Amara Knight

Flowers raining, people bowing in honor, uniformed guards lined up for security, and a minister in a black suit waiting to hold my hand to help me to the throne. A Queen. A freaking queen.

That's how I imagined myself to be when I was welcomed in the detention classroom with hollers of my name, neverending claps, and sharp whistles.

I had a reputation after all. Dramatic hair flip.

Slowly, my hand raised and I found myself elegantly waving at them. However, my hand dropped to my side and a groan came out of my throat when I was elbowed on my side.

"Shall I arrange for your coronation, Knight?" Drew mocked and slapped the back of my head. "Move."

"Jealous custard." I narrowed my eyes at him.

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Aww, the baby is learning to cuss."

"Hey, Amara, took you so long to get another detention. How have you been?" Sion questioned me as he came and fist-bumped Drew.

Sion was a constant detection holder, a troublemaker who hated coming to school because he didn't want to study, but had to show himself at school to fulfill his mother's wish.

I beamed at him and swirled dramatically. "I'm awesome, as you can see. And I have been keeping low because my crime partner here was on vacation." I grabbed Drew's arm.

Sion then sighed. "Heard that we're gonna have a chemistry class for detention. Damn it to hell, who in the right mind does that?! I mean, we wouldn't be facing detention if we wanted to study."

"Yeah, tell me about it." I huffed, rolling my eyes.

"Anyway, let's sit and wait for Mr. Resse to dip us in sulfuric acid. Hope I make it alive today." I muttered and went to sit on the last bench with Drew, but we were pushed to sit on the front.

"Nah uh, you gotta sit at the front," Sion added.  "And we wish for some entertainment. We don't want to end up bored, what say guys?" He hollered and others shouted back. "Heck yes!"

Entertainment....pfff.

Only if they knew that entertainment brought me here. Doing more will have me suspended for a week.

Ten students were in the class and no one wished to sit at the front. We argued for good two minutes but found myself sitting in the first row with Drew sitting by my right.

I was baffled to see Sheen, a freshman and one of the brilliant students of the school, sitting to my left with her head bowed.

"Hey, Sheen, what are you doing here?" I asked her. She raised her head slowly and looked at me with misty eyes.

"I mistakenly tripped on Mrs. Poppy in the class." She almost cried. Aww, poor baby.

Mrs. Poppy was our Mathematics teacher. She was a devil with anger permanently residing on her pointed nose. She was awfully strict and was a punishment-popping machine. Like she would literally give punishment for sneezing in her class.

"Hey, chill, it's not the end of the world. See, the maniacs at your back, they did far worse than you. And you'd end up rolling on the floor  if you heard what I did." I beamed, trying to console her. A chuckle left her throat which made me proud of myself.

I could be a motivator someday.

Suddenly the class went into utter silence, which brought a frown to my forehead and I heard Drew calling for me in a whisper.

I turned my head to him but before I saw him, my eyes landed on Ryan Peterson standing by the teacher's table, looking directly at me with the same bafflement as mine.

What in the Willy Wonka factory is he doing here?!

"What are you doing here?!" I couldn't help myself from asking. Then my eyes enlarged and I smirked. "You got detention too, right?"

With his eyes narrowed, he came near and leaned forward. "Well, Miss-Know-it-all, look at our positions. You are sitting on the detection bench, not me. I'm here to take the chemistry class."

He then bent more, his face almost inches apart from mine. His mesmerizing blue eyes were shielded with glasses, that's all I could concentrate on. How I love getting lost in his eyes. I would have dove in the blue ocean but he whispered something that enraged me, urging me to almost punch him in his face.

"Will you tell your parents that you got detained today?" His smirk knew no bounds, it spread like crazy wildfire. "I know you won't. But don't worry, I'll do the honor."

I gritted my teeth, throwing daggers at him with my eyes. "You wouldn't dare."

"I will." With that, he stood straight and walked back to the board not before throwing a mocking smirk at me.

This cunning son of Peterson!

"What did he say to you?" Drew whispered, bringing himself closer to my side.

"Something that if he dares to do, he will find his lovely plants in his lawn ripped off from roots," I mumbled, determined.

"Amara, that's downright brutal. You yourself told me how much he loves his plants." Drew exclaimed in a whisper, horrified. And I smirked.

"Amara. Drew. Will you concentrate on what's being taught in the class?" Ryan snapped, making us look at him. He then fixed his eyes on Drew.

"And Drew, I'd suggest you distance yourself from her if you want to pass high school. Your grades were not good in the last exam."

Drew, who was still closer to me, pulled away and straightened himself in his seat. Why did it feel like Ryan threatened him not for his betterment but something else?

"Yes, boss." Drew saluted him mockingly, which made Ryan shake his head in disbelief because he knew Drew would never do what he said.

"Alright, class, we'll start with cations and anions," Ryan said and the whole class groaned.

Ignoring the groans of the class, he wrote the definition of cation and anion on the board. I was getting bored and was in no mood to study either. Just then, a wicked idea crossed my mind. Why not entertain the class by annoying him a little?

I leisurely leaned back in my seat, crossed my arms, and stretched my legs forward.

"Hey, Drew," I said aloud for Ryan to hear. He stopped writing and faced me and he scowled when he found me sprawled on the seat.

With my gaze fixed on Ryan, I spoke to Drew. "You know, Cation is the cutest ion ever?" I tried to stifle my laugh when Ryan's gaze began to get hard.

Oh, he got the notion of what I was up to? Well, boom!

"Really, how?" Drew knew what I was up to, he had my back.

"Because it's an ion with paws-itive charge. Cute, isn't it?" I giggled and the whole class roared in laughter hollering "cute-ion".

"You done?" Ryan asked monotonously. "If not, then keep your mouth shut now and let the other study. You are disturbing them." With that, he turned back to the board.

"A-mean-oh acid," I grumbled at Ryan's back and looked at Drew for help. He gave a stiff nod, understanding my silent plea.

Drew tried some other lame jokes but all of them went to deaf ears. Ryan gave no reaction to chemistry jokes anymore. It irked me. Out of all, Sheen was the only one listening to him while others passed nonsense comments. I remained quiet, observing him silently how easily he maintained his calm in the presence of multiple troublemakers. If I were in his place, I'd have thrown the students down the cliff.

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Ryan Peterson

I had no clue I would find Amara in detention class. What could have she done to get the punishment? I could no more understand why she kept on bringing troubles on herself. Moreover, she enjoyed it. Her brain worked reasonably well but she never thought of using it in the right place.

Just like now, she started making lame jokes, urging others to do the same. If she hadn't started it, everyone else would have been studying attentively. She silenced herself once I schooled her for making lame jokes, but others continued.

I didn't care about them since their comments didn't annoy me, it was just her.

And I didn't even want to school others, I just wanted Amara to behave nicely. Her irresponsible behavior bothered me.

Satisfied that Amara stayed quiet, I continued teaching, and as I wrote NaCl on the board to explain positive and negative charges, Amara's mischief side came alive.

"Hey, Drew." My hands came down on my side when I heard Amara speak. Now what!

I didn't turn to look at her, instead, I pinched my nose and waited for her to continue.

"Is it a crime to throw sodium chloride at someone?" She playfully questioned, to which Drew animatedly replied.

"Yes, that's assault."

"I know it's a salt but is it a crime?" Amara laughed.

That's it. I had had enough of her recklessness.

I turned and determined to put some senses in her, I approached her and placing my one hand on the tablet arm of her chair, I leaned towards her. My gaze was hard as a rock.

"I thought you were a dumb student, but surprisingly, you know quite a few things. My question is if you know that much then why don't you use the knowledge for the right things? Why effort for getting dentition and getting scolded?"

Her gaze turned hard and her jaw clenched. Still, she managed to look beautiful—like always.

"I am not dumb as you take me to be. I just happen to dislike chemistry with passion. I can ace the subject as well. The only problem is that I haven't found a catalyst which could enhance my reaction with chemicals yet."

I knew her potential. She was smart and would receive good grades in exams. I had observed her since childhood to know what she could do. That's why I always pushed her to new extents. I didn't ever want her to stop or question her abilities. However, I would never boost her ego by giving her credits for her every tiny effort.

"You know Amara, you make awful chemistry jokes..." I scoffed and inched closer to her. Her beautiful raven eyes widened and her pink, thin lips parted.

"Because all the good ones inside your head Argon."

I finished and frowned when her forehead creased and her eyes suddenly danced in amusement. Slowly, she raised her finger and pointed at me from the tiny gap we had in between our faces.

She beamed, showing her crystal white teeth. "You, Ryan, Mr. Grumpy Peterson, cracked a joke?"

I did? Yeah, I freaking did it. Goodness, why does it have to be with her?

"You are learning quickly." She grinned. "Not bad, Ryan. My influence is working on you, isn't it?"

"It should be the other way around!" I snapped.

"Hey, guys, in case you haven't noticed, the detention period is over. You can make your chemistry stronger some other time." Drew's remark made me jerk back straight.

Averting my eyes from Amara, I fixed my glasses and ran my fingers through my hair. The impatient students were fast enough to dash out of the classroom as soon as the time got over.

Leaving the musketeers behind, I picked up my bag and made my way out, only to come face to face with Zoe, standing at the threshold, clutching a notebook tightly in her arms at her front.

"Hey, Zoe. What are you doing here?" I smiled at her, waving.

I heard her clear her throat and she smiled which didn't reach her ears. "Thought if you could drop me home. I don't feel well today." She mumbled.

"Sure, what happened?" I asked in concern as I stepped near her.

"Nothing serious. It's just a headache." She waved her hand and I nodded. "I didn't know Amara was there in the class." She asked after a small pause.

"Me neither." I shrugged. "Let's —"

"Oh, hey Zoe." Amara came and stood beside me. "You here to take Mr. Studious back? Ah, please do so, he's been torture anyway."

Gritting my teeth, I faced her. "Learning is torture to you, huh?"

She was about to shot back when Zoe grabbed my upper arm.

"Ryan, let's go. Bye, Amara." With that, she dragged me into the hallway. My eyes were on Amara who was eyeing me with the same rage as I was until she disappeared from my vision.

"Where are Owen and Austin?" I asked Zoe.

"Gone home." She said, still dragging me as if I would stop and leave without her.

"Zoe you can let go of my arm. I promise I'll drop you home." I chuckled.

She stopped short in her track and abruptly withdrew her hold on my arm. "Uh, sorry." She blushed.

Laughing, I flicked her nose. "C'mon, let's get you home." This time, I grabbed her wrist and walked to the parking lot.

I sat on my bike, adjusted my schoolbag on my front, and helped her sit on the back. Although I involuntarily tensed when she grabbed my shoulders. She had never done that before. She always kept her schoolbag in between us and held the side of the seat for support.

I looked over my shoulder and found her head lowered as she bit her lower lip. Weird.

"Zoe, are you alright?" I questioned. "You want me to bring you to the doctor?"

Her head shot up. "N—No. I—I am fine." She replied hurriedly, shaking her head. Her hands were still gripping my shoulders.

"You don't seem so," I uttered, peripherally directing my eyes at her hands. She lowered her eyes to her hands and abruptly detached them from my shoulders.

"Uh, sorry." She looked everywhere but me.

Something was surely up with her.

"It's alright, you can keep your hands there." I passed her a gentle smile. She hesitantly placed her hands on my shoulders and I drove her to her home.

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