2

Adrianna
We walk out of the hall and search the corridors, until finally we see Nat coming out of Luigi’s classroom.
“Nat!” Azira shouts her name.
Her cheeks are flushed as she turns to face us.
“You missed the welcome back assembly. Where were you?” Azira asks.
“Yeah, I text you.”
Nat’s throat bobs as she swallows. “Morales strikes again. He locked me in Luigi’s classroom.”
Azira balls her fists. “Bastard.”
I shake my head. “What did he want this time?”
Nat’s cheeks darken. “I honestly don’t know, other than forcing me to miss the welcome back assembly.”
Azira frowns. “I didn’t see him in it either.”
Nat shrugs. “Maybe he slipped in late at the back?”
I don’t believe what Nat is saying. There’s something that she’s leaving out from her story, but I don’t question her. Nat can be ridiculously stubborn. If she doesn’t want to tell us the full story, she won’t.
“Fair enough.” I check my rota. “We’ve all got gym first, right?”
Nat nods.
“Yeah,” Azira says, glancing at her watch. “And we’re going to be late.”
I stop in front of my locker next to Nat’s, punching in the combination. “At least Coach is pretty chilled out about people being late.”
We both grab our bags and then make a stop at Azira’s locker to get hers.
We are five minutes late for gym when we get to the changing room and quickly get changed, rushing into the gym.
Coach notices us the moment we enter and crosses his arms. “Good of you to turn up, girls.” His eyes land on me and they linger for too long, making a shiver skate down my spine. I don’t know if I’m being paranoid, or if he’s actually looking at me as I’m his next conquest, but he’ll be disappointed if it’s the latter. There’s no way I’d sleep with that man.
“Adrianna, since there’s an odd number of students, you’ll be my partner today.” He gestures to stand in front of him with the two tennis rackets in his hands. “Tennis this month. How do you like your chances?” The smirk on his face is irritating as I take my position, swiping a racket out of his hand.
He is without a doubt the cockiest person I have ever met. “I think they’re pretty good, since I took tennis lessons from three years old.” I snatch the racket from his hand. “You should be worried.”
His eyes narrow. “Is that right?”
“Let’s do this,” I say, cracking my neck.
“Everyone gather around and see how it’s done when I whoop Adrianna’s ass.”
Some of the students snicker at that, but I’m confident that Coach may be good at a lot of things, but he can’t beat me at tennis. “We’ll see.”
“You serve first.” He bats a tennis ball at me and I catch it with one hand.
“With pleasure.”
I volley the ball in the air and serve it wide in his service box, taking him by surprise with the speed, as he struggles to reach it, brow furrowing.
“15. Love,” Alexander calls, taking the role of score keeper. “Come on, Coach. You’ve got to do better than that.”
I twirl my racket in my hands, smirking at him. “Yeah, at least hit it once.”
His eyes narrow as I grab another ball and get ready to serve.
Throwing the ball in the air, I bring my racket down and slam it in the same place, but this time he reads my move and volleys it back. We send each other racing across the court back and forth, until finally he catches me out and I can’t stretch to send it back, hitting the top of the net.
“15 all,” Alexander calls.
“Not bad, Vasquez.” He claps his hands. “Right, all of you get playing.”
I glare at Coach as we’ve always had a fierce rivalry since I’m the only one who can give him a run for his money in any sport or combat.
“Now, let’s see what you’ve really got, Vasquez.”
I twirl my racket in my hands. “Gladly.”
We keep playing, matching each other point for point. Until finally, I steal the win in the first game.
“My turn to serve. Let’s see how you fare not seving.”
My eyes narrow as I watch him throwing the ball in the air repeatedly, but not serving. “Get on with it,” I snap.
He smirks. “All in good time.” On the next throw of the ball in the air, he brings his racket down and serves it at a ridiculous speed right at the back of my service box on the opposite side to where I’m standing.
I don’t reach it despite using all of my strength to push myself over there. “Fuck,” I murmur, quiet enough so he can’t hear.
“15. Love,” Coach calls out, twirling his racket in his hands.
I glare at him, knowing that it’s going to be tough to beat him at tennis with him serving, particularly since he almost beat me on my serve.
The game continues on and I lose by a few points, giving us one game each, when the bell finally sounds.
“Time to wrap it up,” Coach announces, never once taking his eyes off of me.
I shudder, as the way he’s been looking at me since this year started makes my skin crawl. Coach’s reputation with the girls at this school is disgusting, and I fear that the dirty looks he’s been giving me suggest he has his sights on me this year.
There’s no way in hell I’m losing my virginity to the biggest man whore at SA.
Forcing my eyes away from him, I gather my things and leave hastily into the changing room behind Natalya. “What have you got next?” I ask, trying to push the thoughts that Coach might be interested in me out of my mind.
“I’ve got law. What about you?” Nat asks.
“interrogation for me.”
Nat nods. “Fair enough. I’ll see you at lunch, then?” She says as she pulls on her blazer.
As always, Nat is the fastest dresser ever.
Azira rocks up. “Aren’t you going to wait for me?”
Nat arches a brow. “And be late for class?”
She pouts. “I’ll be quick.”
Nat and I both laugh at that. “You don’t know the meaning of quick,” I say.
“I’ll wait for three minutes, but if you aren’t ready, I’m leaving,” Nat says.
For the first time, I witness Azira dress fast. By the time I’m buttoning up my blouse, Azira is too. “Wow you can move when you want to,” I say.
She shrugs. “I’m always fast.”
Nat and me exchange glances. “Yeah, right,” Nat says.
I feel a sense of sadness sweep over me, knowing that this is our last year here together. I have to make the most of it, as I know my life is going to take a very different turn once I leave SA.