Rose
Five minutes before the clock rang the alarm, Rose woke up to small streaks of sunlight peeking in through the window curtains. Her heartbeat quickened as she realised what day it was. Excitement and nervousness started to dawn down on her. First day of the new term!
She slowly rose out of the bed, trying not to get dizzy from any sudden movements. There wasn’t much to prepare, the outfit was already planned, the bag was packed and breakfast was to be skipped. She practically waltzed to her bathroom. The vanity was littered with a huge amount of half empty, some full bottles of skincare serums, sprays and creams. A box of random face masks left toppled on the floor with two pairs of shower slippers and loose strands of light brown hair. She watched herself make a ponytail in the mirror. Her lightly tan skin glowed and reflected clear today. The insane hydration routine had delivered the promised results. Her light brown hair fell on her back in glossy waves that she loved to outgrow. She smiled at her self and started the trial and tested skincare routine. If the day started with perfection it was more likely to go perfect for the remainder as well.
A cropped black skinny top and a pair of flared bell bottom jeans waited her in the corner of the bathroom, neatly folded. The silver hoops laid on top of the pile of clothes picked carefully for today. Taking no more than 5 minutes to dress up, she grabbed her prepared bag and skipped down the staircase. “Mom! I’m leaving. See you around lunch if you’re back’ she called out and left before she could confirm if her mother had heard her.
Rose Argenald Argyel, was what is considered a “popular girl” in today’s vocabulary, even thought she herself was painfully unaware of her social privilege. Every single school year with the exception of one particularly horrible semester, ever since she could remember, had been almost perfect. She had three very attractive and social best friends, an above average grade card, the public’s favour due to her niceties. With circumstances like that, her positvely excited reacted to the new term was justified.
The bus dropped her in front of the school . She stepped out and saw the newly renovated building sprawling behind the vast parking lot. Streams of students making their way to the doors, the loud chatter, laughter and random yelps filling the air. The buzz of excitement was really infection. Rose couldn’t help but smile. She made her way through the crowds, waving hello’s and hi’s to a fair dozen people along the way. It felt so good! All that positive energy and attention.
The process of obtaining her timetable and locker information took about 20 minutes. Finding the locker took 20 more.
'Rose?'
Rose turned around to see who had called out her name as she put in her lock combination. Her best friends; Iris, Atch and Stephan were making their way towards her.
'Hey you guys!' She exclaimed as Iris stepped forward to give her a feet lifting hug.
Iris was six foot tall, petite and very pale, practically looking as if she just walked off a fashion runway even in her baggy plaid clothing. Her light green eyes and long black, pencil straight hair clashed attractively. Despite of being a very breathtakingly beautiful woman, Iris was the tomboy of the group. When she wasn’t found hanging around the skater boys, trying tricks, she was busy being lead singer and guitarist of her band, or found hidden away with the e-gaming club feverishly trying to break gaming high scores.
'Three months Rose! Three months!' shouted Atch. She proceeded to hug her next. ' When you claimed that you were going to be busy, I had no idea you meant that you’d be falling off the face of earth, nowhere to be found.'
Atch was shorter than the other two girls, but could stir up trouble more than Rose and Iris combined. Her wavy red hair were always blow dried to perfection, her makeup on point, always complementing her big brown eyes. It was no mystery why she was the most popular cheerleader in the school; she had ‘assets’. Also known for her scandalous relationship with Stephan, (the public’s chosen heartthrob of their school) , Atch had a bit of an unexplainable dramatic side. As much as she tried and abstained, gossip was her favourite pastime activity. Quick to temper, quick to judge, but still a sweetheart inside, she was a little feared by her schoolmates. On the side, Atch also loved to blog and influnce on instagram.
'I had two internships outside of the city! Trust me guys if I could have planned anything with you guys, I would have. But with the amount of work they throw at us, it was next to impossible”. Rose explained as Stephan gave her a side hug.
'Since when did internships become an excuse for slave labour and student exploitation?' asked Stephan. “Just because interns don’t have permanent contracts it doesn’t mean they aren’t protected by the labour laws.”
Stephan was a very passionate activist and he made sure everyone knew. The only three things that took up his entire time were basketball, activism and Atch (his very demanding girlfriend). With a 6’2 height and a very athletic build, it was clear why he was the public opinion’s most eligible (not single) bachelor.
'Ok I wouldn’t go as far as to call it slave labour..” Rose said choosing her words carefully. She didn’t want to get an informative lecture on her working rights first thing in the morning by him. “I might have also picked up and volunteered for extra work…just trying to make a good impression you know. Making sure they remember me in case I come looking for a job in the future.’
“Excuses and more excuses!’ Atch interrupted, ‘Girl you gotta make up for all precious summer bonding time we lost. That means almost 12 weeks worth of picnics, brunches, movie marathons, trips to the amusement parks, shopping sprees and sleepovers.”
“I hate to say this but I agree with Atch.”, Iris said trying to keep a straight face. “It was kiiiinda our last summer before we graduate high school.”
“Exactly my point! The last summer to get as many extra credits and extra curriculars we can to make sure we get into all our priority colleges ' Rose sighed. “You guys know how important it is for me after all the shit with my dad..”
The three of them looked at each other for a silent second. Rose’s father had a very bad addiction incident which had left her mother and her almost broke and homeless. After their separation he had announced that there was no college fund left for their daughter, no savings to pay for their mortgage and denounced all responsibility for child support claiming he couldn’t land a job. Her mother had to go back to work after ten years, worked hard to support her daughter making sure she had everything she needed.
“She was just joking, we’re all going to work really hard this year.”, Stephan said softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
“We totally understand. If anything we should have worked our asses off like you” Atch added moving in on her other side and locking her arms with her.
“Ok this is way too mushy and cheeky for me” Iris threw her hands up smiling. “But yes, proud of you all the same. Even if it did mean a whole ass summer without your annoying face”
The three of them decided to go down and have a pre-class stroll in the foot ball field which was probably buzzing with activity of the first day. By the amount of greetings the four of them were getting, it was very clear, they were the textbook definition of the “popular clique”. Passer-by's threw them admiring looks and stared shamelessly. Stephan was occasionally bumped into (mostly with intention) by giggling girls who could look no more gleeful at having an opportunity to be close to him. Rose couldn’t blame them though. He was very good looking.
Before they could walk out to the grounds, a loud crash in the main hallway distracted everyone present nearby. A gang of boys was laughing loudly as they picked themselves off the ground. By the looks of it, three of them had sledged a desk down the stairs and ridden it. The broken desk lay in three pieces as the gang of seven boys gathered around it, laughing hysterically, slapping each other on the backs.
'Dude! That was awesome!' yelled a guy with super spiky red hair and two piercings shining on his upper lip.
‘Shut it Hayden! I almost broke my back doing your stupid stunt!' shouted another guy who was massaging his back and looking angry yet amused.
“Look man the camera caught everything so you’re going to have to turn yourself in. I can’t get another detention.”
“Burnouts…” Stephan sighed. “Don’t they have anything better to do on literally the first day of the semester? Breaking school furniture that the local office isn’t even going to pay to repair.”
“Oh my god…Ray is with them” Rose said quickly turning around trying to hide her face.
“Hey Rose!’
Too late. She heard her name.
“Is he coming over here?’ She asked without turning to look.
“Yup.” Iris said shaking her head.
“There you are. I’ve been waiting to see you all morning”. Ray said running a hand through his dark shoulder length hair. “I haven’t been able to reach you all summer”
Rose slowly turned to look at her ex-boyfriend; Ray. He was sporting a new piercing in his already heavily pierced ears, his face as gaunt and hollow as she remembered two years ago. The few months that she spent with him in her sophomore year were the most haunting ones she could remember.
A particularly horrible semester. He had recently got off of the school football team due to bad behaviour and a few juvenile charges of drug possession, and punished with community service. Like every other girl, she had a fascination for the bad boys back then. They started casually dating, soon progressing to spending every waking moment together. She remembered being so blindly under his influence, convinced to try some of the soft drugs he always seemed to have on him. The trying slowly converted to using everyday. She remembered popping MDMA like candy. Edged on by Ray, the hours turned to days which turned to week long benders of being high on a cocktail of whatever was available. Her grades, her attitude, her memory…everything was infected. She was getting hooked.
Rose remembered it clear as day, the day her father had broken the news that would turn her world upside down. Her loathing and disgust for drugs had propelled her overnight to open her eyes to the road she was headed down on. She wanted to become anything but her dad.
The breakup was messy. He had lashed out, broken things, didn’t want to hear it. He showed up at her door every day for a month, he followed her around everywhere. He had even resorted to breaking down crying at her feet, begging her to not leave him. She didn’t have the heart to be harsh with him so she endured. She didn’t remember when he stopped the criminal stalking, but since then Ray had been an unshakeable shadow at school. No boy ever asked her out anymore. If anyone did, they had Ray and his gang intimidating them. She had accepted that no one thought she was worth the trouble.
“Yes, I was out of the city—”
“Could have texted” Ray cut in.
“If someone does not text you back, it usually means they don’t want to talk to you”
“That’s why I said TEXT and not TALK”
“Ray please….I don’t want to get into this conversation that goes around in circles. I really want you to stop calling me, texting me and showing up at my house” Rose exclaimed
“Babe why are you so tense?” Ray said passing her a sly smile. “You need someone to help you relax…”
“Do NOT call me babe.” Rose felt her voice rising. She had had enough and she wanted it to STOP this year. Ray started laughing
'Is it so wrong for a man to call the love of his life “babe?’ He asked taking a step closer.
'Don't make me laugh.' Iris said under her breath.
“What’s that? You wanna speak up?” Ray said turning to her, his smile gone
“I said don’t fucking make me laugh Ray.” Iris replied stepping beside Rose and folding her arms in front of her.
“Stay out of this. This is between me and my girl.” Ray started. “And—‘
“Your girl?” Stephan chimed in. ‘Wake up Ray. You guys broke up two years ago. Obsessively stalking someone doesn’t make them your property”
Rose started to panic. She knew Ray had the tendency to get violent in the blink of a moment.
'Didn't know you were still hanging out with this dog..' Ray said looking at Stephan with a strangely jealous gleam in his eyes.
'What did you just say?!' Stephan strode foreword but Rose caught his wrist and restrained him.
'Leave him Stef...He’s probably high.' She pulled him and Iris behind her, leading them out towards the grounds.
'See you in recess my love!' Rose heard Ray call out.
Her face felt hot with anger and she felt a throbbing fury burn in her core. She had tried to be understanding, she had given him time to move on. How much of this did she had to take? And deep down she felt something she didn’t want to admit. Fear. Fear of what he might be capable of if he didn’t stop. She had thoughts of reporting him to the police, but a small part of her still cared. She knew his sensitive side, the passionate and deeply caring side. She felt guilty for not being able to return his feelings, but she knew she could never be with someone like him.
'C***! He just had to ruin our first day, hadn't he?' Atch asked once they had reached the grounds.
'It's Ray, what else did you expect?” Iris replied shrugging. “That's just the way he is'
To Rose's surprise he hadn't followed them outside. Pushing the thought of him away, she turned to have a look around. She spotted Melanie starring at Stephan and Atch. Melanie was their classmate and Stephan's ex-girlfriend. Also known as Stephan's first girlfriend. It was after Melanie that Atch had realised her true feelings for Stephan and her confession had been the ultimate reason for Melanie and Stephan's breakup. Stephan later confessed he felt the same way about Atch and had only asked Melanie out because he thought Atch didn't share the same feelings.
Melanie had short red hair and a warm complexion. She was almost as tall as Rose herself and pretty in her own way.
Rose could feel the jealousy in her glare as she continued to stare at the couple. Spotting her hard stare, Iris turned to see what Rose was looking at.
'My my...some one is seriously heated up on the first day.' Iris smirked as she looked from Melanie to Atch.
'Huh?' Atch too, turned to look at her and so did Stephan. 'Oh...her!' She sneered.
Rose knew what was coming next. Knowing Atch's drama-mama look she held her breath for impact. Atch turned to Stephan and threw her arms around his neck and pulled him down to face her. Before he knew it she was kissing him. It only took a second for Stephan to react and kiss her back with the same enthusiasm.
Rose tried to suppress her smile, the look on Melanie's face was hilarious. Her mouth was gaping and her eyes bloodshot. People whistled and shouted cat-calls as expected but Atch didn't stop.
'Shameless...' Melanie managed to say feebly and finally tore her eyes away from the two of them. She stomped away, her short hair bobbing up and down due to the skip in her step.
'Alright you both, that's quiet enough. She's gone..' Iris said laughing.
Atch pulled back abruptly causing Stephan to almost loose his balance. 'Hey! That's not a way to ruin a perfect kiss!' He snapped.
'Did you see her face? What was it like?' Atch asked ignoring him.
'She was gaping...something like this..' Iris imitated Melanie's expression sending the other three into fits of laughter.
'Oh my...' Rose gasped for breath. 'That was hilarious.' But suddenly she felt guilt flood her stomach. It felt a little wrong to be laughing at some one who’s biggest crime was dating a boy who had his heart set on someone else. By what little she knew about what went down during the few weeks Melanie and Stephan had been together was that she was head over heels for him and was probably also devastated by their sudden and unexpected breakup.
'Good. Serves her right for stalking my boyfriend!' Atch said putting her hands on her waist.
'She wasn't exactly stalking...only staring.' Rose said in a small voice.
'Excuse me? Why are you defending her?' Atch asked annoyed.
'Wasn't defending her...' Rose managed to mumble. Then suddenly a round of applause distracted them. Whatever it was, she was thankful for a reason to not explain herself. She didn't want to argue with Atch about why making Melanie jealous needlessly was wrong.
A small group of cheerleaders were doing a warm up session and had gathered a little crowd of audience to watch their performance.
“Oh I see.” Atch said taking her phone out and quickly recording a Snapchat. “Lilliana decided to come to her first day in her cheer uniform, and have a little show off session.”
Lilliana was the cheer captain, and Atch was also on the cheerleading squad. There was always drama brewing in the inner workings of the squad, but nothing quiet like the face off Atch and Lilliana had to do in order to become captain. At the end Atch had taken a step back (‘I have a life outside of cheerleading guys!’), Lilliana had ultimately won the power role fair and square. But something told Rose that Atch had not quiet forgiven her for it yet.
The dance routine ended to another round of applause as their group moved closer to have a better look. Rose watched intrigued as Lilliana walked over to the bleachers towards the group of people watching them.
“Weird….I don’t know a lot of these people in the stands” Stephan muttered out loud.
It was true. Rose wouldn’t recognise anyone in that small crowd. But as she looked more closely, the crowd wasn’t exactly just watching the cheer practice, it was actually focused on one person, sitting in the middle.
“Who’s that? In the middle of that crowd?'' Iris asked.
“Wait a minute…” Stephan said taking a few steps forward. “I completely forgot. Tess was transferring to our school for senior year!’
“Tess?’
“Who’s that?”
Rose and Iris asked at the same time.
“Oh my god guys. This is really embarrassing. Tess is such a good friend of mine from middle school. We play on rival teams in basketball and I think he mentioned something about moving to my school the last time we met. I completely spaced out and forgot” Stephan said running a hand through his hair, “I told him I’d call him and..”
“Why are there so many people around him?” Rose cut in.
“Ok so…let’s pretend you guys didn’t hear this from me.” Stephan said turning to face them, a very serious but funny expression on his face. “But Tess’s full name is “Tessryn Villiant. He’s the son of Victor Dolvent Villiant.”
“Shut up!’
“What the heck?!’
“Are you serious right now!?!”
“Shushhhhh!’ Stephan said fervently looking around. “Keep your damn voices down”
“Why though? The way they’re surrounding him it looks like they already know he’s the offspring of the world’s second most richest man.” Atch said chuckling at Stephan’s ridiculous overreaction.
“Guys! Mine and his friendship is very sacred…he knows that I did not know about his fortune when we became friends hence making me a genuine friend..” Stephan said in a hushed voice
Rose and the others couldn’t control themselves anymore. They burst out laughing.
“Stephan you’re so precious and stupid.” Atch said in between her hysterical laugh. “I gotta say this is some next level dramatics even for me”
Rose’s attention shifted back to the crowd in the bleachers. As her friends’ laughter died down, she could actually hear what they were talking about.
“….and that’s when the judge decided that the first place trophy should go to OUR squad and not Chestfield High’s squad.” came Lilliana’s confident and loud voice. She was addressing Tess, the person sitting in the middle of the crowd. “I’m telling you, everything here is sooo much better than Chestfield”
'Okay Lil, whatever you say.” Tess spoke glancing down on his wrist watch.
Ok..now that’s an attractive voice, Rose thought as she found herself staring at him. Wait…what am I saying?
“I think I forgot, I had something to do in the student affairs office..” He stood up. He was as tall as Stephan.
Rose felt her heart skip a beat as she couldn’t take her eyes off of him standing in the middle of the crowd. He looked ridiculously handsome with his jet black hair sprawled messily, pale skin and perfectly shaped black eyes. His face was almost perfect with his strong jawline and high cheekbones, perfectly toned biceps shaping his shirt. Just standing there with his hands in the pockets of his simple blue jeans and smiling lightly at the people around him, he looked like a carving of what a flawless human male might look like.
'Wow...is he also a model?' Iris asked stepping a bit closer to Rose to get a clearer view.
'Is he real? Because I’m doubting my eyes baby.' Atch said dreamily.
Stephan looked at her, annoyed. 'What’s that?”
“Model or Angel,” Atch laughed turning to face him. “You’re the only one who sets this girl on fire.” She said gesturing towards herself.
Smirking in a satisfied way, Stephan called out. “ Yo Tess! Over here!”
Rose saw Tess look in their direction, his eyebrows arching up as soon as he recognised Stephan waving at him.
“Guys I really appreciate you all seeing me off,” He said quickly walking away from the crowd, “I’ll miss everyone, good luck with the term.”
“Tess wait! Let me get my bag, I’ll come with you” Lilliana shouted running around looking for her bag.
“That won’t be necessary, that’s my friend waiting for me.” Tess replied without looking bag and quickening his walking pace. He walked over to them and finally took a quick glance back. The crowd was slowly getting up and dispersing.
'Stephan! Long time no see man!' Tess laughed as he bumped his fist with him. Rose could feel the colour rising in her face, even his laughter was impressive.
'Yup. Been busy this summer.' Stephan replied. “I signed on to the NBA under 18 league. Back to back practices and training.”
'First of all, that’s awesome. Congratulations.' Tess said folding his arms in front of himself. “But a little invite to hangout would have been nice”
'I didn't know you wanted to come—'
'And who are these lovely ladies?' Tess asked cutting in.
Stephan seemed to have realised the others were still here, 'Oh! Sorry, I'd like you to meet: Atch, my girlfriend". Atch shook his hand, giving her sweetest smile. “Iris and Rose. My best friends.”
“Nice to meet you.” Iris said shaking his hand.
“Hi.” Rose couldn’t recognise her own voice. It was so high and screechy.
“Hello.” Tess replied, looking straight into her eyes.
Rose couldn’t think straight in the moment. There was too much happening. The hand shaking went on for five extra seconds. He was staring at her face, their eyes locked. Her face and ears felt really warm and she wanted to run away.
Then he looked away, smiling nervously. Even with her paralysed brain she could see faint patches of pink on his cheek bones. Was he blushing?!
“Looking forward to getting to know all of you.” He said making another quick glance in her direction.
“So you know Lilliana?’, Atch asked flicking a lose strand of hair out of her face.
“Hmm? Oh yea I—”
The first bell of the year rang like a jet thought the air, making everyone jump out of their skins.
“Ok guys!I gotta run, can’t be late to the first class”, Rose said turning away to finally take a deep breath and calm her frenzy down. “Stephan let’s go, we both have—”
“Geometry”, Stephan was looking down at his timetable.
There was a swelling buzz around them. Everyone in the ground was trying to make their way inside the building at the same time. The rush of people forced them all in different directions. Rose looked up to see where Stephan was, instead she caught Tess’ eye again. She felt a tiny pang in her heart as she saw him making his way towards him. Her heartbeat quickened again as he bent his head down to level with her.
'Which section are you in?' He asked loudly.
'C-3 grade 11.' She replied.
'What? I'm sorry there's so much noise I can't hear you.' He said, again very loud.
'C-3 GRADE 11' Rose snapped then felt her heart sink. What the hell did she just sound like?
'Oh wow! Really!? Because that's my section too! Can you lead the way? I don't really know where it is' He replied smiling. “I have geometry too!”
'Sure!' She said less loudly this time. As she started to make her way towards the building she became very conscious of how her hair looked from the back. She ran her hand through them, just in case.
Stephan joined them as they made their way towards their classroom. Atch and Iris had gone off to their classes already. As soon as they entered, Rose spotted exactly three empty seats, all in the different spaces throughout the room. Tess strode forward and took the nearest one and Stephan walked in to take the one at the back. That left Rose with only the one in the middle of the class on the right hand side. She sat down and looked around. Her heart leapt, she could clearly see Tess from here. The angle was so good that he looked like he was participating in a school themed fashion shoot. How could he look like that without even trying?
'Hey gorgeous...Couldn't stay away huh?'
Rose turned and to her dismay, Ray smiled at her.
“I’m not saying anything but the fact that you picked this seat out of all the ones in the entire room, tells me there’s something going on” Ray whispered leaning in forward.
“Ray…this is was the only empty seat, please there’s nothing going on.” Rose turned to look forward. All the strange excitement and butterflies she had felt just a few moments ago died in the pit of her stomach. It was so frustrating how he could have that draining effect on her.
'Okay class settle down, there will be no need to talk anymore.' A middle aged teacher in a tight bun walked in closing the door behind her. 'Now I know none of you have studied in your vacations so I will have to sacrifice my precious lesson on revision of the previous year's basics.' She placed a pile of registers down on her desk and turned to the black board.
The class started, but Rose found it seriously hard to concentrate on the board when she could stare at Tess from her seat. He looked like he was listening with some concentration. A few minutes passed and she stole a glance at him again. He was staring outside the window, twirling a pencil in one hand. Rose felt her heart skip a beat. Fifteen more minutes passed, she looked his way again, he was smiling at someone in the front. Rose's heart skipped two beats this time. Five more minutes and she glanced in his direction, her gaze suddenly met his. She looked down, her ears felt numb and she could feel the colour rising in her face. He had caught her staring at him!
For the remaining lecture, Rose didn't dare look in Tess' direction again. But just before the bell rang, she unconsciously glanced his way. He was already looking at her, and upon catching her eye he raised an eyebrow and smirked. This was it, Rose quickly packed her bag, ready to shoot out as soon as the bell rang. Thirty seconds passed and the bell rang through the air. Not waiting for Stephan, Rose quickly made her way towards the door.
"Rose?"
Rose spun around and came face to face with Tess, his arms folded in front of his chest.
"A..yes?" She asked, unable to keep the nervousness out of her voice.
“Where to next?”
Before she could answer the classroom door behind her opened and in streamed a bunch of people.
"Yea, he said he wanted to see me between classes."
Rose saw Tess turn to see who’d just walked in. Lilliana had just made her way inside their class accompanied with an entourage consisting of a few cheerleaders and jocks.
"Oh there you are sweetie!”
Sweetie? Rose thought.
“I brought a few people I wanted to introduce to you!” She said plopping herself on a desk in front of Tess. Her long black hair were tied in a high pony tail and she was still in her cheer uniform
“Oh! You really didn’t need t—”
“This is Arriera and Hayden! You’ll love them!’
Rose made her way around the group to exit the classroom. Was Lilliana his girlfriend or something? Is that what he was trying to tell them before the bell rang? She glanced back once before she stepped in the door frame; Lilliana gave Tess a quick kiss on his neck and giggled in a very annoying way.
She's definitely his girlfriend, Rose thought. Enough day dreaming. She had to settle in her lab class and find a good partner to ensure good lab grades.
The practical labs were all the way on the other side of the building. She had to practically run to get there in time. She bumped into Atch on the way.
"Where to?" She asked.
"Biology lab". Rose replied gasping from all the running.
"Better hurry up. I saw Mr.Neil on my way." Atch said smirking.
"Shit! Ok see ya in recess!'
Rose made her way up to labs floor as quickly as her legs could carry her. She was just about to enter when she heard footsteps behind her.
"Excuse me?" Tess stood red faced, panting, looking at her.
"Rose!" He laughed. "What a coincidence!? Oh umm...I'm looking for the biology lab. Can you lead me? There's only a few minutes left till the bell rings."
Rose stared at him. He hadn't even had the courtesy to wipe off the lips shaped lipstick marks on his neck.
"It's here" she replied stiffly and walked inside.
"Miss Rose, late on the first day. " Mr.Neil said giving her a disappointed look.
"Sorry.."
"And who might you be?" He asked looking at Tess.
"Tessryn Villiant. I just transferred." he replied smiling. Rose looked away. There was no use of having her heart race at his smile. He was taken.
"Tessryn...Tess...oh yes. They mentioned something about a new student. Hmm....very well. You may take a seat, the sixth bench is empty." Mr.Nel said waving his glasses in the bench's direction. "Rose can be your lab partner”.
What?!
“Sir I—“
“Please take your seat students! We haven’t got all day!’
