***** # INTELLECTUAL_ROMANCE ***** ***************”************************************* Chapter I***************

”So what was your first time like?” my best friend Alyssa asked me as she applied her magenta Marc Jacobs lipstick onto her plump lips. We were in the girls’ bathroom, as always before school to make sure that we looked perfect. Only unlike normal I didn’t really care about what color she was wearing today, all I could think about was Louis. I hadn’t slept properly since getting home last week which didn’t really help my already short attention span. ”Well…it hurt.” I told her, looking through my purse for my cell phone since I knew that Alyssa wouldn’t leave me alone until she heard all the details. There was still a picture of the two of us on there that I had taken of us in front of the Eiffel tower before he broke my heart. The guy had spent the entire summer treating me to dinners, movies and unexpected gifts including a cute gold Pandora necklace. He’d listen to everything I had to say and we’d spend hours laughing together whilst I lived in the French bubble in which he’d wrapped me in the night we’d met at a musical. At the time I thought he was a very romantic guy and that he really cared for me. Possibly maybe even the beginning of love so I’d kept him waiting the entire time even when he became very suggestive, until I was positive that he was the one that I wanted to lose my virginity to. After taking me on his speed boat then presenting me with the necklace and telling me how much he loved American girls and so many other things that made me cringe now, I just knew that he was right so that night I slept with him. How stupid had I been to trust him like that? It had just been so easy to fall for his charm, never mind the French accent that made everything sound sexy, but my naivety had caused my heart to be broken when I woke up the next morning and Louis was gone. No calls, no texts, nothing. It wasn’t until I went to the front desk of the hotel we were staying in, demanding answers and being told that he had left for Italy where he went to university that morning before I’d woken up. That had been devastating. Not to mention the emotional phone call I’d had with my mom that day. Hearing the sound of her voice had been all it took to have me crying down the phone to her with over three thousand miles in between us when all I’d needed was a hug. ”Then it got good right?” Alyssa asked, cutting into my little world of torment as she now sprayed down the stray hairs of her almost perfect dark brown curls. I’d spaced out and missed the rest of what she was telling me until her manicured hand swiped across my face in a waving motion. ”H-e-l-l-o! Earth to Ellie, were you even listening to me?” she frowned, resting a hand on her hip and tossing the hairspray back into her bag. I blinked at her, trying to remember what had been the last thing she’d said to me meanwhile blinking back the tears from my eyes. I faced away from the mirror so I wouldn’t have to look at how messy and scruffy I looked. Alyssa had spotted it the moment she saw me and I’m sure she would’ve asked whether I’d gotten dressed in the dark if it weren’t for her wanting the details of my summer. ”Look Alyssa I really don’t want to talk about it or him anymore. He’s a jerk and I want to forget him.” Well, I was trying my best, I still had the necklace in my purse and I’d wanted to get rid of it, I just couldn’t. ”Alright, no need to snap at me.” she muttered haughtily, just as she finished spritzing herself with the new Dior perfume. I had sounded sharper than intended so I apologized, ”It’s just not nice to talk about and I want to move on.” ***************”************************************* Starting with the necklace. Reaching for it in my purse again to fish it out, it still sat in the Pandora box that it had come in and I spent a few seconds looking at it. I don’t know what had made me throw it into my purse this morning but I had. Alyssa leant over to take a peak and she gasped dramatically, “That is so beautiful Elle! I’ve been dropping very obvious hints to my stepmom that I want another one and I don’t think she’s getting the message.” Her sigh was exaggerated and I smiled a little, Liss could get almost anything that she asked for from her stepmother who felt bad for taking her father away from her mother, so she took advantage of it. I mean, why not? I only held onto the necklace a moment longer before I extended it to my friend, “Here, it’s for you. I want you to have it.” I wasn’t expecting to feel the slight sense of relief as soon as it left my hand. Her pretty brown eyes widened just slightly before she gave me a quick hug, ”Oh Elle this is just perfect! I Love you!” she said happily, turning so I could help her fasten it on. The moment it was on she was desperate to show the other girls so she linked her arm in mine and she took me to our first class, Biology. Shelby and Mia squealed over it whilst I watched happily as Alyssa showed it off. I was glad that I’d been able to part with it and give it to someone who would use it. Step two was now deleting the pictures from my cell phone but I had to do that later as our teacher, Mr. Keene came in and attempted to begin his lesson. I took my seat towards the front where all us girls sat and began getting my books out of my purse. It felt weird to get back into the school mode but I knew that this year would bring me better grades if I kept to the list of things I wanted to improve about myself. ”Miss Crenshaw please take a seat.” Mr. Keene said to Liss who hadn’t yet found her way over to me as the noise in the classroom died down. She sighed dramatically and took her seat beside me muttering, “Here comes the longest hour of my life.” Normally I’d agree with her, instead I took notes furiously the entire time and trying to get everything down as quickly as Mr. K was delivering it while Liss texted beside me under the desk. On a normal day I would have been doing the exact same thing, only after my experience this summer, it had made me think about things that I hadn’t before. One being that I was flunking all my classes, especially Biology and if I wanted to get a good grade I had to start putting the work in now. Even Alyssa thought I was acting strange because when she looked at me, a frown appeared on her perfectly matte forehead. “Ellie what are you doing?” she muttered to me under her breath, making me miss the last thing Mr. K had just said. I’d have to catch up on that later from someone who was actually taking notes. “Learning, what about you?” I asked in a light manner, hoping she’d leave it at that. The last thing I needed was for her to act as if my wanting to better myself was stupid. All I got was a slow nod of confusion the she returned to answer her latest text. Mr. Keene asked the class a question about the left ventricle that I couldn’t answer; it seemed that no one else in the room could either. I really should’ve looked through the textbook over the summer. That is until a voice from the back piped up with an answer that made me feel stupid for not knowing it since we’d gone through this topic briefly at the end of last year. “Ventricular pressure is a measure of the blood pressure within the ventricles of the heart and it rapidly increases during systole to become equal with the aortic pressure.” the masculine voice finished confidently, he knew that they’d gotten it right judging by the tone of his voice. ***************”************************************* Following everyone else’s lead, I looked behind me and my gaze landed on a guy that looked familiar although I couldn’t put his face to a name. He seemed blissfully unaware of the twenty or so pairs of eyes on him; instead he looked at the teacher as if waiting for confirmation that he was indeed correct. “Well, at least someone took the time to actually read over the notes made in class. Thank you very much Samuel, you explained that all very well.” Mr. Keene said sounding happier than he had been before. No doubt relieved that at least one of his students would pass this class. I couldn’t resist turning again to catch the smile that surfaced on the his face at the praise, his blue eyes then dropped back to his notebook as he continued to take notes, my own seemingly forgotten. Wow. If only I was that smart then I wouldn’t be failing right now… Waiting until the teacher began speaking again so I wouldn’t be heard; I leant over to Liss and whispered to her, “Do you know that guy?” It took her a moment to figure out who I was talking about, before she nodded and whispered back, “That’s Sam Spencer, the guy wins pretty much every academic award the school has. I only know that because I drank too much coffee this morning and I couldn’t help hearing the principle mentioning it in assembly.” That was shocking, clearly his intellect extended way further than just Biology, “Every award?” Again she nodded, ”He’s insanely smart; I heard he’s taking AP classes and this is just something to fill up his free periods. How crazy is that? I use mine to do interesting things, not school.” her nose turned up by the end of that. By then I wasn’t really paying much attention to what she was saying anymore, instead I was thinking about how that could help me because frankly, I needed all the help I could get. I watched him from across the room, using my peripheral vision rather than staring blatantly as I didn’t want him to think that I was creepy whilst I thought, ”Maybe I can ask him to tutor me in Biology because at this rate I can forget about getting a C.” She just shrugged, returning to her phone, “Whatever Elle, he’s not going to say no is he?” She sounded so sure of herself, the normal me would know that he’d never refuse to help me but now I wasn’t so sure. Would such a smart guy want to spend the little spare time he had tutoring someone who was as clueless as I was? We’d have to see at the end of the lesson. By the time that rolled by I was just happy that I could rest my hand after so much scribbling, I didn’t know how everyone else did it. After telling Alyssa and the girls that I’d catch up with them, I waited until the class was almost empty to talk to Sam. Even Mr. Keene had dashed off already so we were alone. There was no need to make this anymore embarrassing than it already was. I didn’t need anyone knowing that I really did fill the criteria for being a dumb blonde. Slowly I walked over to his desk, he was still sat down scribbling away as if he didn’t even know that it was the end of the lesson. Clearing my throat to get his attention, I waited for his eyes to meet mine. When they did, his own registered confusion, waiting for me to speak first. “Hi, I was wondering if you were willing to be my tutor in Biology.” I blurted, not entirely sure what else to say. He blinked his very dark blue eyes at me with an expression that I could only describe as completely taken aback. The moment the sun streamed in through the window, it hit his brown hair but in the light it suddenly became golden, with short loose almost waves tea length wedding dress
To be continued
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