The heart of Cleopatra

The Apple

Chapter four

The school layout was as easy as Cleopatra thought it would be. The codes for the classes was the floor level, the first letter of the department and then the classroom number. It didn't take a genius to work out. English was the last subject before lunch. As she took to her seat she spotted the clock on the porcelain white wall. A full hour to go.

"Now class. Welcome back to school. For those who don't know me, my name is Miss Cooper. This year is going to be one of the most important years you have. Every grade counts, so no slacking!" The teacher pointed towards one of the well-built athletic boys. Cleo payed attention to her new teacher, she seemed mellow. Not super strict but enough where you won't fall behind. She was even better when she didn't make Cleo do a public introduction. Miss Cooper turned around to the board when a pair of footsteps stepped into the room. "Charles Priestley how gracious of you to attend class." She said. Cleo's smirk turned to an eye roll when he handed her a note, of course he has a pardon. He caught Cleo's gaze and walked down the aisle sliding into the seat next to her.

"Running late Ivy league." Cleo commented fixing her attention on the class board.

"It's a student rep thing, you would know if you stuck with yours." He replied as he placed a book on his desk. Somehow, he found out about her abandoning Oli. She glared at him to receive his cocky smirk.

A chorus of groans sounded the room, breaking the familiar tension between the two. They turned to the front to see 'TEST!' Written on the board. "I don't make the rules, the school does." Miss Cooper defended as she picked up the stack of papers.

"Can't we just skip it?" One of the students asked in total seriousness.

She laughed as she put a test on his desk. "Believe me you have the better end of the deal. I have to mark all of these, you simply have to answer them." She spoke much sense, she did have to grade them individually. When she reached the back row she stopped by Cleo. "You don't need to worry about this, try your hardest whatever you need to work on we can." Her kind words did bring some reassurance to Cleo, they didn't test much at Arcane, but when they did Cleo aced it. She took a quick glance at the brief and noticed the sections were classic literature.

"I've read most of these." She told Miss Cooper. Her teacher's surprise grew.

"That's refreshing. I look forward to seeing what you got Cleopatra."

The test allowance was forty five minutes but she was done within thirty. For a private school they hadn't covered much more than Arcane. They were set two classics which her old class thought was torture but Cleo had a soft spot of books, when she had the time. It has finally come in handy. The spare time gave her the chance to observe her classmates. Another thing Cleo enjoyed, studying human behaviour. Since she was a child she was exposed to all different types of people, good, bad some who tried to be both. Her class was a mix of the kids who had prepared for this very moment and others who acted as if they hadn't even heard of the book titles.

The bell rang making it officially lunch. Usually lunch was full of mischief with her brother and two friends but now she was going to be on her own. Cleo was more than happy with her own company, but just like everywhere there is a food chain. The tables are territories. And to Cleo that's exactly what it was. Territory! So why shouldn't she have her own. The cafeteria was pretty much a banquet hall, she laughed when she walked in. This place is ridiculous.

People started flooding in but there was lack of hustle and bustle, everyone moved in a fashionable manner. The tables were mostly empty she chose the one that seemed most appealing, the one just off centre.

'Tell me something that will not bore me to death!' Cleo sent to her best friend Lola, who to Cleo's disappointment was still at Arcane high. A minute past and her attention remained on the three small dots pending Lola's reply.