Wintercrest Academy

Nice to meet you, Kaia Mahoe

“Hi, scholarship kid!” Cat eye glasses struts towards Kaia after their final English class. “Still salty about yesterday?” she asks when Kaia doesn’t look up from her bag.

           “No,” Kaia gets up, irked by the name she just got called. “It’s tradition, I get it. I have to eat. Excuse me.”

           “Of course!” the corners of her lips curve into a smirk. She’s confident, in a way that makes her appear sexy. She’s beautiful. All her facial features sit perfectly on her face, with long dark lashes and full lips that would make anyone jealous. That face would earn her thousands of dollars if she considered face modelling.

           “We’re throwing you a party on Saturday, at my house. Also, tradition. Someone would text you the time and address. See you then.” She saunters away, swerving her lean hips as she does. She goes over to meet her clique of friends: the wild haired girl who asked Kaia about bags, Rosco who has a diamond studded headphone hanging on his neck bright orange pair of sneakers on (he’s obviously a big fan of garishly coloured, expensive kicks), and the boy who Kaia had come to realize was Bren. He looks over in Kaia’s direction, his honey brown eyes studying her with a curious yet cold gaze. A muscle in his taut jaw ticks twice before he breaks off eye contact.

           “Weird,” Kaia mumbles and doesn’t even have to leave the classroom before Adan comes in.

           “Little K,” he beams and the text from last night pops in Kaia’s mind she pushes it away.

           “Student leader,” she tries to match his enthusiasm and then quickly shuts her mouth with her left hand when she remembers that he doesn’t want to be called student leader.

           “It’s okay,” he shrugs. “You can call me that. But keep it a secret. Don’t tell anyone I let you call me that.”

           She giggles at the way he spoke in hushed tones, like he was actually telling her a big secret. “Yes sir! I like your sweater.” She points to the off white, woolly sweater hugging his upper body instead of his burgundy blazer. Even though they wear uniforms, Wintercrest lets them add accessories of their choice, so that they can still have a sense of individuality and be free to express it.

           “Thanks. My grandma made it.” he smooths his hands over it fondly. “Let’s go for lunch.”

           They meander past students, making small talk as they do and Adan keeps her close to himself, trying his best to make sure she doesn’t get fazed by some lingering stares.

           “Kaia! Oh, my goodness! I’m chuffed to bits to meet you out here!” A blonde girl with a thick British accent clinks in her heels over to them. She pulls Kaia in for a hug and peck both her cheeks, leaving coral kiss prints.

           “Hi?” Kaia’s body goes rigid from the unwanted embrace and Adan just rolls his eyes. He’s too familiar with her antics.

           “My name is Imogen Taylor, President of the Journalism and Newspaper Club and do you know how lovely it is to be having this interview with you?”

           Wait, interview? What?

 “Imogen couldn’t see you yesterday, Imogen was so busy. Besides, we’re in different grades, it’s like the universe doesn’t want us to meet. But here we are victorious! Am I right?”

           “Mmhmm,” Kaia hums and shoots Adan a ‘help me!’ stare.

           “So, Imogen was thinking,” Imogen starts before Adan can say anything. “Headline: Wonder Kid breaks longstanding record! A genius among men! Everyone would be talking about you. I mean, they’re already talking, but you would be the face of Wintercrest. Bren doesn’t own academia excellence anymore, you do. So why don’t we start the interview right now and I’d —”

           “Imogen!” Adan snaps after several attempts to stop her from talking. “She’s not interested.”

           “The woman can speak for herself!” Imogen purses her lips and looks back to Kaia. “What do you think?” She watches Kaia expectantly, her face breaking out into a smile that looks more rehearsed than genuine.

           “Actually, I don’t want the interview. I don’t want to headline the newspaper. I appreciate your consideration, but, I’d rather not.”

           Imogen’s smile transforms immediately into a scowl. “Nobody says no to Imogen. Imogen is giving you a chance of a lifetime. Do you know how many other schools read our paper? You would be famous before you know it!”

           “No, Imogen.” Adan states firmly. “She doesn’t want it. But luck is on your side because I’m here” he widens his arms. “You could interview me instead.”

           “Rubbish,” she scoffs with a dismissing wave of hand. “Your story is stale. You’re not a headliner anymore.” She turns to Kaia. “Well, when you change your mind, Imogen would be in her office. Cheerio!” she says goodbye and trots off in her over the top manner, her energy and drama oozing like out of her.

           “Uhmm, that was weird,” Kaia half laughs. “I’m not changing my mind though. And why does she even refer to herself in third person?”

           “Imogen is the definition of weird. You would think that hearing her refer to herself in third person would stop sounding cringy eventually. Wrong. It gets even more annoying every single time.”

           “I can imagine.” Kaia giggles and peeks over her shoulder at Imogen who is now yapping away at some other student who looks frightened to death.

           “Let’s go for lunch. My friends are waiting for us.” Adan slips his hand into his pocket and they leave.

                                                                       ****

           Kaia meets all three of Adan’s friends: the freckled paternal twins, Alex and Charlie. Alex is the extroverted twin and Vice President of the Student Council while Charlie is content being the silent twin. And there’s Love, the girl who called Adan ‘juicy lips’ and a member of the athletic team. Adan is the only male in his actual friend group.

           “Okay,” Kaia coughs, placing her bottle of fruit juice on the desk. Adan and Alex try to recover from laughing at Charlie who roasted Love, calling her a Khloe Kardashian.

           “Charlie! You didn’t have to go that hard on her.” Alex slaps hard at Adan’s shoulders, something she does while laughing.

           “I had to, or else she’s going to keep walking around talking about Ezra till we all go deaf. He cheated and he’s not coming back to you! Move the hell on!” Charlies says and Kaia concludes that she’s not just silent, she’s a savage. A caring one, though. She’s only been there for a short while and Ezra is practically the only person Love has spoken about.

           “You’re just mad you can’t understand relationships because no one has ever asked you out. Bitch.” Love spits and then transfers her aggression to the broccoli on her plate.

           “Okay,” Kaia repeats when they’re done laughing. She hadn’t expected to warm up to them enough to laugh this much. “One last thing I’d like to know. Bren. Who exactly is he? It feels like there is something about him that I need to know.” She tells them about the two girls who interrogated her in the hallway yesterday.

           “Brennon Kang? As in, Wintercrest’s little prince? You seriously don’t know about him?” Love’s eyes widen in shock. Kaia shakes her head no.

           “Why are you guys making it sound like he’s such a big deal?” Charlie scoffs. “Okay, ignore that. He actually is a big deal.”

           “How so?” Kaia prods, itching to know why he’s such a big deal, and why he gave her a mini stare down in class.

           “You know how there’s this one popular jock in high school books and movies. The blonde one who is the quarterback for the football team and dates the hot cheerleader? That’s Brennon Kang. Except he’s not blonde, doesn’t play football, isn’t dating the hot cheerleader, and is stupidly smart.” Alex explains.

           Stupidly smart. What does that mean?

           “He’s the only one who has scored a 95% in Wintercrest’s painfully hard entrance exams. Ever. He set a record. Well, until you came along and smashed it.” Charlie answers like she could hear Kaia’s thoughts.

           “He’s basically a genius. He excels at academics, sports, extracurriculars. And, he definitely excels in physical appearance.” The three girls crane their neck towards Bren’s seat in a dramatic way, and Kaia follow their gaze to where he’s seating with his friends and laughing.

           “He’s hot stuff around here. His parents are also huge contributors to the school and are important members of the parent’s association board.”

           Wow. All they had said was pretty impressive. But Kaia still didn’t understand.

           “What does all of that have to do with me though?”

           Charlie scoffs and faces Adan. “Is she this slow?”

           “Don’t be rude, Charlie.” Alex reprimands her sister and turns back to Kaia. “It has everything to do with you because you are the new hot stuff. You broke Bren’s records. The Bren. Nobody has ever done that. And he’s obviously supposed to be valedictorian when you guys graduate, but that may not be so certain anymore now that there’s another genius in the class.”

           “In simpler terms, you’re a threat to his academia ego.” Love adds.

           Oh. It makes sense now. Kind of. “Uhm, maybe he’s getting it all wrong.” Kaia waves her hands here and there. “I’m not interested in being valedictorian, or anything like that.”

           “Don’t get worked up, little K. None of that is important. Eat up.” Adan smiles and for a second, that sweet smile settles the panic and noise in her head. Maybe there really is nothing to worry about. She’s not a threat, and doesn’t hope to be. They keep eating and chatting and when she’s done, she says goodbye and heads to Biology lab early so she can choose a convenient seat.

           The AP biology lab cannot be compared with anything she’s ever been in. Two seats are paired to one, large, seemingly sterile desk, there are microscopes everywhere and about five life sized skeletons for anatomical identification purposes. Organs of the body already preserved in formalin are labelled in glass cases and arranged around the room.

           “Wow” unconsciously escapes her mouth. Someone steps out of the lab storeroom and because they both weren’t expecting company, they jump in startlement when they bump into each other.

           “Mr Ariel?” Kaia lets out a breath, raising her left hand to her thumping heart.

           “Kaia Mahoe.” He grins and Kaia silently appreciates the raw blueness of his eyes. “You’re in this class?”

           She nods once. “I am. Why are you here?” She follows behind him, dumping her bag on the second row while he goes to place dissecting trays at the far end of the room.

           “I work here,” he says, backing her.

           “Here, like, in the lab?” she glances at his crisp, white lab coat. “Wait, do you double as Principal Jan’s receptionist and the biology lab teacher?”

           He chuckles, turning around to look at her. “Yes, I work here. Like in the lab. And no, I don’t double as receptionist. I was just filling in for the new receptionist yesterday. She was running late and Principal Jan needed the assistance.”

           Kaia takes a small gift bag holding the items he gave her out of her backpack and walks over to him. “That explains why I didn’t find you at the desk earlier.” She stretches the bag toward him. “Thank you. For yesterday. You saved a stinky girl’s life.”

           He chuckles again, deep and throaty and full of vigour. “Keep it. And you’re welcome. It’s good to have you in this class. Your performance at the entrance exams was truly incredible.”

           Kaia suppresses a blush, especially now that Love’s ‘you’re a threat’ is going off like a broken record in her head. Okay, no pun intended there.

           “I knew you would refuse to take it back, so I got this instead.” She holds out a powder blue coupon card with the words ‘Big K’ inscribed in a golden, pretty cursive. “My dad owns a small restaurant and bakery. You’re free to drop by and eat at a discounted price. Not to brag, but the cooking and service are top notch.”

           He scrutinizes her for a minute before taking the card. “This is a promotional strategy and a gift all in one. Wise move. I’d take it, but only because you’re in my class.” He thanks her with a smile, and she smiles back, because how can you not?

           “Mr Ariel!” a voice hollers from the door and when Kaia turns back, oh, Bren. The big smile he was sporting when he entered instantly becomes a thin, hard line on his lips. His jaw clenches and his visage become unfriendly at the sight of Kaia.

           “Bren! You’re on time.” Mr Ariel glances at his wristwatch. Bren goes to drop his bag on the second seat of the row opposite Kaia’s and then comes over to meet them.

           “You clearly enjoyed your summer. But I’d ask anyway. Did you enjoy your summer?”

           Mr Ariel contemplates his answer before saying, “I did. It was an okay summer. What fancy island did you go to this year?”

           Bren says little about his Santorini vacation and he and Mr Ariel chit chat like they’re best friends.

           “Kaia’s in this class too! You’re in the same grade so you’ve met already, right?”

           “Right,” Bren says through his teeth, not looking at her and Kaia shifts her weight from one foot to the other, preparing to return to her seat before the foreboding feeling in her chest eats her up completely.

           “Nice to meet you, Kaia Mahoe.” Bren faces her with the same curious, cold gaze he had on in the classroom. He’s holding his left hand out, waiting for a handshake. Kaia gazes blankly at it for a while and then in a swift motion, she encloses her small palm around his large ones.

           “Nice to meet you too, Brennon Kang.” She looks up at him, the stark height difference between them hurting her neck. His grip is firm and he squeezes her palm in a way that confirms what Love said. She is a threat, and that look in his eyes tells her that he’s not going to let her get in his way. Not even for a second.