Fearless The King Series Book One - By Tawdra Kandle Page 0,10

translate a passage from English into French, and I realized that I had no idea where we were in the book. I flushed in embarrassment when the teacher sighed her long-suffering impatience.

But I couldn’t help it. Although I wanted to concentrate, my mind kept wandering to Michael and our exchange this morning. And then I would think about lunch, and my heart beat just a little faster. I created a thousand scenes in my head, each one more improbable than the last.

Fortunately, my daydreams kept me from worrying about Chemistry. I didn’t have time to dread it until I walked through the door and saw Nell.

Actually, I didn’t see her before I heard and felt her. There are people whose minds are so loud and strong that blocking them is very difficult. Nell was clearly one of those people.

She was sitting in the same spot she had occupied the day before, talking to the same three girls. And she was not thinking very pleasant thoughts about any of them.

Liza is so stupid, she makes me want to gouge out my own eyes. Will she never shut up? On and on and on… better than Casey who thinks she knows everything.

I knew the minute she spotted me, as I lingered in the doorway. Her animosity and fury surged, and her mind narrowed to a single focus.

HER.

My throat tightened. The hatred struck me like a blow to my head, and I struggled not to recoil. Instead I gripped my books and walked to my seat as steadily as I could manage.

Liza glanced at me curiously and shifted her notebook away from my side of the table. Casey stopped talking as she realized that Nell was completely ignoring her.

“What are you doing here?” Nell asked, her voice tight with intensity.

I swallowed and tried for an off-hand tone. “This is where I sit. Ms. Lacusta assigned me this seat yesterday. Don’t you remember?”

Sense of humor clearly wasn’t one of Nell’s strong points. “What are you doing in this class? I thought you were transferring out.”

“No, you told me I should. I told you I need this class.” A few other girls were beginning to turn and stare at us, and I lowered my voice. “I don’t know what the problem is here, Nell. If I’ve done something to bother you, I’m sure we can—”

“I don’t want you here. I want you gone.” Nell was losing what little control she’d had. “You don’t belong. I told you—”

“Nell!” Ms. Lacusta had entered without either of us hearing, and she swept down on us, adding her own anger to the cacophony of fury that was nearly choking me. “What do you think you’re doing?”

Nell’s eyes darted from me to the teacher, and I felt her momentary indecision. “Just clarifying a few things for the new girl,” she said finally.

“It did not sound like clarification,” Ms. Lacusta remarked. She pinned Nell with a steely glare for a moment. None of us moved until she added, “I don’t have time for this now, Nell. We have a lab today. I will see you after school, and we can discuss whatever might be troubling you.” It was clearly a command, and Nell’s face flamed.

I mentally rolled my eyes. I understood that Ms. Lacusta was probably trying to help me, but getting Nell in trouble was not going to make her the president of my fan club.

There was a swell of whispering that ended abruptly when Ms. Lacusta stood at the front of the room, facing the class. Unlike most teachers, it seemed that she did not need to call for attention or even clear her throat for silence. Her eyes roamed over all of us, missing nothing. When she did speak, I detected again that musical quality that her accent gave her voice.

“Today’s lab is a relatively simple one. We will be working on identifying an unknown solution. This solution, which we will refer to as Solution X, contains a cation belonging to the alkaline-earth family and an anion belonging to the halogen family. By observing the ionic reactions between solutions of each of the cations with solutions of selected anions, you will be able to compare Solution X’s reactions with the same anions.”

Ms. Lacusta began walking down the rows between the desks. “If you turn to page 57 of your textbook, you will find the procedure for this lab. While none of the solutions in this experiment are dangerous, I will remind you of our laboratory safety rules. It’s