Stepping into Literature was more difficult than I had anticipated. I was never one to have... feelings for a guy. Usually, I just dated guys I could stand that had status I used and they had to be good-looking too obviously. I could feel his eyes watching me as I strode by his desk with my four-inch heels clicking authoritatively on the hardwood floors. Victoria smiled at me brightly from where Tia and a few others were all gathered around her.

"Hey, we're thinking of going to watch the boys football practice today. You should come." Victoria said smoothly as I took my seat.

"I have soccer practice, but I could come after..." I answered, noticing Alexi's eyes slide from me to study Victoria. I almost rolled my eyes; he thought Victoria could be Amelia. Oh god...

"Well, I guess it's better than nothing. It starts at 4 and ends at 6." Victoria sounded disappointed and I looked over to see her pout.

"Okay, well my practice ends at 5:30. I wanted to check out the boys soccer practice. We thought we might scrimmage or something." I insisted, seeing Victoria's eyes show her sincere surprise.

"Oh." She uttered. "I'm starting to wish I played soccer." She said, turning to her followers who all looked intrigued.

The bell rang and Mr. Montgomery stood up, looking hot as hell in his fitted, dark red suit. He had a black dress shirt and charcoal tie and pocket square. He looked like the devil himself and I let my eyes run down his body hungrily as my breathing deepened.

"Your test is tomorrow." He said in an emotionless voice, making a few students groan. "It will cover chapters 1 through 20." He continued. I had a hard time focusing as remembered the feel of his face between my breasts and his hips between my thighs. I wanted his tongue in my mouth and to press my lips to his. I couldn't help watching his lips as he spoke and he must've noticed because he called me to answer the next question.

"Chernoff. What do you think?" he asked in a smooth voice. I looked down and was glad I was vaguely aware of what they were discussing.

"I think... uhm... I think Gatsby has like no game." The class filled with quiet laughter and Mr. Montgomery smirked. "The whole theme about the decay of the American dream- He's rich! What's the problem? He can't figure out how to pick up a girl? He should just find a girl who's new money or someone not so worried about class. There's plenty of fish in the sea." I blurted out, making the laughing get louder.

"But he wants Daisy and the money isn't bringing him happiness." Mr. Montgomery pointed out calmly.

"It could! Buy a damn vacation and some hookers on the beach! Jeeses, what a loser!" I insisted, realizing I embarrassed myself when there were some gasps in the crowd of laughter.

"Let's focus on what the author is trying to tell us." Mr. Montgomery had amusement in his voice as his grey eyes peered down at me before he moved on to someone else.

*

"Kate, where'd you get that bruise?" Gina asked when I joined them for soccer practice. I frowned and looked down at the arm in question. It was almost the entire length of my forearm and I realized I had gotten it from the... chef...

"Oh... I had a...uh, mishap on the elliptical." I answered with an awkward laugh. I bit my lip as I looked up to analyze all the twelve sets of eyes that were staring in surprise at the slightly painful black and brown splotch down the side of my forearm.

"The elliptical?" Shane asked, sounding suspicious.

"Yeah, I go to the gym almost every other day, Shane. Sometimes I'm not the most graceful. The arm thing whacked me when my feet got going too fast." I explained, with a smile that was more genuine because the excuse actually kind of made sense for once. Her suspicion seemed to melt away and be replaced with concern.

"Jeese, that looks bad." Izzy commented.

"Yeah, you should stay away from the elliptical." Margaret chuckled with sympathy.

"Yeah, lesson learned. I'm more of a treadmill person, anyway." I laughed.

When practice started, the Coach wasted no time in calling me to the side.

"Are you okay?" he asked with the most intense concern and lowered voice. "That's a nasty bruise."

"Yeah- yeah, I just whacked it on the arm of the elliptical." I told him nonchalantly, shooting him a reassuring smile. He couldn't seem to think of something to say and we stood for a moment with his eyes burning into mine like he was trying to decide if I was telling the truth. "Really, I'm fine. I guess I just bruise easily." I laughed awkwardly.

"You should be more careful." He choked out eventually. "I didn't realize you went to the gym..." He sounded almost intrigued.

"Yeah, I try to go before school on days when we don't have practice." He nodded thoughtfully.

"That's good..." He looked over to the field at the other players for the moment like he had an idea. "Maybe your teammates could benefit from some time at the gym." He mused.

*

I had convinced Gina and Margaret to join me to go watch the boys practice and Shane and Izzy tagged along too along with Danielle and a few of Victoria's cronies that were on the soccer team. Victoria had called me over to the bleachers where she sat surrounded by girls and even a few guys from Bartholomew's in white dress shirts with navy blue blazers and dark red ties.

"Hey." She greeted me, before leaning over "You brought lesbos?" she murmured judgmentally, making me raise an eyebrow.

"Gina and Margaret are into guys." I gestured to them as Izzy and Shane eyed Victoria with distaste and Danielle and the others took seats around the group.

"Kate, you can sit next to me." Victoria announced, shoeing away a Sophomore girl who got up obediently. "No sit down there." Victoria demanded, pointing a manicured finger down a few benches. The girl pursed her lips uncomfortably, but did as she said as I took the open seat beside the Queen bee.

"Paul looks good today. He's number 24." Victoria told me, pointing out to the field. He was one of the taller players with his handsome shape showing even in the bulky football pads. The boys were huge and I was so turned off when they won a play and were beating their chests and whacking each other on their helmets like a bunch of apes.

I was bored as hell five minutes in and had more interest in the soccer practice that was in the adjacent field. I was never one to enjoy watching sports. I was stupid to come. I should've been in the room studying for Literature with Melissa.

"I'm bored. I'm gonna go." I said as the soccer practice looked like it was letting out fifteen minutes early and the players were all gathering their bags.

"What?! Kate!" Victoria whined in disappointment as I got up and she tried to grab my arm to pull me back down. Some of the other girls were watching me with shock like it was unheard of to blow off Victoria, but I didn't care and I pulled my arm after loosening her grasp on my forearm with my hand.

"I'll see you tomorrow." I said with a resolute nod before Gina, Margaret, Shane, and Izzy followed me readily down the metal bleachers toward the field. Our cleats clattered against the thin silver metal and I set my sights on the soccer team, who saw us coming with their eyes alight.

"City girl. You watchin' football?" Dwayne asked with a laugh.

"It's boring as hell." I rolled my eyes as a few guys joined Dwayne to stand around me with their navy blue bags on their shoulders.

"Do you even know how to play?" One of the guys laughed and I realized it was Tommy from the beach as he ran his hand through his blond hair that was soaked by sweat and darker in color because of it.

"Nope!" I admitted, glancing back to see the football players leaving the field as Victoria accepted a hug and a kiss from Paul and her friends gathered around the team to fawn over them and flirt.

"Me neither." Margaret said with a laugh. "I'm Margaret." She introduced herself.

"You went to the beach with us last, last weekend, right?" Dwayne asked with a friendly smile.

"Yeah, I got pretty drunk." She giggled, with a nervous glance at their coach that was leaving the field on the far side out of ear shot.

"Same." Ryan smirked with his eyes going to me. "You girls want to come back to check our dorm?" he had a persuasive smile on his face and it was aimed at me.

"I have to study..." I murmured in disappointment, with a glance back at the others.

"Maybe another time." Dwayne nodded in understanding.

"You're a keener, Kate?" Tommy asked in surprise.

"Nah, my father will kill me if I let my grades slip. I'm so not a keener." I defended.

"Same." Dwayne sighed in sympathy. "We'll see you later. Maybe we can hang out this weekend?" He pulled at his hair with his eyes on me.

"Sounds good." I nodded, before leading the others off back toward the dorm.

*

"He definitely has a crush on you." Gina spoke up when we had all gathered in the elevator in Hothmore hall.

"God, I wish he didn't..." I grumbled, seeing the surprise on Shane's face that she tried to hide.

"He's- I mean I..." Margaret stammered. "Never mind." She blushed making me smile.

"You like him?" I sung, putting my arm around her with a grin. She tried to resist smiling, but I could see her plump lips quirk.

"No- I mean yeah, but he probably doesn't like me at all. He's so into you." Margaret said with disappointment.

"Eh, he reminds me of one of my brothers." I sighed. "You should hang out with him. Maybe you guys'll hit it off and I won't have to turn him down if he decides he's into you." She sent me a look like she didn't think that would ever happen.

"He's hot." Gina said to our surprise. "Clearly, he's into skinny white girls. I doubt I'd stand a chance." She chuckled.

"There's plenty of fish in the sea. Maybe he has some friends who'd be interested." I insisted with hope.

"Kate, I can't believe you're not into him." Margaret tilted her head as her brown eyes analyzed the look in my secretive hazel eyes.

"I'm into someone else." I blurted out to their surprise. And I already let him fuck me in his office...

"Who?" Shane cried as we stepped out on our floor, skipping Margaret and Gina's.

"Yeah, who?" Margaret echoed as they all leaned in.

"Uh... a guy..." I answered lamely, making them all send me unimpressed looks.

"Tell us!" Izzy insisted in a hiss.

"Maybe later?" I asked, slipping down the hall towards my room. Shane was by my side as the others went their separate ways after a quiet exchange about who they thought it was, most likely.

"Can you tell me?" Shane asked in a whisper.

"Not yet... I just want to figure out if it's real..." I frowned, seeing the discontent in her eyes as she pursed her lips.

"You know you can tell me... if you're into the coach..." she whispered before we got to the closed door to room 9E. I shot her a look since I thought I had already made that clear.

"Ew, I'm not. Shane." I reprimanded, seeing suspicion in her eyes even as she nodded like she believed me.

*

"Kate, where'd you get that necklace?" Victoria asked when I joined her for our first class of the day. I looked down. It was a silver chain with some cubic zirconia's glittering in the bright light of the classroom and wrapped twice around my bronze neck. I had gotten it during Paris fashion week. I had gone for the last three years and was sad that this year would be too risky for me to go and I wasn't able to leave the school that week anyway. I guessed Lena wouldn't be able to go this year either.

"I bought it in Paris." I told Victoria stiffly, hoping she wouldn't tell everybody that I was rich since I had been to Paris. I also felt like it was too obvious if I told her it was Dolce & Gabbana and so were my heels.

"Oh, you've been to Paris?" she asked in surprise, when Mr. Montgomery walked in a few minutes before the bell. He looked like he had heard her question because in addition to most of the girls in the classroom staring at me, he too looked like he was anticipating my answer.

"Yeah, have you?" I tried to turn the eyes to Victoria. I almost spilled that my mother was from France, but I didn't want Alexi to know that.

"Oh, I have. I've been to Paris and my family visits the French Riviera during the Spring." She bragged.

"Aren't your shoes Dolce & Gabbana?" Tia asked from where she was wheeled out into the aisle close to me, her brown eyes peering down at my shoes. Her bony elbow was on her desk and her tooth-pick thin legs were crossed with her blocky Marc Jacobs heels on her slender feet.

"Yeah..." I said, tilting my leg to peer down at my tall black stiletto.

"Kate, are you rich?" Michelle asked in surprise, her dark brown eyebrows raised as she looked me up and down. It took me ages to decide what to answer and I was glad the bell rang before I could spit out a yes or no. That is until the tests were handed out.

*

When I handed my test in, his grey eyes were looking deeply into mine instead of at the paper he had taken in his hand. I felt like a thousand words passed between us in that one look. I wanted him... More than I had ever wanted anyone. He seemed to want me back- judging from the lust in his eyes.

"I'll see you later, Mr. Montgomery." I told him in a silky voice. He didn't answer and I slipped out of the classroom with my heart pounding. Victoria grabbed my arm as I stepped out into the hallway with a sly smile on her face.

"How'd you do?" she probed with amusement.

"Fine, I think." I answered nonchalantly, taking a deep breath in an attempt to slow my heart beat.

"You sound nervous." She commented, trying to hold back her smile.

"This is my worst class. I also hate that book." I told her sincerely making her utter a laugh.

"So, you need to sit with us at lunch. We want to know more about you." Victoria insisted, making me purse my lips.

"I don't really like to talk about myself."

"You need to hang out with people that share your taste. You belong with us, not the poor people you've been associating yourself with." Tia sneered, with a sideways glance at Izzy, whose eyes had been on my shoes until she saw Tia's intense glare. Izzy faded off with her eyes moving accusingly to mine. I had on a poker face as I accompanied them.

Victoria was like a harpy, the way she hung on me and I followed obediently, but my mind was weighing the pros and cons. I knew she was the type to enforce rules of her social hierarchy on her generous number of followers. Sophomores and Freshman with 'potential' always gathered on the fringes of her group of cronies and she treated them like servants. She had started sending them to buy drinks from the café when we went to the library and it was an unspoken rule that they couldn't sit close to her when the group was gathered at the lunch tables. They all sported designer accessories that were noticeable against the school uniform, setting them apart from their peers.

I knew she'd been working on me for a while because I threatened her rule over them. Their eyes had started to follow me in the hallways instead of her and one of the younger ones had even dyed her hair black like mine. At first, I thought it was because I was a new student, but I could see how twitchy it made Victoria when they waited for me to have an opinion on something.

"So, there's a Winter Formal coming up. It's right before the holidays." Michelle explained to me, adjusting her silk Versace scarf around her neck as her brown eyes focused on me. Victoria had cleared one of her cronies out of the way so that I could sit beside her at the lunch table and the thin blond girl was looking at me like she was pissed about the new arrangement. It also meant one of the fringe girls had to leave her spot at the end of the table and find a seat alone with humiliation in her eyes. Across the cafeteria I could see Izzy whispering to the others while they looked over at my stony façade. I felt like I was choosing sides, but I was once again choosing to avoid conflict with the queen bee. If I refused her, I knew they'd start treating me badly. I'd seen her type before and I'd also witnessed a few girls who had spurned her get bullied. They did things like dump drinks on her at lunch and knock her books from her arms. It seemed since she had started focusing on me, they didn't have enough time to work on coming up with mean things to do to her.

"Is it like an uptight cocktail party with no cocktails or like a lame school dance with club music?" I probed, sounding almost uninterested. My cool attitude made Victoria and Tia smile.

"It's a little uptight, but they play some good songs." One of the fringe girls piped up, earning a reprimanding glance from Tia.

"There's a social next week at Bartholomew's and that's when most of the boys find someone to ask." Victoria said with a smile twisting her lips.

"You'll definitely get asked." Michelle agreed from across from me next to a super pretty Latina girl, named Tiffany.

"Are you going to go with Dwayne?" Tia asked, the eyes all turning to my reaction.

"Maybe, but I'm not into him." I shrugged, not showing the worry that washed over me about how I didn't want that to happen.

"Why?" Victoria asked, sounding as if she was delighting in my non-committal response.

"He has a great body- tall, handsome, but he's so... nice." I answered, making them all laugh in a shrill chorus, drawing most of the eyes in the cafeteria to the table and probably the look on my face.

"Maybe he's only nice to you." Michelle mused with a bright smile.

"Paul is uptight. I might try to find someone else to go with." Victoria announced.

"Yeah? He won't go back to your room with you?" Tia asked with suggestion in her nasally voice.

"His parents are rich and have class, but he's so devoted to not breaking rules. Honestly, I'm so bored." Victoria complained.

"He's like the hottest Bartholomew boy, though." Michelle sighed wistfully.

"I think that's a subjective measure. I find Paul boring too." I agreed with Victoria. She shot me a devious half smile.

"Maybe there'll be some younger boys with more potential. You'd be surprised how different they look after a year or two." Tia laughed.

"Ew, Tia. Younger boys?" The blond next to me sent her a disgusted face.

"Yeah, I prefer older. Immaturity is such a turn off." I agreed, making the blond turn to me with surprise.

"Who are you interested in, Kate?" Tia leaned close to me and the others all leaned in too.

"Wouldn't you like to know?" I whispered, seeing all their faces drop. My laugh rung out above their quiet sounds of disappointment.

"You're maniacal." Melissa muttered.

I was able to skate by mysteriously without giving Victoria or her cronies any answers about whether I was 'actually' rich or about who I was crushing on. They had taken to guessing all the names of the guys on the football and soccer team and the best guess was Melissa's about Michael from the pool, who I wasn't completely opposed to going to the Formal with. I had seen him a few times at the gym and he didn't seem like the type to be too pushy and I guessed he would clean up well. I could kinda tell he was from money and if I didn't have feelings for Alexi, maybe he'd be the type I would go for. He seemed to have class, but I wasn't sure if he hated me or not for kicking his friend into the pool. I guessed I wasn't his type, but it's not like he knew me anyway.