Wintercrest Academy

Assaults

Bren sits with his friends. He watches Shira and her domineering smirk while she talks and adjusts her cat eye glasses, Rosco, and his overpriced headphone, coercing them into listening to his latest ‘dope’ hip-hop mix. Bren is not present. He couldn’t will his mind to focus on their conversation even if he tried. There’s something, no, one thing. Just one thing on his mind. Kaia freaking big brain and big hair Mahoe.

           Like a DVD on rewind, his mind replays their AP Bio class when Kaia basically answered every question effortlessly, like there was a freaking textbook in her head.

           “Primary structure.” She had answered when Mr Ariel asked what level of protein folding ribosomes are involved in. He glared at her, and prepared to answer the next question.

           “A peptide bond represents a connection between two amino acids.” The irritating little thing took the words right out of Mr Ariel’s mouth. Even though the answer was easy. Like the ABC of protein biology.

           The gold medal moment was when Mr Ariel asked what the proper order and location of the two main parts of protein synthesis and the words “transcription in the ribosome and translation at the nucleus” rushed out of Bren’s mouth like hot water.

           Mr Ariel paused, stared at him tentatively for a moment and then said, “wrong, Bren.” His ego shattered like his mother’s glass antique he knocked over when he was 10. “Does anyone know the correct answer?” Bren felt like he had been pushed off a moving vehicle. The silence and consequent murmurings of his classmates didn’t help.

           Of course, Kaia did have the right answer in her encyclopaedia brain. “Transcription in the nucleus and translation at the ribosome,” she had said, casting Bren a look he couldn’t quite interpret, but in that moment, his jaw was set tight and he felt embarrassed. He had been so nervous, he mixed up the answer. Nobody at Wintercrest ever made the Brennon Kang nervous or embarrassed. Especially not with academics. Little brat!

           “Uhm, is everything okay over there? Earth to Bren.” Shira snaps her aesthetically manicured nails in Bren’s face and he blinks twice, shaking off his little trance.

           “Yeah,” Bren clears his throat and reclines in his seat, an attempt at calmness even though he’s everything but. “What’s up?”

           “You kind of murdered your sandwich, bro.” Rosco gestures towards the sandwich.

           “Oh,” Bren inspects the squashed sandwich, completely unaware that he was indeed assaulting it, and now there was cheddar cheese and mayo on his fingers and palm. He wipes it off with the serviette Shira hands him.

           “Where was your mind at?” Rosco asks.

           “Nowhere.” Bren’s reply is automatic and Rosco huffs.

           “Really? What was the last thing we said?”

           Ugh! Freaking Rosco and his annoying self. “What, you’re interrogating me now, Attorney Rosco McKenna?”

           “That doesn’t answer the question.” Rosco rolls his eyes not letting himself give in to the fact that Bren played the attorney card to get him to shut up. Rosco’s dad is an attorney and he wants Rosco to be one too. But the boy hates law more than he hates black kicks.

           Bren chooses to focus on his protein shake and ignore his annoying friend.

           “Is it Kaia?” Shira prods and Bren chokes on his shake.

           “Stop saying her name.” his voice is concrete hard.

           “So it is Kaia?” A mischievous smile plays on Rosco’s lips and Bren sends him a cold glare that says ‘shut up.’

           “Bro, her face is tattooed in your heart right now. You gotta stop getting so worked up over her. She’s not worth it.”

           “You think?” Bren sits straight, his eyes charged. “She practically humiliated me in AP Bio yesterday. I have never been humiliated in class before. She jumped at every question like it was meat and she was some . . .hungry hyena. The only question I managed to answer, I messed it up. Everybody’s talking about it. Mr Ariel is fawning over her like she’s some goddess of biology and it doesn’t help that she’s in every freaking class I have. She already broke my entrance record and now this. Do you see the problem here, or do you need Shira’s glasses?”

           Shira snorts at the mention of her name while Rosco wets his lower lip. “I mean, not really. And the only people talking about your AP Bio class are the people in your AP Bio class.”

           “Yet you heard about it before now, didn’t you?” Bren says and Rosco goes quiet. He had heard about it and he wasn’t in the AP Bio class.

           “Okay, hey baby, look at me.” Shira reaches over and cups Bren’s face. “You’re obsessing over nothing. You wasted your sandwich over the child of a restaurant owner. She’s nothing. You’re the smartest kid in this school. She’s nothing. I’d take care of her so she doesn’t invade your thoughts anymore. And I promise, nobody would mention yesterday again, okay?”

           Bren clenches his jaw and mutters a reluctant ‘okay.’ He doesn’t know exactly what Shira’s going to do and how she’s going to take care of it, but he trusts her. She always did her best for things that concerned him. She’d handle it. He decides to relax a little, the tension in his shoulders easing up. Just then, Kaia walks into the cafeteria with Adan, the twins and Love. Her big, warm brown eyes meet his and forget about relaxing, every part of him tenses again and fury builds in his chest, climbing up his throat.

           Adan notices what’s going on and tugs gently at Kaia’s elbow, pulling her away like some protector. Bren feels smooth skin on his and looks down to see Shira’s palm holding his left hand.

           “I’d take care of her.” Her smirk, oh, that evil, bossy smirk is paradise. But even though he’s smiling back at her, he’s not totally convinced that anyone can take care of Kaia, the new kid who is now on his race track, trying to outrun him. Not even Queen Shira Johns.

                                                           ****

           The rest of the week is the same for Kaia. She does her best to avoid Imogen in the halls, ignores Astrid when she tries to talk to her and laughs her head off during lunch with Adan and the others. Cliché always waits for her at Big K’s and then they’d go home together and catch up over junk food and Scrabble. The favourite part of her day is class. Every class is just like she dreamed it’d be: interactive, brain tasking, and the teachers all seem to love her.

           The worst part of it though is Bren, who somehow, for some reason is in every class she’s in and shoots daggers at her through all of it. She does her best to pretend he doesn’t exist, but whenever she answers a question or says anything, she’d feel his eyes boring into her skin. I hate it.

           On Thursday evening, she goes for her regular Youth Group Bible Study and Zuri — her favourite coordinator— teaches them about loving people despite their differences. Ironic, because she’s not sure she could ever love any student at Wintercrest— except Adan and his friends, of course—even if she wanted to. They still stare at her, openly gossip about her and her social status and she hates every bit of it.

           “I’m so proud of you, Kaia.” Zuri pulls her in for a tight, warm hug after Bible study. “You’re at Wintercrest, praise God! Don’t let the behaviour of the students get to you. Love them anyway. You’d excel. I’m sure of that.” Kaia holds on to those words like it is oxygen.

           True to Shira’s word, Kaia gets a text inviting her to her party at Shira’s house by 7pm. She deletes it immediately, having no intentions of attending. Friday evenings are for family games night and they play chess, then video games, then watch some Marvel movie because Keanu swore it was the best thing ever. He was kinda right, it was interesting.

           All the while though, Kaia’s phone kept chirping. And it wasn’t Cliché or Adan texting her. It was Astrid.

           Where r u?! she sent at 7:00pm

           People r trooping in already, and Shira’s getting upset that u r not here 7:30pm

           They r supposed to do a toast 4 u right now! Come here. NOW. It’s not going to b pretty if u don’t 8:15pm

           Kaia scoffs. Why are you trying so hard to talk to me? Please stop texting me. Stop being concerned about me. We’re not friends, so leave me alone.  She sends and blacklists her number. It’s not going to b pretty if u don’t. That text flashes through her mind and she shoves it aside. She didn’t ask them to throw her a party. Why would she want to attend a party with people who don’t talk to her? Why would they even host a party for her? The said ‘middle class kid’ at an elite school?

           “Shut up Groot!” Keanu flings a handful of popcorn at the TV and Dad scolds him for it.

           “He kinda reminds me of you.” Kaia teases and they burst out laughing when Keanu seriously starts listing differences between him and Groot. Silly boy, Kaia thinks, squeezing his cheeks which earns her another earful of Keanu’s ramblings.

                                                           ****

           “You stood me up.” Shira’s voice is gratingly high pitched, and upset. She didn’t even wait for Kaia to settle fully into her seat.

           “Did we have a date?” Kaia keeps her eyes on her desk, flipping open the pages of Dr Ben Carson’s ‘Gifted Hands.’ A book she’s read a little over a million times.

           Shira slams the book shut and Kaia flinches at the unexpected move. The class suddenly becomes a graveyard and all eyes are glued to them. Kaia feels the pressure of their eyes all over and it makes her skin uncomfortable.

           “It’s Monday morning. Don’t you agree that it’s too early to be aggressive?” she finally raises her gaze to match Shira’s. It’s almost time for homeroom so more students are filing into the classroom.

           Shira snorts and her domineering smirk surfaces. Her cat eye glasses surprisingly add to her overall sinister look. “You know, for someone with a status like yours, I expected you to jump at an opportunity to have free expensive food and drinks. Looks like you have an inflated ego. I spent money and time setting up that party! How dare you not show up?”

           Kaia catches a glimpse of Astrid’s glossy, leather jacket as she walks in and past them, not minding their little drama. So this was what she meant?

           “I didn’t ask you to throw me a party,” Kaia states, maintaining as much reasonable calmness as she can.

           “Yet I threw one. If you don’t have any money, at least respect the value of other people’s money. You broke ass. This is why I hate doing stuff with poor people.”

           Now that, that is what sends Kaia up her feet and facing off Shira. What give her the right to say that? To even think about it!

           “Oh,” Shira’s voice takes a more mocking tone. “Scholarship kid is getting mad now? What do you want to do? Hit me? Slap with in the face with your poverty?”

           “Shut. Up.” Kaia feels heat rise up her cheeks. This rush of anger is familiar, and she hates it.

           “I don’t take orders from broke people.”

           The only thing Kaia could think of doing is grabbing Shira’s blazer and shoving her backwards. The only thing she’s able to do though is grab her blazer.

           “The both of you. What’s going on?” Miss Celine interrupts before she can shove Shira like the piece of trash she is proving to be.

           “Physical assault. That’s what’s going on. Ma’am.”

           “Behave yourselves or I’d send you to detention. The both of you.”

           Detaching one finger at a time, Kaia releases Shira’s collar, slips into her seat and disappears into her head for the rest of homeroom. Is Wintercrest for me? Am I going to go through this for the rest of the semester?