Love and Latin

CHAPTER 3

When Alora enters school the next morning, it is Jason Murphy who leans against her locker. She doesn't understand what it is about Abarcy Academy boys and leaning.

Murphy becomes alert when he sees her. As if awoken from the boredom of his own company. "Well well well. If it isn't poverty's best friend." He says, this can't be good. It wasn't a secret that as far as money goes, Alora could use some. At Abarcy there were two types of people: the ones who didn't make fun of her for her lack of money and the ones like Murphy.

"What do you want?" Alora asks, annoyed at the disturbance his sheer presence causes.

"Easy there. I think we got off on the wrong foot." Jason Murphy smirks. It takes Alora a moment to realise that he is smirking at his friends across the hall. Great. This is some trick, some prank in which Alora is the target.

"This coming from the boy who continues to degrade me?" She was on edge. "Move, Jason." Alora says, she hopes she sounds stern but the quiver in her voice betrays her.

Murphy is pleased with this. He does not move. "What you got there?" He grabs her bag pack before she can register what's going on. Un-zipping it, he dumps the contents of it on the floor, Alora isn't even surprised. She does not, at the moment, have the energy to react with something greater than a sigh.

She should have expected this. Yesterday, she made the mistake of drawing the attention of the wrong crowd. She glances across the hall to Murphy's friends laughing as she begins to pick up the contents of her bag. All except one of them laughs, and the one is question just looks at her with curious eyes.

Murphy, satisfied with himself, pulls out a cigarette from somewhere on his person and struts back to his friends. They begin to talk about other things as though Alora never happened. It was all; "Did your parents finally leave for Bali" and "When will they finish building your vacation home". Alora was acutely aware of the frayed edges of her sweater vest and her worn out shoes.

She turns away from them and practically sticks her head in her locker. She was trying very hard not to cry.

It didn't help that she could still feel his eyes on her.

The bell rings and she is grateful. She lets her fellow school mates scuttle to class before sinking to the floor. Her back to the lockers, she lets out a frustrated breath and scolds herself for letting them get to her. This wasn't the first time this has happened and it sure wasn't going to be the last but at least she kept her head down long enough for bullying not to be too frequent. She was aware that she was late to class, but deciding to give a false excuse, she gives herself five more minutes before opening her eyes. Of course, she is not the only one in the halls.

"You know, you really suck at self defence." Silas says, talking a seat directly opposite her. He looks every bit at ease despite the fact that he's late for class.

"Well, if you would just cage your dog I wouldn't have to bother with self defence." Alora replies, she takes a look at the boy across her. His disheveled hair, cobalt blue eyes and the lazy way in which he carries himself. Every bit of him princely. She was beginning to think she's imagining him.

"Murphy can't be controlled."

"Not even by you?" She says this sarcastically, because they both know Murphy would do anything Silas says.

"Why don't you have any friends?" Silas asks, not rudely but like he's been wondering this for a while.

Alora doesn't know how to answer this. It's not that everyone at this hellish school is completely terrible, it's that she can never know who isn't. She's interacted with enough of them to gauge how pretentious and lowly they can be, even without realising it. Every hateful comment is said with a smile, every compliment is quickly followed by a brag. Every judgment neatly disguised as advice. She can never tell when they joke.

"I don't know. I guess I just don't fit in here." She finally replies and that's the most honest thing she's ever said.

"That can't be it. You're as organised and prudish as everybody here." Silas says and Alora flinches. She can't tell whether this is a compliment or not, which proves her previous point.

"Well, we can't all have Murphy." She attempts a joke and feels a jolt of excitement when he chuckles.

He seems to catch himself though, so his smile dissipates slowly. The dimple hides once again. He runs a hand through his hair and sighs as if deciding something. "Meet me in the parking lot at lunch. I won't ask again."

He gets up as if angry with himself and makes his way to class. Alora stays there, stunned.