn’t directed toward her.
“Everyone tell what you did this summer and why you’re in this class. Starting with you.” Ms. Lewis pointed to a student at random, who just happened to be on the other side of Amanda.
“I went to Europe this summer and I’m in this class because acting helps with my shyness.” The girl gave a timid smile and turned to Amanda, eager to get the attention off herself. Amanda grinned and crossed her legs underneath herself, apparently ready to talk for days.
“This summer I hung out with Laila and Caleb a lot, and I worked out with Laila sometimes because she enjoys trying to kill me,” She shot Laila a fake glare at that, “aaannnddd... I watched a lot of tv! Oh, I watched Twilight about seventeen times, and then I switched to New Moon about fourteen times, and then Eclipse because I love that scene with Taylor Lautner in the rain when his shirt is off--”
“Kay, so my summer,” Laila proclaimed loudly, cutting off her best friend. The entire class burst into laughter as she continued while Amanda pouted. “I did a lot of tumbling classes, had lots of cheer practice. I watched musicals and took voice lessons. I took a lot of dance classes with Caleb, too. And apparently tried to kill Amanda. And I’m in this class because I’m gonna be on Broadway one day and I need to become an amazing actress so I can play Fanny Brice in Funny Girl.” She turned to Caleb, waiting for him to start. They continued like this around the entire circle, until it got to Jace.
“I stole a car this summer and got sent here. I’m in this class because my parents want me to find a hobby so I’ll stop trying to drop out of school.” He turned his expectant gaze on the girl who had been mentally undressing him before, who now looked shocked and slightly intimidated.
“Um, my summer was boring. I’m here because I love acting. Thats all.” She was the last in the circle, and Ms. Lewis motioned for us to all stand. I smiled, already knowing what was coming.
“Time for relaxation. Everyone find a spot on the floor.” Ms. Lewis directed, sweeping her chair to the side and laying flat on her back. Everyone followed suit, though Jace looked the most skeptical of everyone. Laila dropped to the floor, spread out on her back, and closed her eyes. She loved this exercise. Ms. Lewis began talking them through the relaxation exercise, going through each body part and how to release it and sink into the floor. Caleb was just beginning to snore from Laila’s right side when the bell rang. She slowly opened her eyes and sat up, looking around the room. She nudged Caleb and he shot up, his eyes wide and unfocused.
“That’s all for the day!” Ms. Lewis announced. “Sorry we had so little time. We’ll have more next class, when we start doing the block schedule. See you all on Wednesday.”
She was referring to the usual schedule, where students had all odd numbered classes mondays and wednesdays, even numbered ones tuesdays and thursdays, and every class for a much shorter period on fridays. The first day of school was always a full schedule, which meant each class was as short as it would be on a friday. Laila stood and dragged Caleb up with her, while Amanda sprang up on her own, hyper as usual.
“What’s next?” She asked, hopping from foot to foot. She frowned disappointedly at the door as Jace was first to leave the class. “Aw, he’s leaving.” She whined, her eyes still on the door as if he would reappear.
“I have english.” Laila stated, ignoring Amanda’s obsessive comment. Amanda’s eyes immediately lit up as she heard this.
“Me toooo!” She squealed.
“Me too!” Caleb chimed in, grinning just as huge.
“We already compared schedules this morning guys, you know this.” Laila laughed as they headed for the door.
“Oh yeah, huh.” Amanda murmured. “Ya think Jace will have it with us?”
“I hope not.”
“I hope so!”
Laila and Caleb spoke at the exact same time, causing Amanda to giggle. She was proven right as soon as they entered their english classroom, however, and gasped in delight. Jace was seated at the very back table with one of the varsity soccer players, looking menacing as usual.
“Let’s sit in the back!” She exclaimed, grabbing Laila and Caleb’s arms in each hand. She dragged them over to the table and plopped down right across from Jace, smiling at him. “Hi Jace.”
His eyes flickered to her before he stared right over her head, taking full advantage of her shortness. Laila held back a laugh, knowing it would upset Amanda but not quite able to control her amusement. She dropped into the seat across from the other guy as Caleb sat on the end seat.
“Maybe next time, Mandy.” Laila whispered, grinning. Amanda shot her a glare before turning forward, waiting for the teacher to begin the lesson.