Azure Rocks Chronicles Ch. 01

Jacob smiled. "That's my girl," he said, amusing himself with the fact Victoria blushed even more. "Tell me, Ms. Walker, do you have another article to replace that one or we'll really have to cancel next week's edition?"

Victoria cocked her head to the side, a thoughtful look on her features. "Well, I was going to prepare a piece about tomorrow's game for the other week's edition," she answered. "I think that, if I hurry with it, I can have it ready by Monday in time for next edition."

"Excellent!" Jacob grinned. "Do it, a positive article will raise everyone's morale, that is, if the Wolves win again."

Vicky chuckled at the principal's joke. "Is that all, Mr. Hartburn?" she asked, unconsciously biting her lower lip as her green eyes stared at him.

"Yes, Victoria, you can go back now," Jacob answered, stammering a bit at the sight. "I suspect the bell for your next period will ring anytime now."

The young woman smiled and stood up. "Thank you for your concern, I'll be more careful from now on." Victoria said, with a sudden need to please the man she respected so much. She turned around and walked over to the door, unwittingly swaying her hips.

Once the door closed behind her, Jacob let out a long sigh. Well, that was uncomfortable, that girl really doesn't realize the allure she has. He thought, standing up and going to the big windows behind his desk. He didn't want to play to a possible attraction she could have had towards him, but he figured it was the only way to get Victoria to back off.

He wasn't sure if the two facts were connected, but ever since Jacob came to work on Azure Rocks High School about two years ago, there had been four girls pulled out from the school with a case of severe depression. The nurse was baffled, and told him there had been a few cases during his predecessor's tenure as well. It could be just a coincidence, however, if what Victoria found from the girl she talked to was true, being forced to work on a secret sex club certainly was something that could lead to depression. I should've persuaded Victoria to give me the girl's name, so I could talk to her myself, Jacob thought. Is it possible the staff could be involved? Damn, I've to make sure Victoria stays as far away from this shit as possible.

Even if it meant investigating everything by himself.

§§§===§§§===§§§

After lunch, Gavin was sitting by his table at the school's lab, wondering why his partner hadn't shown up yet. It was very uncharacteristic of her to be late for class. He glanced to the front of the class and saw that Mr. David Ward, the Chemistry teacher, was still getting his tools ready and waiting for the students to settle down.

He probably was the most hated teacher by the students. The man simply didn't bother to make an effort to have a friendly relationship with his pupils, always treating every one of them coldly and authoritatively while expecting them to learn everything by themselves. No one had anything positive to say about him, except a few girls Gavin heard saying they thought the 34-year-old teacher to be handsome, but nothing more than that. I wonder what someone as nice as Ms. Moreau sees on him, he thought, recalling that Mr. Ward was dating the Literature teacher, Ms. Mary Moreau.

At that moment, the sound of the door opening snapped Gavin out of his musings. His partner entered the lab already wearing her white lab coat. She sat down beside him and smiled before pushing a strand of her long blonde hair behind her ear. "Oh, good, class didn't start yet."

"Yeah, Mr. Ward's still getting ready," Gavin replied, before frowning. "You've never been late for this class before, Victoria."

"Yeah, Mr. Hartburn wanted to see me, something about the paper," Victoria explained.

"Everything alright?" Gavin asked.

"Yes, we've sorted out everything," the green-eyed blonde replied with a small smile as Mr. Ward walked to the front of the lab and started explaining what he wanted from them that afternoon.

A few minutes later the two of them were already hard at work and Gavin couldn't help but recall the first Chemistry class of senior year, when he found out Victoria Walker would be his lab partner. He remembered his brain shutting down, he already had a serious shyness problem while talking to girls he wasn't friends with, but on that particular case, his best friend Zack had a huge crush on Victoria since the year before. Luckily for him, Victoria was very sweet and went out of her way to make him talk to her, but it wasn't until Zack started dating Lisa that he truly became comfortable about being Vicky's friend. He also was thankful to Zack, who never asked for Gavin to introduce Victoria to him, something he wasn't sure he could ask Vicky to do without feeling very uncomfortable about the whole thing.

Sitting by a nearby table, Brandon looked at Victoria with a smirk on his face before throwing a brief glance of disdain towards Gavin. He then turned to his dweeb of a partner, eager to do all his work for him. It's fucking great to be the king of this damn place, he thought, however, the football player wanted more, he wanted to have a sexy, hot girl to look at while she did his work. Watching his partner carefully mixing two substances, Brandon picked up a random vial of a liquid he had no idea about its name or effects and proceeded to pour it onto his partner's bottle, immediately causing a yellow smoke to creep out of it.

"Dammit, Mr. Duilin! Look at the mess you've made!" Mr. Ward shouted as the boy looked at Brandon with an incredulous look on his face and received a threatening stare in response. As the teacher walked over to their table to deal with poor Hugo Duilin, Brandon stood up on his feet and sauntered to Victoria's table, leaning down over it.

"So, Vicky, it looks like I'm without a partner," he said, barely disguising the leering look he gave his girlfriend's best friend.

"Seems like it," Victoria replied, without taking her eyes from the work she and Gavin were doing.

"Well, don't you wanna join me? Ash would want you to help me, you know?" Brandon insisted.

"I already have a partner, and so do you," the blonde girl answered while handing a sample of their mixture for Gavin to look at through the microscope.

Gavin wisely kept his mouth shut during the exchange, the last thing he wanted was to bring Brandon John Cole's wrath over him. The guy could be a freaking time bomb when angry, and Gavin already had been a target of his bullying pranks a few times on the school's hallways over the past couple of years.

"Aww, c'mon, Vicky," Brandon retorted in a whispered tone. "You can't be saying you prefer to work with him over me."

Victoria let out a long sigh before turning to Brandon with a stern expression. "Look, it isn't about who I work with, it's about not having to do all the work," she said. "We may be friends, Brandon, but I prefer to have someone I can trust to share the assignment equally as a partner, sorry."

Brandon seethed, but before he could open his mouth to say anything else, a booming, authoritative voice stopped him from doing so. "Mr. Cole, get back here and help Mr. Duilin to clean up this mess!" Mr. Ward ordered him. Not seeing a way out of it, the athlete turned around and headed back to his table, his hands balling into fists.

Gavin couldn't help but let out a small smile, both at the trust Victoria placed on him and at Brandon's predicament.

§§§===§§§===§§§

"So, Riekan became king, but in the end, none of it mattered because he was all alone after sacrificing the lives of his beloved and of his friends. It was a shallow victory."

"Thank you, Mr. Bishop, an outstanding job as always, you may go back to your seat now." A slender, petite thirty-year-old woman took her student's spot at the front of the classroom and faced the rest of the class. Mary Moreau was simply the student's favorite teacher, she had taken over the Literature class the previous year and instantly turned it into a hit. The way she understood and treated her students, alongside her youthful and sweet nature, ensured she was loved by boys and girls equally. Her long, wavy auburn hair was up in a bun over her head as always, and her clear-blue eyes peered at her pupils as she assumed a thoughtful expression, as if she was evaluating her next words. Wearing a short-sleeved, buttoned-up white blouse and a dark grey pencil skirt, her high heels clacked on the floor as she moved to stand in front of her desk. Ms. Moreau had a fit, curvy figure, with medium-sized breasts a curvy rump. Naturally, almost the entire male population in the school dreamed about what it would be like to have a night with her, to enjoy the delights of her natural beauty and the body she usually kept covered behind her professional clothes.

"Alright," she finally spoke. "We have seen many styles of literature over the last two years, worked with a number of different books and all of you exceeded my expectations so far. Congratulations." She smiled fondly at her students as a round of cheers and applause broke out amongst them. "However, since I started working here at this school last year, it has always been my intention to, if possible, expose my pupils to every kind of literature, and there's one we haven't covered yet."

As she expected, her speech was received with raised eyebrows, frowns and confused stares. Mary then cleared her throat once, preparing herself for what she needed to say. "I have been trying for almost a month to convince Mr. Hartburn that all of you are mature enough for this and a few days ago, he finally agreed. So, please, don't make me feel my faith in you has been misplaced," the beautiful teacher said, increasing the students' curiosity even more as she reached behind her for a book that was on her desk and then held it in front of her so everyone could see. "Summer at Silver Lake, a novel by a local author named Brianna Harper."

Zack raised a surprised eyebrow from his seat by the left wall, behind Chloe's own chair. "She's got to be joking," he whispered.

Chloe snapped her head back to face her best friend. "What?"

"You want us to read porn, Ms. Moreau?" Heather blurted from her seat near the back, beside Ashley's.

"I prefer the term 'risqué literature', Ms. Ravers," Mary replied, with a hint of amusement on her voice. "But I commend you for knowing the material beforehand."

Ms. Moreau's admission that the book had a more daring content caused another bout of whispers, snickers and cheers to raise amidst the befuddled boys and girls. "Okay, enough," Mary gently asked of them, causing every noise to stop so she could continue talking. "For those of you who don't know her, Brianna Harper is a fairly famous author born here in Azure Rocks. I haven't met her, since she does not live here anymore." Mary made a pause. "Her three previous books were all mystery novels, the difference with this one was that she probably decided to pay an homage to her hometown and set the story here." Another pause. "And, she really pushed the envelope, sexually speaking."

"But, Ms. Moreau," Chloe raised her hand. "How are we supposed to read and write about, well, sex, for a school assignment?"

"Ms. McRose, in the event someone asks you about it, this assignment has the full approval of our principal, Mr. Hartburn, and myself. The students can't read all the same books year after year, there has to be a change that moves things forward and actually challenges your minds," Ms. Moreau answered, her blue gaze sweeping over each one of her pupils. "Besides, this isn't a porn book, as Ms. Ravers called it. This is a story that deals with all the challenges that teenagers face as they transition to adult life, not to mention a good mystery for those of you who enjoy the genre, I daresay all of you might identify yourselves with what you will read here."

"All that and a bit of sex," Heather said, causing almost everyone to turn back and stare at her. "What? I've read the book." She frowned and shrugged her shoulders.

"Yes, Ms. Ravers," Mary tried to hold back a chuckle. "There's that."

It was Zack's turn to raise his hand then. "Uhn, Ms. Moreau, what exactly will be our assignment?" He had started reading 'Summer at Silver Lake' the month before after finding it on his older sister Taylor's room when she came to visit for a weekend, Brianna Harper being his favorite mystery author immediately making him notice the book in the middle of his sister's college books.

Taylor actually gave him the book, shrugging her shoulders, "You can have it, I've already finished it." She then grinned wickedly at him. "You'll probably enjoy it," she said, jerking her hand up and down in front of her crotch. "Lots of steamy sex scenes." Zack just laughed at her joke and dove into it at that night, but, as Ms. Moreau said, there were too many conflicts and drama, so he dropped it after just eight chapters, without getting to the mystery or the sex. It made him a bit disappointed, since Brianna Harper's previous books were really great. Needless to say, he wasn't quite fond about the idea of going back to it.

"Glad you've asked, Mr. Bishop," Mary addressed him before turning back to the others. "Let's just keep our usual routine for now, read the entire book gradually and then discuss it in class. After we finish with it, I will give you a test," she explained before glancing at the watch on her wrist. "Alright, for next week, we will have a test about the book you've finished today, that should give everyone enough time to get a copy of 'Summer at Silver Lake'. For those who already have it," she gave a pointed glance at Heather. "Read until chapter ten, but don't forget to study for the test."

Just as Mary finished speaking, the last bell of the day rung through the school, causing all the students to start raising from their seats. "Have a nice weekend, everyone!" the teacher said with a smile as she walked back to her desk.

Zack smiled ruefully at Chloe. "Well, now we know why Gavin told us to be prepared for the bomb when we stumbled into him on the hallway."

The redhead groaned. "No kidding, I'll have to get a copy now," she said as they walked out of the class after waving to Ms. Moreau.

"Taylor gave me hers last month," Zack commented.

They reached their lockers directly across the hallway from the Literature classroom. "Show off," Chloe chuckled at him. "You going to the library now?"

"Yeah, might as well get over with it now," the blue-eyed boy replied while closing his locker. "Tell Lisa goodbye for me?"

Chloe rolled her eyes, a smile finding its way to her lips. "Don't be so melodramatic," she said. "Bye, see you tomorrow, or today, I don't know."

"Bye!" Zack told his best friend and neighbor before waving at her and heading off to the school's library.

§§§===§§§===§§§

After a brief talk with Victoria, Heather and Madison by their lockers, Ashley sighed as she set out for the library with the intention of stopping Brandon from doing anything with the student who would tutor him. Her boyfriend was starting to get famous in a way that had nothing to do with his football skills and Ashley decided to try to put a stop to it.

Stepping into the library, she looked around and Brandon was nowhere in sight. He'll make the poor guy wait, just great. She sighed again before walking inside. There were just about ten students in there, a normal occurrence if one considered it was a Friday. Peering over the students there, her blue eyes settled on a dark-brown haired young man and a small smile found its way to her lips. Well, why not?

Ashley made her way over to him, and when she was nearly to his table, he looked up and their blue eyes locked on one another. A smile appeared on his face as well and he nodded at her. "Ashley."

"Zack, how you're doing?" the blonde asked while sitting down across him. She almost laughed, of course Zachary Bishop would be Brandon's tutor. The other students at the library that afternoon couldn't exactly be considered tutor material.

"Fine, you?"

"The same, thanks."

The two teenagers sat there, staring at each other, speechless all of a sudden. It was hard to talk normally to an old friend after having been apart for six years. They had been introduced back when they were ten by their older sisters, Taylor and Hannah, and remained friends for the next two years, but then Ashley changed schools. She met Heather and her interests began changing, causing her to hang out with Zack, Chloe and Gavin less and less until they stopped talking to each other altogether. Nowadays, they saw each other in the hallways, that's for sure, but being on different circles of friends ensured they stayed apart.

"So, uhn," Zack cleared his throat awkwardly. "Forgive me for saying this, but you don't strike me as a student who needs tutoring, Ashley."

She blinked at him twice before chuckling. "Oh, it's not for me, my boyfriend is the one who needs it."

"Brandon Cole?" Zack asked out of reflex, frowning. He had heard about the football star's bullying ways and he was pretty sure Gavin already had a run-in or two with him. Can't imagine what someone as sweet as Ashley does with a moron like him. Well, if even Ms. Moreau dates a jerk like Mr. Ward, I suppose it's trendy or something like that.

"Yeah, he's having some problems with Math, well, not just Math, but," Ashley laughed. "It's his biggest issue right now."

Zack joined Ashley on her laugh at her boyfriend's expense for a while before they went back to staring at each other. "So, how are Chloe and Gavin?" she asked.

"Great, they haven't changed much," Zack replied.

Ashley nodded and then smirked at him. "Do you have a girlfriend?" she inquired teasingly while raising an amused eyebrow.

Zack chuckled. "Yeah, Lisa Rivera." He smiled at the mention of his girlfriend.

"Oh, she's a nice girl, we have a couple classes together," the blonde girl commented. Just as she was opening her mouth to elaborate on it, the sound of her name being shouted prevented her from doing so. She snapped her head towards the library's door, and surely enough, Brandon was striding towards them with an angry look on his face.

"What do you think you're doing, you fucking dweeb!?" the football player yelled, staring at Zack in a threatening manner. "Chatting up my girl like this!"

Zachary calmly lifted his chin and stared right back at the bigger guy, unflinching. If Brandon Cole thought he could order him around, he was sorely mistaken. "I wasn't chatting up anyone's girl."

Brandon seemed to turn several shades of red at Zack's unwavering demeanor. "I saw you two laughing, you piece of shit!" he screamed. "Someone must really want a trip to the bathroom!"

Zack let out a long sigh, he definitely had no idea why Ashley was with this orc. "First of all, I don't swing that way, so look for another person to take to the bathroom," he calmly said. "Second, the reason I was laughing with Ashley is that we used to be friends."

Ashley looked around and panicked as she noticed the other people in the library were staring at them and the librarian was already walking towards them with a stern look on her face. She then waved to the woman, letting her know she had the situation under control. "Brandon, baby," she wrapped her hands around her boyfriend's arm. "It's true, we knew each other as kids, we were just reminiscing the past." The blonde tried to calm him down. "Oh, Zachary is your tutor!"

Brandon had been ready to punch the Zachary guy after the bathroom comment, but in a sudden bout of what he thought to be cleverness, he realized it wouldn't be of much use to try anything in the middle of the library. No, I can just wait for him when he leaves this wretched place, he decided before turning to his girlfriend. "Sorry, Ash, guess I got too angry when I saw you two."