Chapter 1 Chapter 1

**** Aurelia ****

I didn't think my life would go freaking sideways in the middle of the year, but it did. I had no choice; my mother was just made hospital administrator at SilverRidge City, and I had to tag along. 

We've been here for one week, and I used that time to get a part-time job because I needed it to keep me busy and distracted. Mom and I made the trip to BlackThorn Academy to get all my school stuff sorted out, and that was done with. 

When I got out of my car, I stood for a minute and looked at the school. Students were walking around; some of them gave me side glances, and some stared openly. I let out a sigh. Blackthorn Academy was an elite high school for the rich and wealthy, and here I was, the new girl, a scholarship transfer student in the middle of the school semester. 

To these rich kids, I was a charity case, the one here on a free ride, and I knew I wouldn't have it easy, so I needed to be mentally prepared for this. 

I locked the car door, slung my backpack over my shoulder, and headed in. That day we came, Mom and I went to the admin building, so I had no idea where my class was. I walked down the corridor with the crappy map I was given. This damn place was a maze, I walked into someone and when I looked up, it was a girl in pink. She looked at me as if I had interrupted her runway walk.

"Sorry," I mumbled, and she rolled her eyes and walked off. When I finally found Class A, I let out a sigh of relief. As I was about to walk in, a guy walked out, hitting my shoulder, and he was about to say something when the bell rang. 

I walked in and found an empty desk all the way at the back and took a seat as other students piled in. I heard the teacher come in.

"Okay, quiet down, you lot. We got a new transfer student," he said, and the class went silent, and I could feel eyes on me. I looked up, and the teacher and the entire class were looking at me.

“This is Ms. Anderson. Welcome to BlackThorn Academy; I am Mr. Donovan. Not let's pick up with physics," Mr. Donovan said, and I grabbed my books from my bag. When I looked to my left, the same guy that almost bumped into me was staring at me. It didn't bother me.

Mr. Anderson was droning on about centripetal force, rotational motion, and projectile motion with air resistance.

He was at the whiteboard drawing a diagram of a satellite in orbit. The entire class was silent, but I didn't have time for that; I was busy completing my calculus integrals.

“Miss Anderson? It seems my teaching is not entertaining enough for you. Perhaps your writing is more important than the fundamentals of gravitational fields?" Mr. Donovan said, and the class went even quieter if possible. But I didn't bother looking up.

"Actually, sir, the fundamentals are fine. You just forgot to account for the drag coefficient in your orbital decay equation on the left board."

"I... beg your pardon?" he asked. Which annoyed me and I stopped writing. 

"You’re teaching the vacuum model. But for a satellite at that altitude, the atmospheric density, even if it's thin, creates a non-negligible force: F_d = \frac{1}{2} \rho v^2 C_d A. If you don't integrate the density change over the altitude, your satellite crashes in three months," I said before continuing my calculus.

The murmuring started. 

"Did she just correct Donovan?"

"She didn't even look at the board..."

I looked up and found the entire class staring at me. The guy to my left was smirking now. 

“Ms. Anderson, how far along are you in physics?” Mr. Donovan asked.

"Oh... I’m not entirely sure where the class is, sir. I finished the Classical Mechanics unit over the summer."

He raised an eyebrow slightly. "The entire unit? We spend the first two months on that. Where does that leave you now, then?" he asked.

"I’ve been reading up on quantum mechanics. Specifically, the Schrödinger wave equation and probability densities. It’s a lot more interesting than just calculating gravity."

The whispering got louder, and a girl in the front row actually turned around to stare at me.

Mr. Donovan walked over to my desk and looked at my notebook. "You're solving for \psi(x)? That’s... that’s third-year university-level calculus, Aurelia. Most seniors struggle with the basic concept of wave-particle duality," he said.

I just shrugged. "I just like how it works, sir. It’s the only part of physics where things don't have to be in just one place at a time. It felt like a good topic for a first day."

At lunch when I walked through the hallway to the cafeteria, other students were staring and whispering. I walked into the cafeteria and scanned my school ID and grabbed my lunch and sat at an empty table and ate. My phone vibrated, and I checked; it was a message from Mom. 

MOM: Don’t show off your smarts; just be.

I just shook my head and put my phone away. Suddenly someone sat down across from me, the same guy from our class.

“So brainiac, what's your name?” he asked.

“Aurelia, or Lia” 

"Talon," he said, smiling. I just looked at him: black hair, black eyes, fair-skinned. He was one of the better-looking guys that I've seen.

The rest of the day went as good as it could, but Talon kept staring at me for the remainder of the day, as did the other guy who I heard someone call Nico. By the time class ended, I felt like I had run a freaking marathon. 

When I got home, I showered, grabbed a bite to eat, and dressed for my shift and left at five.  When I got there, it was already full. I walked to the back and greeted the guys. Stacks was the most popular burger place in SilverRidge and was popular with everyone. I was already assigned my section when I had come in for the job.

I grabbed my apron and walked out. “Hey Lia, we're packed," Paul, one of the guys, said. 

“I see," I said with a laugh. I grabbed my notepad and headed around the corner. I walked over to the table.

“Welcome to Stacks. What can I get you?" When I looked at the people sitting at the table, it was some of the people from my class. The other darked hair guy and another guy with a few girls. Dark hair sat back and looked at me; he looked me up and down.

“Well, well, well, if it isn't the Nerd. Get us four burgers with fries and four chocolate milkshakes," he said.

“Anything else?”