Rosemary's P.O.V

Culinary arts was a class that I was excited to take! It reminded me of the times that I cooked with my mom. Something I desperately missed. When I arrived to Montgomery, I accepted that there wouldn't be many of those anymore.

The chef spoke, "Today, we'll be making an appetizer," he started off.

"And why are the guys here?" Nick snorted, sounding annoyed and bored to be here.

"I do not understand your question," the chef motioned for him to elaborated.

"Shouldn't us guys be having drinks while the girls cook?" Nick was truly disgusting!

Ignoring him as he wasn't worth his time, the chef directed his attention back to the class, "As I was saying, we'll be making shrimp tartlets," he added. "They're quick to make. An estimated time of 20 minutes."

Rubbing my hands together, I expressed excitedly to Lola, "I can't wait to get started!"

"I already know you're gonna end up being a house maid," Violet remarked, laughing with her friends. Though, Lucy tried to hold in her laugh, as if she felt bad for laughing at me.

"Shut up, you look like a shrimp," instinctively, I insulted.

"What? Wanna eat me?" Violet flipped it back on me. Darn her!

Arms snaked around my neck from the back, "Or you could eat me," seductively, Melanie whispered into my ear, giving it a teasing bite.

Instinctively, I pushed away from her hold. The girl did not know personal boundaries! I noticed Violet stare Melanie up and down. Wondered if it was about their unsaid rivalry? Everyone knew of it though. They pretended to be friends in front of each other but talked shit behind their back. Lola was telling me more about it.

"I don't like being touched," I removed Melanie's hands away from me.

"You're gonna have such a sad life," Melanie appeared to feel sorry for me. Carelessly, she skipped away from me. Blown away by the type of person that Melanie was, I watched her leave. Something about her wasn't right.

"Rosemary!" Unexpectedly, Violet yelled for me. Startled, I shifted my attention to her. "Here's your stinky shrimp!" Before I could react, I was hit in the face with a jumbo shrimp that Violet threw at me.

"What the hell was that for?" I watched it bounce off my face and land on the table.

"Because you're fishy!" Violet's eyebrows connected in anger. Okay, I honestly hadn't done anything to upset her! Why was she so mad for? This girl was bipolar! "And since you're always so sour!" Again, catching me off guard, she tossed lemon juice onto me. My jaw drop in shock. I reached for paper towels to clean up.

"I don't think that's part of the recipe," Lola questioned Violet's actions.

"Holy shit! Where the fuck is my camera?" Loving it all, Edgar wanted to take advantage of it.

"Nick, this probably looks like your penis!" Lola threw a small and peeled shrimp at him, hitting him in the face.

Inevitably, Edgar laughed at his friend, "Dude she said you got a small dick!"

"Bitch never seen it though!" Furious, Nick retorted.

Tauntingly, Lola laughed, "Little Nicky dicky!"

"Ooh my turn!" Melanie grabbed the bowl of red sauce and poured it over Rachel's head.

"You crazy bitch!" Rachel screamed and slapped the glass bowl out of Melanie's hand, causing it to break when it hit the floor.

"Can't we ever get through one class?" The chef scratched his head in distress.

"You look hungry!" Violet threw a handful of shrimp at me.

"Food fight!" Wide awake unlike earlier, Nick shouted from the top of his lungs. At the sound of that, everyone started throwing food across the room!

Shrimp flew across the room from all directions. Sauce flew from one side to the other. Grated onions were being used as weapons. Handfuls of ingredients were tossed at each other. No one was safe! Targeting me specifically, Violet ran up to me and tried throwing garlic salt on my hair.

I smacked her hands away and held her close.

"Let me go, you bitch!" Violet resisted.

"You started it!" I held her in place to pour a bowl of lemon juice over her.

Off to the side, I saw Edgar dip a peeled shrimp into the lemon juice and eat it. Oh he thought this was the perfect time to snack?

The floor was covered with red sauce and lemon juice. Slipping, my classmates were dropping like flies. Laughter bounced off the walls. All while the chef tried getting people to stop but it was to no use. Eventually, he ran out.

Whining and laughing, Violet wiggled out of my grip, only causing us both to fall to the ground.

I laughed as I reached for her to keep her down. I straddled her to keep her in place. Underneath me, Violet insulted me but couldn't stop laughing in amusement.

"Rosemary, here!" Lola helped me by handing me a bowl of sliced onions.

"No! No! I hate onions! Rosemary, please! Not the onions!" Violet begged between breaths and laughter.

No mercy on her, I let the onions drop all over her face. "Oh now you regret it huh?" I laughed uncontrollably.

"Fuck no!" Typical of Violet to be stubborn.

Off to the ground, there were smashed ingredients. Pushing her down, I reached to grab a handful of whatever I could grab to smash it all over her face.

"Eww no!" Luckily for her, she escaped my grip and pushed me off.

In the background, I could hear Melanie say to someone, "Lick this off my body," she dared, sensually.

The door broke open. The sound of it startled me. "Everyone freeze!" As if time had stopped, no one made a move. All chaos ended. My heart beat increased rapidly. Holy shit, we were gonna get in so much trouble!

-

The headmaster lectured me horribly. Never in my life had I gotten in trouble, especially at school. Completely new to it, I did not know how to respond to it. Other than to apologize continuously. I feel like I let him down. Even worse, I let my parents down. Everyone was expecting better from me.

Unlike me, Violet looked like she couldn't care less. For the hundredth time, I had to stop myself from biting my nails. How could Violet be so calm? If anything, she appeared to be bored. As if it were part of her routine.

"This is all your fault," I couldn't contain myself from blaming her. If she would have never thrown the first shrimp, the food fight would have never started.

Monotoned, Violet claimed, "No, yours," she rolled her eyes.

"How?" In disbelief, my eyes flickered.

"For staring at me so much," she smirked, way too full of herself.

"Get over yourself," I scoffed. Pinocchio's nose grew every time he lied, so why wasn't Violet's head enormous and on the verge of exploding like a balloon because of how conceited she was? By the way, I was not staring at her! If anything, I was dumbfounded by the way that Melanie behaved. Don't know what Violet was talking about. "You're so self-centered, it's disgusting!" I fake gagged.

"Then why do you stare at me as if you want to fuck me?" A sly and teasing smirk remained on her face.

Choking on my saliva, I coughed. "I do not!" I denied immediately! Embarrassed, I felt my cheeks warm up intensely. Nervous that she'd notice, I unintentionally ended up panicking more and felt my face burning up by completely!

"Rosemary, you're gonna give yourself a sunburn!" Entertained, she laughed uncontrollably. Unable to stop laughing, she tossed her head back. "It's okay, Rosemary! It's normal to want me!" Oh my, she needed to stop! All she was doing was making it worse! I couldn't calm down. I just wanted to hide my face in my hands.

I sighed, "Why are you like this?"

"Why are you so tensed up?" She flipped it on me. "I feel like you take shit too seriously and don't even enjoy shit for what they are," she gave her unnecessary and wrongful opinion of me.

"Caring for my education and for a successful & fulfilling future is what I strive for!" I corrected.

"Okay but do you even enjoy your present?" She questioned, shaking her head. "You're letting life pass by," she claimed as if she were stating facts.

Bothered by her assumptions, I sighed, "I enjoy my life very much!" I stated. Skeptical, she squinted her eyes at me. "Violet, I have a lot to work for! Things don't just get handed to me... like they do to you," I reminded, since she seemed to forget about that minor detail. "My parents have worked so hard to give me a better education and I want to make the best out of it. I don't want to let them down. I want to make them proud! They've given me everything-"

Violet interrupted me at mid sentence, "I thought you said that you don't get everything handed to you?"

"Everything I really need, as in their support and love," I clarified, so she didn't get it twisted. "They've given me the tools to get started and it's up to me whether I want to build or destroy my future with them."

Violet stayed silent for once. Rather having the same cocky stare as usual, her expression changed to what appeared to be a saddened one. My eyes must have been playing tricks on me.

"You spend time with your parents?" Surprised, she asked, needing confirmation as if it were too hard to believe.

"Less now that I'm in here, of course but yeah," I reassured. "I miss having dinner with them every night," I added.

"You actually get to sit at the table with them?" As if it were something out of this world, she asked.

I chuckled, a little amused by that, "And I get to help my mom cook sometimes," I nodded in confirmation.

Her eyes lit up, "Actual home cooked meals from your mom?"

Strange how Violet seemed so fascinated by it. Absolutely intrigued by it, she put her phone aside and straightened up in her seat but only to lean in forward.

Caught off guard by it, I asked her, "My mom loves to cook, doesn't yours?"

Violet made a thoughtful expression, "I don't know if she knows how... I mean, I've never seen her cook before," she looked down as if embarrassed to admitting to it. "But when my nanny Rita helps the chefs of the house to cook, it tastes the closest to home... whatever that's supposed to mean..." confused, her expression bunched up together.

"You have a nanny?" I felt my eyebrows arch. I don't know why I was surprised. Of course she did!

"Yes and she's the loveliest and sweetest woman ever!" The moment she started talking about her, her eyes lit up and the brightest smile spread across her face. "She's so adorable! I love her as if she were my grandma!" Effortlessly, she expressed so kindly and genuinely about her. I hadn't seen this side of her. The most beautiful I had ever seen her.

"Sounds like your family has a wonderful addition to it," instinctively, I smiled.

At that very moment, her expression dropped. Filled with sorrow. "She's all my family," she mumbled out, hardly audible. Violet felt sadness? Yes, I know, she's human but it caught me off. I was so used to seeing her be overly conceited and only caring about having people bow down to her.

The sound of the headmaster's office door opening made my eyes shift away from Violet.

My parents walked out of the office with the headmaster.

"We'll have a serious talk with her," Mom assured him. Both my parents looked deeply disappointed in me when they glanced at me.

Violet jumped out of her seat and went directly to the headmaster, "I have something to say," she called for their attention.

"Not now," the headmaster forced a smile in front of my parents, dismissing Violet as a rude teenager.

Rather keeping her eyes on him, she faced my parents, "Rosemary had nothing to do with the food fight," she defended. Whoa? What in the world was going on? Violet was lying for me? Yes, she started the food fight but let's be honest, I didn't stop it. I played into it!

The headmaster shot her down, "She was among those who were caught."

"If anything, she tried stopping it!" Violet claimed as if it were the honest truth. If I wasn't there myself and wasn't me, I'd believe her! Sighing away from the headmaster, she shifted her attention back to my parents, "Rosemary is a kind and respectful girl," she assured them. We entered the twilight zone, right? Only explanation I could find. "From the moment she arrived, she's been studying hard and she wouldn't waste this opportunity that you've given her," she added.

A smile of relief washed over my parents' face.

In complete and utter shock, I paralyzed in my seat and was loss of words. I didn't understand why Violet was doing this for me.

**********

Violet's P.O.V

Rosemary was in the clear but now I was taking all the heat. I don't know what came over me but I felt the need to defend Rosemary's name with her parents. Watching her panic and not wanting to disappoint her parents triggered something in me. At the end of the day, I was the one who started it, anyways.

The principal was of no use. Listening to him talk made me want to sleep into death. His lectures were even less bearable. The fact that I started a food fight, had him red faced. A good queen always had her willing followers. Could not blame me for being so loved.

As I reorganized the butterfly prints on my nightstand, I pretty much zoned the principal out. However, I did catch him warning me that my parents would have to get involved.

"Miss Delaney, may I remind you what your dear parents stated last time you misbehaved?" The useless dumbass brought up, making me roll my eyes. Of course I remembered. How could I forget.

Last time, I snuck out and stole the school's van. Driving recklessly, my friends and I went to a drive-thru for food and drove through the back roads. Until we found an open area to set up a bonfire. Obtaining cars was not a problem at all but we found it to be more exciting to steal the van. We could all ride together and practically treat it as a party-bus.

Hell of a fun night!

According to the stupid ass principal, I was the ring leader of the reckless hooligans.

Out of all the parents, mine were the only ones called in. Supposedly, they had to discuss my unacceptable behavior and come to an agreement to see a change in me.

Parents loved to threaten but never actually did shit. Except for removing Rachel from my dorm room. What did they threaten me with this time? Sending me to another institution. Not a boarding school. More like a nun school. Clarification, it was not a nun school but the institution had so many regulations and had the boy and girls separated, that it might as well be a nun institution. Everdeen Institute was not for me.

"Their threats are bullshit," I remarked.

Taken back, the principal stood dumbfounded. Bored from just staring at his dull face, I moved from my bed to my closet. Hopefully he knew how to take a hint and leave me the fuck alone. Today's weather was amazing to go sunbathing and I was going to take advantage of it.

"Miss Delaney," the idiot remained in the room, trying to regain my attention. Technically, he never had it. I zoned out most of the time.

"If you wish to continue this, I'll be at the pool, outside," I informed, pretty much waving him away.

-

Along the poolside, I found an empty sunbathing chair. Spread out my beach towel over it. Removed my kimono, revealing my black two piece bikini from Dolce & Gabbana. From the corner of my eye, I could see people stop to stare. Jaws dropped. Used to having people drooling at the sight of me, I proceeded to apply sun-block.

"Need help with that?" Suggestively, Edgar winked.

Amused, I chuckled. "Sure," I handed him the sunblock. Moving my hair all to one side, I sat at the edge of the chair, turning my back to Edgar. Rubbing his hands together, he sat down.

If it would have been any other guy, I would have told him to fuck off. There were only a very few guys who I trusted and was genuinely friends with here. Edgar being one of them. Another being Nick, though he got on my nerves most of the time and I wanted to choke him to death.

"So when are you going to be in one of my films?" Edgar offered for like the million time. Cautiously, he rubbed the sunblock on my shoulders.

Sarcastically, I laughed, "When you quit soccer."

Offended, Edgar gasped, "Soccer is my passion!"

"I thought film was your passion?" I snorted.

"I love both," he assured. "All done," he stood up from the chair.

Grabbing his drawstring bag, he stood up. His body blocked the sun from me. Judging by his black fitted shorts and his grey slim fit t-shirt, he was either going to go workout or play soccer. I could almost bet soccer, he never missed messing with a soccer ball at least once a day. He wasn't wearing his cleats. Oh right, how could I forget? Those weren't put on til he was on the field. To not ruin them. Last time, I tried teasing him about them and he gave me a whole lesson on the importance of maintaining them solid.

"Playing soccer with Nick?" I went with my best guess.

As if I had just made the most hilarious joke of the life time, he laughed as if I were ridiculous. "Nick thinks chasing after a ball is stupid," he snorted, totally disagreeing.

"That's your friend," I shrugged and laid back on the chair. "I need the sun," I motioned for him to step aside.

Immediately, he did so.

"But he's dumb for not seeing the importance of soccer," he defended his love for the sport.

"Not his cup of tea," again, I shrugged it off. Not really seeing the big deal of it. "Here's something we all enjoy though," I changed the conversation, smirking. "Drinking and doing what the fuck we want."

At the mention of that, Edgar smirked.

"Tonight then," he decided. I arched an eyebrow. "I'll let everyone know to meet up behind the tennis courts," he added. Loving the sound of that, I grinned from ear to ear. "Shall we invite the new girl?" He smirked, suggestively.

And so he ruined it.

I felt my grin disappear immediately.

"Why must you bring her up?" In annoyance, I sighed and rolled my eyes.

"She's hot!" Being a complete horny-fuck, he defended.

Only thing that was going to cause was ruin my night! Getting upset caused wrinkles in the facial. I could not allow for that to happen. Therefore, Rosemary must not go. "Edgar, that girl is a nobody," I reminded. As if he cared though. For all he wanted was to fuck her and leave it at that.

"I don't know, she seems kinda chill," Edgar insisted.

"Like her or what?" Disappointed in him, I squinted my eyes at him.

For him to truly be serious about a girl, it would be a miracle. Witch craft would have to be done on him. Yes, Edgar was a nice guy but a true fuckboy as well. Everyday, I saw his arm around a new girl. He never let anyone get emotionally close to him. I still remember the night that I kept him company a whole night to watch after him. Heartbroken, he drank and vented to me til he passed out. Only time I had seen him cry like that.

If Rosemary was the girl to truly capture his attention, I actually wouldn't be too surprised. As much I already disliked her because she did not even try to give up the room to Rachel, I had to admit, she was pretty. Prettier than any girl I had ever seen before in my life. I thought so from the very first second I saw her. I remember thinking that my eyes were playing a trick on me. It took me a moment to process it. I felt something in my stomach and for a moment I did not recognize it. I had forgotten what it felt like to feel butterflies in the stomach. That instant