Chapter 2
Lara Lockhart
Lara held her blue note pad under the desk and breathed slowly as miss Ewe drowned on about the benefits of Latin. Lara, who had been a precocious linguist since she had picked up her first novel, at the age of six found the work as tedious as the rest of her class mates.
Discussing racism had become a regular recurrence in English lessons since they had been studying Malorie Blackman's Noughts and Crosses and John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. Lara was never brought up with racism and for that reason did not entirely find the concept comprehendible.
Try to think about something else! Lara rested her head in the crook of her arm and shut her eyes. Eyes she thought eyes, eyes, eyes. Deep dark staring eyes boring into the back of her head. He was brave. No one tried to out stare her twice, except him. Of course he failed but that was only to be expected. Lara could out stare a goat.
She smiled to her self. Lara had never been one for blonds but just maybe he was different… no! no! no! just the same like every stupid boy! But those eyes looked old, too old for his young face.
"Lara Lockhart! Are you even paying attention?"
"mmmh?" Lara answered dazed
"Do you even know what the rest of your class has been talking about? Pierre is trying to put across a point here and I think it is very rude of you not to pay attention to your fellow class mates! How would you like it if when you wanted to speak nobody listened to you?"
"Oh bloody hell! Textbook teaching or what!" Lara replied to miss Ewe's shrill acusation
"Look I'm going to pretended I didn't hear that young lady!"
"denial," scorned Lara, one eyebrow raised," tres mature." A slick smile crossed her daring face
Clearing her thought and adjusting her position on her chair miss Ewe asked "well then, seeing as you are obviously the cleverest and most important person in the class you can answer me this perhaps?" she paused for what Lara imagined to be dramatic effect.
"Continue." Lara grimaced gesturing with her hand.
"What I asked the class was!" continued miss Ewe, to Lara's satisfaction "in context to our current book who is Tybalt?" Lara knew that miss ewe was trying to catch her out.
"I'm sorry miss but I don't really understand you," she spoke in her youngest and demurest voice. "I thought Tybalt was a character from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and I was sure we were reading the Tempest!" Lara put on her most innocently confused pout and tilted her shaggy dark blond head to one side profoundly puzzled.
"Well seeing as I am sure you do know who Tybalt is why don't you tell us any way?" cut in the teacher curtly.
"Why, Tybalt! That's me of course!" trilled Lara keeping up her elfin expression and light manner.
"What?" miss Ewe asked completely bemused "look all I am asking you it who is Tybalt!"
Lara now bored with this charade gave up the act, turned to he teacher, and in her course London accent finally drew up her opponents defeat. "Tybalt?" she asked smiling once again "King of fucking cats!"
Lara traipsed to the heads office triumphantly.