Chapter One
I took the steps to school two at a time, trying to catch up with the new guy. Around me, students hung about the main entrance, gawking like I’d just stripped off my clothes and did a dance. My cell buzzed with three rapidly fired texts from Penny.
--what r u doing?
--stop chasing him!
--do u knw who he is? Chaz Bishop!
Nope, no clue who Chaz Bishop was, other than the jerk who’d gotten my assigned parking space. I was the one who stood in line for three hours last year, not him. But he waltzed in, two weeks after start of term, and was simply given my spot. No way was I going to let that fly. Just as I reached the front doors another text from Penny came through.
--Chaz Bishop + Harlan Bishop = $$$
If Penny was trying to calm me down, telling me this guy’s father had mega bucks was not the way to do it. By the time I ran up to the administrative office, I had all kinds of theories about my stolen parking space worked out in my head. I burst through the door like a lunatic. What was I going to do when I caught him? I hadn’t even thought it out.
Mrs. Minnis, the headmaster’s assistant, was in the midst of handing the new guy his schedule. Her welcoming smile turned into a nostril flare when her eyes met mine.
“Miss Nieves, the headmaster isn’t seeing students until after lunch.”
Since the start of school I’d made a daily complaint about my parking space. Obviously, Headmaster Looper was ignoring my protests.
“I want to see him, Mrs. Minnis. It’s not fair he gave my spot to him.” I pointed accusingly at the new guy. “It’s only ‘cause his father dumped loads of money into this place.” I had no idea if that was true, but I said it like I had the bank statements to prove it.
The new guy—Chaz Bishop—turned and looked at me with raised eyebrows.
“I know why the headmaster did it,” I continued. “It’s because I’m here on a partial scholarship, isn’t it? Walk all over the poor, underprivileged girl. No one’ll care.” Immediately, I regretted saying that. My father was a physician. Nothing fancy, just a good old-fashioned doctor, and my mother was a writer. We were far from poor, but compared to the other students at West Nottingham, I was at the bottom of the economic ladder. Still, my parents knew what it meant to be poor and would’ve been disappointed if they’d heard me say that.
Headmaster Looper’s door opened. His balding head shined in the middle, reflecting the beams of sunlight spilling through the windows. It nearly blinded me as I stood a good three inches taller than him.
“Miss Nieves. Thought I heard your voice.” His brown mustache wriggled as he spoke. He eyed me in my shirtless vest and absent necktie. “You’re out of uniform.”
“Um, maybe because I have to ride my bike a hundred miles to school everyday,” I snapped, but I’d already been forgotten for some rich ass-kissing.
“Mr. Bishop! So happy to see you’ve made it safely. I know you’ll find West Nottingham Academy to your liking. If you need anything, you’ll find my door is always open to—”
“Really?” I folded my arms over my chest. “Because I’ve been trying to get you to listen to me for two weeks. It’s not fair you took my parking spot and enforced a policy with me that you haven’t enforced with anybody else. There are at least a hundred sixteen year olds driving on campus with a learner’s permit.” Doubtful, but I was on a roll. “I bet he only has his learner’s.” I jabbed a finger at Chaz. “How much did his father pay you to take my spot?”
The headmaster flushed. “Miss Nieves, that’s a ridiculous accusation and I warn you to take a moment to think about what you’re saying before you continue down that line.”
Maybe I should shut up, but that had never been a strong character trait of mine. Chaz glared at me as if he was about to say, who the hell are you to accuse my father? But he only cleared his throat.
“If we’re done here, I’ll just go.”
Snapping out of his hate-filled trance, Headmaster Looper spread his chapped lips into a smile. “Mr. Bishop, you’ll need a peer guide, at least for the first few days.” He looked at me. “Miss Nieves will do the honors.”
“You’re kidding, right?”
The headmaster only smiled wider, pinching the corner of his mustache.
“Fine.” I snatched the schedule out of Chaz’s hand. “Come on.”
As I stomped out of the office, Headmaster Looper called after me, “And don’t get him lost on purpose, because I’ll know about it.”
The bell rang so I had a few clanging seconds to study Chaz Bishop while I waited to speak. He wore the school’s long-sleeve uniform shirt, buttoned at the wrists and neck, with the blue and gray necktie tight to his throat. In Monterey, California the temperature was usually sixty degrees or warmer all year around. Nobody wore their shirts buttoned all the way like that. When he scooped a hank of coppery hair out of his eyes, I noticed he wore a pair of thin, white gloves.
What was up with that? This dude was seriously weird. Glancing over his schedule, I was annoyed to see we shared three out of six classes. So he was in the honors program like me. Probably had his father pay for that too. Stop it, Sayra. Maybe Chaz Bishop was a nice guy.
I exhaled, as students rushed past on either side of us, then extended my hand. “I’m Sayra.”
His face contorted like my palm was coated with snot. “I don’t shake hands.”
