Jason Blunt is hiding something and I\'m going to find out what it is.

It\'s not that I care about him or anything, again, I don\'t, but when you\'re at an alleyway on Sylvia Street doing God knows what, then you show up at my front door by 3:30 am in the freaking morning having a gash longer than the Pacific Ocean, which by the way, I had to stitch like I\'m some sort of pro, I\'m going to want answers. Let\'s not forget, I had my ass handed to me on a silver platter by my mum this morning.

Sophie is a tattletale and she honestly has a serious case of diarrhea of the mouth. She can\'t keep a secret to save her life, and she especially can\'t keep a secret from mum. As soon as she walked through the door, Sophie shouted: \'\'Mum, Mel brought a bleeding man to the house and did an operation on him.\'\' Mum almost had a heart attack but I had to explain to her that a \'\'friend\'\' from school needed help urgently and there was no way we could drive to the hospital because he (Jason) fainted.

She didn\'t buy the excuse.

I had a shoe thrown at my head and I have to pay for new furniture from my own savings and I\'m grounded for a week.

Sophie is so going to wish she had kept her mouth shut by the time I\'m through with her. Jason was long gone by the way. He slipped out of the apartment without saying a \'Goodbye\' or \'\'Hey, thanks for not letting me die.\'\'

....

The bell rings, signalling the beginning of first period which means I have English Literature with Mrs Gomez. Literature is definitely my favourite subject. I\'m basically dyslexic when it comes to numbers but I love words and I love to read books because they open your mind to endless possibilities-books can make you feel like a princess or a frog or a pirate-anything you want to be. Also, books, especially the really good ones, make you feel emotions. Emotions so deep that it\'s almost impossible for you to stop reading until you get to the end.

Books are my drugs, and I\'m proud to say, I am an addict.

I\'m five minutes early to class which is a miracle because I barely got two hours of sleep. Between Jason\'s drama and my mother grounding me for Jason\'s drama, I\'m in a very pissy mood.

\'\'Hey, girl, how is it going?\'\' I lift my head up from the table and see Paris smiling at me with her pearly white teeth.

\'\'Why are you so chirpy in the mornings?\'\' I ask with a big scowl on my face.

\'\'Who pissed in your cereal this Wednesday morning?\'\' she asks and takes a seat next to me at the back of the class.

You have no idea.

\'\'You would not believe how my night went.\'\'

\'\'Try me.\'\'

\'\'Jason showed up at my door last night.\'\'

Her mouth gapes open, \'\'You\'re kidding.\'\' I shake my head. \'\'I kid you not. You know the funny part of it all? He was badly bruised so I had to stitch him up.\'\'

\'\'You what?"

She blinks twice and looks at me like I\'ve suddenly grown two heads. \'\'I wish it was fiction, but I swear it\'s not.\'\'

\'\'Was your mum home?\'\'

\'\'No,\'\' I groan. \'\'Which is why I,\'\' I point to myself  \'\'had to stitch him up. I had no idea what I was doing, Paris, but that boy knew more than I did. Jason literally guided me throughout the suturing process, almost like he\'d been a surgeon in his past life.\'\'

\'\'This makes perfect sense now.\'\'

\'\'What does?\'\'

\'\'Jason is not in school today,\'\' she informs me while taking her books from her bag. \'\'According to the gossipers in the hallway, Mariah told Lianna that he got into a fight so he\'s in bad shape. Lianna then told Stella, she told her boyfriend, and then he told his mates on the football team so the news spread like wildfire. Highschoolers are so messy.\'\'

A fight huh?

\'\'A fight my ass.\'\'

\'\'Maybe they\'re not wrong.\'\' She cuts a paper out of her notebook and grabs a pen from her purse. \'\'Think about it. Did he ever tell you why he had an injury in the first place?\'\'

\'\'No.\'\'

\'\'Right, so it may have been a fight.\'\'

\'\'But what was he doing at Sylvia Street?\'\' I muse. It still makes no sense to me.

\'\'He was at that shady ass street too?\'\' I nod. \'\'Wait, how could he be at your house and then at Sylvia Street?\'\' Paris questions.

I told her everything that happened that night, from my late night shift at work, to my encounter with Jason in the alleyway, even told her about my house detention for a week.

\'\'Yea, he\'s definitely not who he appears to be.\'\'

\'\'Agreed.\'\'

\'\'Maybe we can bust him,\'\' she gives me one of those creepy smiles she sports whenever she has a plan. \'\'You\'ll be like Sherlock Holmes and I\'ll be Nancy Drew! We\'d make an epic team.\'\'

\'\'That we would.\'\'

\'\'Good morning class, sorry I\'m late.\'\' Mrs Gomez says from the door. She has in her hands a stack full of papers, which I assume are graded assignments in one hand and her laptop on the other. \'\'Settle down and bring out your pens and notebooks. We\'d be discussing a new book today so I want your full attention. Mr Clark,\'\' she points at Ryan. \'\'Your feet should be under your desk, not on top of it.\'\'

\'\'Yes mamacita,\'\' he replied and everyone giggled, including me.

\'\'Detention.\'\'

Her gaze travells around the room and it lands on the empty seat at the third row. \'\'I\'m assuming Mr Blunt isn\'t present?\'\'

\'\'Jay Jay had an emergency, Mrs Gomez so he couldn\'t come to school today.\'\' Mariah answers in her high pitched, whiny, nasal voice.

\'\'Alright. Today, we\'d be discussing King Lear by William Shakespeare.\'\'

Now that\'s a classic.

\'\'How many of you have heard of the play? A good number of hands are raised.

\'\'Good,\'\' she says, impressed by the response. \'\'Now how many of you have actually read the book?\'\' Only three hands are raised, including mine.

\'\'Really?\'\' I whisper to Paris whose hand isn\'t up. \'\'I\'m not into classics.\'\' She whispers back.

Students really need to cultivate the thing called Reading Culture. Seriously, it\'ll take you far in life.

\'\'I know Shakespeare is not everybody\'s cup of tea and most people are discouraged because of the archaic language but as a student in my class, you are obliged to read it.\'\' A few number of students groan but she continues. \'\'When I say read it, I mean you actually need to pick up the book, which I assume was handed to you at the beginning of the term, and read it not get a summary from Sparknotes, Cliffsnotes, eNotes or GradeSaver. I\'m talking to you,  Miss Bay and Mr Clark.\'\' she gives a pointed look at them.

Burn.

\'\'Without wasting much time, let\'s get right to it.\'\'

Mrs Gomez opens her laptop and connects it to the projector in front of the class. \'\'One moment please.\'\' She grabs the projector remote from under her desk. Angling it towards the projector, she presses the on switch and the topic, boldly written as \'King Lear\' fades into view.

\'\'King Lear is a tragedy written by Shakespeare. There\'s no exact date as to when it was written but scholars say it was composed sometime between 1603 and 1606. It tells the tale of Lear, King of Britain, who bequest his kingdom to his two unfaithful daughters after they declared their love for him in an extremely obsequious manner. His third daughter sadly got banished because she refused to flatter him,\'\' she explains.

\'\'As you read, I want you to take note of the bad decision that Lear made and how it greatly affected his kingdom and his mental health. Also, I want you to take note of the sub-plot, examine how the plot and sub-plot are related and how Shakespeare carefully weaves these similar yet distinct families to prove a point or points.\'\'

\'\'Wait,\'\' Ryan interrupts. \'\'He gave his kingdom out all because of flattery? What a wimp.\'\'

\'\'In life, Mr Clark, many people make decisions out of poor judgement.\'\'

\'\'Actually, I don\'t think he is a wimp.\'\' I respond.

\'\'How so, Miss Jones?"

I stand up. \'\'Well, I think Lear is a man who wants to be loved. He has given his daughters everything the world can possibly offer, since they\'re royalty, so I mean it\'s only fair that he expects love from them in return. It\'s easy to sit here and judge Lear for his rather unwise actions, but really, we all have a little Lear in us, some more than others. We all just want to matter to someone and that\'s what makes us human.\'\'

\'\'Nice analysis, Miss Jones. You may have your seat.\'\'

\'\'Showoff.\'\' Mariah says out loud, much to the amusement of everyone.

I angle my head to the left where Mariah is three chairs away from me. \'\'I\'m sorry Mariah, did I hear you say something?\'\' I challenge.

Hasn\'t she learnt that I\'m not the one to mess with?

\'\'I said you are a showoff. We all know you\'re a nerd so you\'ve probably read the play like a million times but let everyone else read it before you open your mouth.\'\' A bunch of \'\'oohs\'\' echo through the classroom.

\'\'First off Malibu Barbie, I wasn\'t speaking to you, so be a good dog and bark when you\'re told to. Also, if you weren\'t too busy being a \'lady of the night\', maybe you\'d actually have a brain. You gone for a chlamydia test recently? The school offers one for free you know.\'\'

Mariah looks red in the face. \'\'You little bit...\'\'

\'\'ENOUGH!\'\' Mrs Gomez yells. \'\'You two,\'\' she points at Mariah and I, \'\'detention after school.\'\'

\'\'But I….\'\'I protest.

\'\'But she….\'\' Mariah adds.

\'\'Save it, both of you, or you get double detention.\'\'

Kill me now.

\'\'Now, let\'s move to the analysis of Chapter One.\'\'

.....

\'\'Did you just insinuate that Mariah has chlamydia?\'\' Paris asks while laughing her ass off. English-Lit is over now so we are headed to our next class.

I nod once. \'\'She\'s slept with pretty much everyone that has a dick in this school. Remember she fucked a teacher in school, so I was only offering her some friendly advice."

Yes, you heard right, Mariah slept with a teacher, now ex-teacher in school. His name was Mr Roberts and he was our Calculus teacher. He was in his early thirties, I guess, and was easy on the eyes so he was an easy target for her. The CCTV cameras caught them having sex in the janitor\'s closet and it became this huge scandal at Adelaide Montessori Prep. The news almost hit the media but the authorities of the school were able to do damage control. Mr Roberts was fired and Mariah was suspended for a while.

She probably fucked him for an A in Calculus.

\'\'Girl, you\'re honestly too much.\'\'

\'\'I really need to bridle my tongue every once in a while.\'\' I say while making a quick stop at my locker to get my clothes for Gym.

\'\'Oh really?\'\' Paris says sarcastically, \'\'I never noticed.\'\'

\'\'You\'re hilarious.\'\' I deadpan.

\'\'Moving on, are you up for a sleepover on Saturday? My dad just installed this new indoor theatre and stocked it with a bunch of movies that we need to see.\'\'

\'\'Can\'t," I sigh dejectedly. \'\'I have a date.\'\'

\'\'I thought you said you were grounded?\'\'

Probably shouldn\'t have let that bit slip.

\'\'I am grounded, and I don\'t have a date with a boy.\'\' Technically, I\'m not lying, just twisting the truth a little bit. I have a date, but it sure isn\'t with a boy. Bob is a man. \'\'I have a date with my...grandma.\'\'

\'\'Grandma Maggie?\'\'

\'\'Yep, her,\'\' I chuckle nervously, \'\'She\'s in desperate need of company at the nursing home so as part of my punishment, mum said I should take her out on a girl\'s date.\'\'

\'\'That sucks,\'\' she pouts, \'\'But on the bright side, you get to spend time with her because she\'s so fun and always has interesting stories to tell.\'\'

\'\'Yep, I\'m pretty stoked.\'\'

\'\'Give her lots of kisses for me and-" she looks at her watch. \'\'Shit, I\'m late for American History. Ttyl.\'\' With that, she runs all the way to her class, her red curls bouncing with each step as she bumps into a few students on the way.

I\'m sorry for lying to you, Paris.

\'\'Time for gym.\'\'