Gold Rush

Chapter Three

“I don’t get a break, do I?” I groaned, watching as Rian marched to the back of the Spanish classroom, dropping into a seat next to me.

            “Hey,” Rian responded, insulted. “Girls would kill to be in your spot. Why don’t you consider yourself lucky?”

            “Because I’m not one of those girls,” I pointed out.

            Rian shrugged. “Whatever. At least I’m happy I get to sit near you.”

            His response threw me off guard. “You are…?”

            “Yeah, it beats having to deal with all the talkative girls that don’t leave me alone,” he told me. “Not that I mind having girls hanging all over me; I just don’t like when they’re clingy.”

            I pursed my lips. “I’m going to guess Noah wasn’t joking when he said you were a playboy?”

            “I wouldn’t consider myself a playboy,” Rian mused. “But I’m not going to lie and say I don’t like girls fawning over me.”

            Rolling my eyes, I went to my backpack to fetch the Spanish essay we’d had to write over the vacation. The Spanish teacher, and one of our class advisors, Ms. Walker walked around the room collecting them. She paused in front of Rian’s desk, staring at him curiously.

            “Tienes la tarea?”

            “En Ingles, por favor,” Rian responded with a smile.

            I stared at him in disbelief. He needed that to be translated? This was supposed to be an honor’s class!

            “Do you have the homework?” Ms. Walker asked in English, giving the same look to Rian as I was.

            “I just transferred here,” Rian pointed out, looking smug. “Una estudiante nuevo.”

            I hid a smirk and Ms. Walker raised an eyebrow at his mistake. “Un estudiante?”

            Rian looked confused for a second, and then nodded, gaining his confident aura again. “Er, yeah. That’s what I meant.”

            Ms. Walker smiled slightly, and moved on. I turned to grin at Rian, who was frowning. “You do know this is an honor’s class, don’t you?” I asked him. “Tenemos que hablar en español.”

            “I know,” he snapped. “Turn around.”

            Smirking, I turned in my seat. “Yes, sir.”

            Spanish flew by quickly, and when the class ended I stood up from my seat, hitching my backpack over my shoulder. Just as I took a step forward, I felt someone yank me backward again. I stumbled, throwing my arms out to steady myself. When I regained my balance I turned to give Rian an irritated look. “You’re supposed to walk me to art class,” he reminded me, throwing his backpack over his shoulder.

            “I’m sure—”

            “Rian?”

            I turned to see who had cut me off and saw my friend Shelbie looking eagerly at Rian. Rian’s gaze slid over to her, and he put on a polite smile. “That’s my name,” he told her.

            She looked like she was going to faint. “Whoa, it’s so awesome to meet you! You’re like, my idol.”

            Rian laughed. “Well, thanks, I guess.”