Like most math classrooms, this one was dull and boring.

  Sure, there was a way too expensive air filter and fancy touchscreen board at the front of the room (which hinted at the many rich students and even wealthier patrons the school possessed) but other than that…it was dull and boring.

  There was nothing particularly special about the faded colors of the math posters or the big box of calculators off to the side of the room or even the most popular item in the class: the bathroom passes.

  The only exceptional detail was how quiet it was. Especially, for a room of thirty bored teenagers.

  Well, mostly quiet… if you discounted the occasional snore.

  Every head was turned to face the back. Specifically, to stare at one Ms. Ria Regina who half-hid her snores behind a calculus textbook. A puddle of drool sat right below practice problem #3.

  Mr. Stein, a short, bushy-browed, and most definitely underpaid calculus teacher, fumed. The girl’s classmates glanced at one another. Sleeping in Mr. Stein’s class? Oh, this was going to be so, so good.

  Mr. Stein’s was known the strictest teacher at Speculum Academy. He had a voice as cold and unfeeling as ice. A single glare from him was more than capable of cutting through any person’s confidence, aspirations, and dreams. Breaking a person out of their pleasant nap would be a piece of cake.

  It was what would happen after, that had the whole class holding their breaths.

  “Ria.”

  “Eat dirt…” Ria's snort was accompanied by a deep snore.

  Mr. Stein gaped.

  The class erupted into laughter and jeers.

  As a man that cared about his reputation above all else, Mr. Stein’s eyes twitched. His nose flared and he shouted furiously, “Ms. Regina!”

  Speed walking (no, not running because that was unsophisticated) Mr. Stein made it to the aforementioned person’s desk. Meanwhile, Ria sniffed and murmured, “Who’s Four?”

  At least she’s dreaming about math scoffed Mr. Stein. Picking up Ria’s textbook, he eyed it consideringly. His students watched on, evil little grins filling the room.

  “Who is that, again?” someone whispered.

  “No idea,” another person replied.

  No one really knew much about the girl sleeping in the back of the school’s scariest math classroom. For most, this was the first time even noticing her. Up until this very moment, she had been just another body in the classroom, albeit a rather quiet one. Still, as long as it wasn’t happening to them, who cared who she was? Humiliation was hilarious.

  THUD! The book slammed hard against the desk.

  Ria shot up, back straight as a board. “Oh my God! I’m dead, I’m dead.” She looked around frantically, patting herself. “Is this the afterlife? Eternity in… ” She blinked, heavily confused. “Calculus?”

  Someone snorted in the back.

  “So, this is what hell looks like,” Ria murmured to herself. “Damnit.”

  Mr. Stein sneered. “And to think I was about to welcome you back to the land of the living.” The class chuckled.

  Ria couldn’t help the yawn that escaped her. She winced at the angry glare that Mr. Stein shot her.

  Turns out, this was real… and not the afterlife. Ria didn’t know if it was appropriate, but as Mr. Stein’s furious frown grew, she felt a little disappointed. She tried for a smile, but she couldn’t ignore the trembling of her fingers.

  Shivering from an imaginary iciness, Ria pulled her jacket tighter around herself.

  Mr. Stein began his lecture about responsibility and unseemly classroom behavior. His brows pinched together and his face made for quite the horrifying picture. Most would be trembling in their seats but Ria just stared blankly at him. She had never listened in math class before, why would she start now?

  Her own brows furrowed as she fell deep in thought. Caramel, the cloaked figure, and the archer. Muddy paths and freezing rivers. It was only a dream (more vivid than any she had had before) and yet Ria’s stomach rolled at the thought of being pulled into the cold depths of the imaginary black waves.

  “Still not listening?” asked her very real math teacher.

  Ria winced. Mr. Stein made sure to annunciate every single word with the proper amount of spittle. She held back the urge to wipe her face.

  Mr. Stein’s lips curled distastefully at the far-off look in his wayward student’s eyes. Obviously daydreaming about some guy or what she was going to do after school. He pointed at the board. On it was the problem he had been in the middle of explaining.

  Ria swallowed. She glanced down at her unblemished hands, imagining where the rope burns would be. The area tingled. Lost in thought, she only gave a quick glance at the board.

  “Cosine x squared,” she tossed out carelessly. “Over twenty-eight.”

  Could a dream truly feel so real?

  A few moments passed before she realized something was amiss. Looking up, Ria stiffened at the new silence that enveloped the classroom.

  “She… she didn’t even use a calculator,” someone said, pointing out the obvious.

  “What on-”

  “Dude, that’s actually right!” Pushing up his glasses, the kid frantically showed everyone the answer on his calculator. His peers crowded in around him, glancing between the calculator and the…sleeping genius?

  Shocked, Mr. Stein could only splutter. “What on...Lucky guess.” He pointed at the next problem. “How about this one, Ms. Regina? The rest of you, write the answer on your whiteboards.”

  Nobody moved, all fixated on the newfound genius. Who knew? This could be the next Einstein!

  Writing something down on her whiteboard, everyone stared, fixated as Ria glanced at the board and then at her calculator, then back at the whiteboard. After a long pause, the girl responded confidently. “Two and three-quarters.”

  The entire class gaped.

  Someone in the back laughed.

  A cocky voice remarked, “Dude, that’s like the one problem everyone in here got.”

  Whispers and laughs began to fill the space.

  “Guess it was luck.”

  “Well, that’s…” the person shrugged helplessly.

  “Embarrassing?” finished the girl next to them.

  Mr. Stein blinked. Then, he sighed. “Ms. Regina, this problem is from the beginning of the chapter. If you have any dignity left, please review it.”

  “Oh,” Ria looked down sheepishly. “I will, Sir… Sorry, Sir.” She buried herself back into the calculus textbook, obviously too embarrassed to face her peers.

  Shaking his head, Mr. Stein walked to the next problem on the board. “Okay, class, now if you see the root here, it clearly-”

  RRRRINGGG! The bell rang loud and clear. Needless to say, Mr. Stein’s class was empty before he could holler ‘Quadratic Formula’.

  Glaring at the whiteboards that were left behind, Mr. Stein sighed wearily and headed towards his desk. So much for the lesson plan. His fists clenched. If it weren’t for that girl…! Suddenly, he froze in his tracks

  Brow furrowing, he stared for a moment more, before shuffling forward and picking up a whiteboard. His eyes widened. All the answers on the board were correct! There were even extra, made-up problems that explored theoretical concepts far beyond what Mr. Stein’s class taught. And… those were all correct too, at least Mr. Stein assumed they were. He rubbed his chin. The methods seemed valid. He scratched his head. Some of the theoretical ones would need careful consideration before he could make such a statement, but…

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  A thought struck him and he reeled back. Wasn’t this where that sleeping genius had been sitting?

  .......

  Meanwhile, said sleeping genius swung her bag off one shoulder, shuffling through the hallway. She weaved in between the crowds, dodging a wayward basketball and ducking under a kissing couple. Who said there weren’t benefits to being virtually invisible?

  Catching sight of the girl walking alone, one of Ria’s math classmates snapped their fingers. He rattled his locker excitedly. “I remember now!”

  He whispered to his friend, who was chewing a piece of gum. “She’s the geometry girl!”

  The gum popped. “Well, dang. That’s her?”

  Gum-boy let out a low whistle, eyes following the aforementioned ‘geometry girl’. “Can’t believe she did Marcel so dirty. Who helps someone cheat and then reports them? That’s just straight f-”

  “Geometry girl” suddenly stopped right in front of them, stunning them into silence.

  Ria blinked at the two boys. Bursting forward, she slapped the lockers behind them. The two couldn’t help but flinch at the loud noise.

  Ria bit her lips. “Sorry to interrupt,” she said softly. The girl pointed at the locker. “But I need to get my stuff.”

  Stepping forward, she started to twist the locker nob, squinting at the small numbers.

  Regaining their confidence, gum-boy sneered. He leaned against his locker. “So, you’re the snitch huh?”

  Ria’s hand froze. She looked down. Her face was completely obscured by her hair.

  The other boy laughed. “Hey, we won’t tell,” he paused, “if you don’t!”

  Erupting into raucous laughter, they patted each other on the back. Wheezing, the first boy pointed out. “She’s not even good at math!”

  “Yeah, Marcel should have picked someone that at least knows basic algebra!”

  Eyes lighting up dangerously, the first boy leaned in towards an unmoving Ria. “Maybe if you go out with me, I’ll consider giving you some study tips.” He ribbed Gum-boy. “Your sister still has some of her textbooks right, Zach?”

  Nodding patiently, Gum-boy (Zach) rubbed his chin. “I don’t know, it might be too advanced… coming from the fifth grade!” He smirked, “Plus, I wouldn’t want my sis to get in trouble if someone decided to-”

  “Shh!” Ria held up a finger.

  The two boys froze. What?

  Shrugging, the girl pointed to the phone that neither boy saw her answer. Ria winced and whispered apologetically. “Sorry guys, it’s my mom.”

  Placing the device next to her ear, she paused, “Yes Mom?”

  There was a pause. The boys shared an uneasy look.

  The girl sighed loudly. “No, I don’t want to drive the limo back home! It’s too eccentric. Just tell Milo to bring the Rolls.” Ria twirled a hair between her fingers.

  Zach and his buddy blinked then shifted nervously. What was going on?

  Ria rubbed her forehead. “What do you mean Principal O’Malley is coming over for dinner!” She complained, “Mom!! I know he’s my godfather, but he always wants to know everything that’s happening at school. He’s so overprotective.”

  Ria paused, then sighed. “Remember how he expelled Daniel Fisher just because the kid’s shoelaces tripped me?”

  Glancing over at the two boys who were beginning to sweat profusely, she smiled reassuringly and rolled her eyes as if to say, ‘remember that?’

  Zach glanced at his friend, eyes wide. Of course they remembered Daniel Fisher! Who didn’t? The freshman football player that got expelled in the first week! But no one had said it was over something so petty! This truly was a snitch they were dealing with, but-

  Ria looked over at the two boys. “Oh, I think Uncle O’Malley should definitely meet these two guys I just met today.” Her brows furrowed. “Zach and…what was your name again?”

  This girl had the power and connections to back her bad habits!

  “No way I’m telling you!” snapped Gum-boy.

  Ria stared deeply into his eyes, then slowly tilted her head to the side. Slowly, she said, “And Tyler Gomez.”

  Zach’s jaws dropped. All the color drained from Tyler’s face. He trembled in place. “How did she know that?”

  “It’s on your backpack, genius,” a new voice said.

  The two boys turned. A tall girl with auburn hair blew a loose strand away from her face and glared. Beside her was a muscular boy that stood with his arms crossed. The basketball jersey shined a bright orange and white, their school colors. The captain’s pin on his shoulder read: Kevin Watkins.

  The tall boy, Kevin, snorted, “Heard you got in trouble with Coach last weekend, Gomez.” He turned to Zach. “And wouldn’t want to add tardy to that long list of mess ups, do you Snyder?”

  Zach and Tyler glanced at each other awkwardly. Kevin was the best on the team… and the coach’s favorite. They silently decided that all this wasn’t worth the trouble.

  Zack smiled a little too cheerfully. “No! You got it all wrong, Kev!”

  “Yeah,” agreed Tyler. “We were just heading over.”

  Then, in silent agreement, the two turned tail and hurried away.

  The girl looked at Ria. “Isn’t your locker on the other side of the building?”

  Ignoring the comment, Ria focused on putting her phone away. The device wasn’t even turned on. “Aww, my knights in shining armor.” Ria looked up at the other girl. “Where’s your horse, prince charming?”

  “Where’s your limo and Rolls, Your Highness?” the other girl retorted.

  Kevin snorted again (an action that would have been weird for anyone else to do multiple times, but seemed to work for him)

  The basketball captain let his arms fall to his side. “What Isha means to say is,” Kevin placed his hands on the auburn hair girl, Isha’s, shoulders. “She has been grounded by her dad, so she technically couldn’t drive to get her precious babies anyways.”

  He shrugged, ignoring his girlfriend’s playful glare, and added, “Or anything else, really.” He pointed to himself. “Meet her designated driver… or better yet, personal slave!”

  “You really suck, Kevin.” Isha slapped his shoulder.

  “Well, you still love me, so…” The girl kissed him on the nose. The basketball captain went cross-eyed, falling silent… completely wrapped around her finger.

  Meanwhile, Ria prayed to whatever deity was out there to end her misery. She rummaged through her bag. “Please stop.”

  The duo laughed. Isha flipped her hair. “This is how normal high schoolers interact, Ria.”

  The quiet girl merely rolled her eyes and stuck the headphones she had finally found into one ear. The couple laughed at her reaction.

  Pushing open the thick double doors, Ria treaded behind the two as they walked towards the cafeteria.

  Kevin raised his eyebrows mischievously as he tried to get Ria to reveal her secrets. “Come on, was it two hours or three? That paper was such a pain, it must have taken you at least two.”

  Ria shrugged. “If I tell you, you’ll just get upset.”

  Kevin’s playful expression dropped. He shook his head. “I don’t believe you. You’re lying, there’s no way-”

  Ria cut him off. “Even if I told you, you wouldn’t believe-” Suddenly, she fell silent.

  Kevin and Isha stared in confusion before following Ria’s eye line. They ‘oohed’ in understanding.

  Marcel Sanchez, Ria’s ex-best friend, walked by. She was surrounded by a flock of other girls.

  Unlike the careless dab of mascara and random t-shirt from middle school, Marcel’s head to toenail was now all polished and crafted to perfection. The designer bag, a gift from her new and improved friends, had little sequins that glinted in the fluorescent lights. Contrary to most in her situation, despite being Principal O’Malley’s precious baby girl, Marcel was quite popular. If anything, her father’s position garnered her more attention and people that wanted to suck-up to her. Daddy Dearest was always willing to overlook the “stupid mistakes of the youths” as long as they were his precious Marcel’s friends.

  Ria tried for a smile. “Hi, Marcel-”

  Marcel’s nose scrunched in the same way that a pig does (except it looked a lot less cute), but other than that, she showed no other sign of having heard Ria. She and her possies continued on their merry way and greeted another group of girls.

  Kevin and Isha glanced at Ria, brow furrowed, eyes filled with pity but to their surprise, Ria didn’t look all that sad. In fact, she looked… amused?

  The girl was a bit weird… even her friends thought so.

  Ria’s eyebrows raised when she saw who it was that greeted Marcel. Daphne Mele. Color me impressed, Ria thought. Someone was definitely moving up the food chain.

  Daphne was the most popular girl in school. With a rich, tv star mom as well as the attitude and appearance, the girl had it all set. If there was a top dog at Speculum Academy, it was Daphne. Hot, smart, and wealthy as heck, you didn’t get on her bad side, you got completely on her side.

  Marcel chittered away excitedly towards a patiently smiling Daphne who was clearly not listening if her phone scrolling was any indication. The scene was almost comical. Like a little pug trying to fit in with the wolves, Ria noted.

  Behind Daphne stood Kira, another queen bee of the school.

  At the young age of sixteen, Kira Arman was a nationally acclaimed gymnast and track star. She was also the face of numerous fashion magazines. Her young modeling career had taken off as soon as it started. While Daphne was smooth and elegant, Kira was athletic and dominating. It was no wonder that boys drooled over the mere chance of getting a glimpse of the two.

  Kira whispered something into Daphne’s ear. The two girls got up and headed down the hall, their flock of sheep obediently following behind.

  Kevin looked around. “Hey, where’d everyone go?”

  “Don’t wolves eat small dogs?” Ria muttered to herself.

  The couple stared at her weirdly, slowly backing away. Ria looked up, causing the two to freeze in place.

  Isha cleared her throat and grabbed Kevin’s hand. “Lunch, everyone?”

  .......

  Speculum Academy’s newly refurbished cafeteria had extended the building so that the sitting space was open aired.

  Quite frankly, Ria couldn’t think of a time when it was more beneficial for students to only have the option to sit outside. It was either weathering the sun that could melt the skin off of one’s bones or freezing in harsh winds that pierced even the thickest of jackets. And don’t even get her started on the rain! It had taken three weeks to get over her cold after two consecutive months of pouring sky water! To put it simply, nature hated her.

  The long lunch tables may look identical, but to the trained eye (or anyone that sat in for a Speculum Academy lunch) they might as well have been labeled with permanent markers and circled three times. It was an unspoken rule. Each group had their own table. And for those that weren’t in a group… well, in her experience, Ria found the spot in between the locker and trash can to be the most undisturbed.

  Ria stretched as she followed Kevin and Isha. She looked over at a large tree with abundant shade. Wiping her brow, she nodded at it. “What do you guys think of-”

  “Isha!!” A pretty girl with twin pigtails, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet, waved at them. She and a group of other people in ASB uniforms made their way over.

  Isha waved back, just as excited. “Emma! Mia! Come on, let’s eat! I am starving.”

  Kevin clapped one of the guys on the back. “Darius, my man! Dude, you have to tell me how you beat the Exius King level. It keeps rebooting me back to the dead zone-”

  “Dude, it’s all about the long-range artillery-”

  Heading off in a completely different direction, Ria could only look mournfully at the great tree. She sighed. Falling to the back of the group, she dragged her feet but obediently walked behind the group. It was going to be another long lunch of listening to the politicians talk.

  Seated at the very edge of the table, Ria poked at her sandwich. Absentmindedly, she traced watery shapes on her water bottle. Her eyes narrowed. Up, slash, up, down. Four. She reeled back. That was what the man in the dream had said. And something about a tournament?

  Ria leaned her chin against her hand. Why would her brain conjure something so random? She rubbed at her itchy wrists.

  The girl’s eyes widened in shock. It couldn’t be! She looked down at her hands. Raising them up, she stared at the faint rope burns that encircled her wrists… right where they had been in the dream. Those hadn’t been there before…

  “Woah, what happened to your hands?”

  Ria almost fell out of her seat. Her flailing slapped the sandwich right off the table.

  Ria turned and looked up. Familiar blue eyes stared right back.

  POST-CHAPTER MINI THEATER: