The Gifted Star

School; just thought of it made Estella’s lips to curl into a sneer. She had always enjoyed learning but some days were unbearable and it was turning out to be one of those days. In the first five minutes Estella had been berated by Mistress Arana for the untidy mess that was her hair and for the apple that she was still eating during first period. The older woman’s shrilling voice continued to ring through Estella’s head screaming, “Miss. Mendoza! Did your mother never teach you manners? Your hair and skirts look as if you rolled around with the street dogs. When in this place of learning I expect my students to be well behaved, appropriately dressed and washed, and on time; all of which you have failed on today. This will be your last warning, Miss. Mendoza”.

Estella bit her lip hard, trying desperately to control the rage that was rising within. Her mother had always said that anger management had not been a strong suit of hers and at that moment it was proving to be true. A small, soft hand suddenly appeared on Estella’s clenched fists. She turned her head to see her best friend, Arella, grinning at her. She gave Arella a small half smile as if to say that she was okay and was not thinking murderous thoughts at the moment.

In complete contrast to Estella, Arella was the ideal student and, in most of the towns eyes, a perfect angel. She was intelligent, kind, beautiful, graceful, and everything else a woman could wish to be. It always shocked people to learn that the unruly daughter of a farmer was a close companion to the mayor’s beloved daughter. Truth be told, even Estella did not fully understand how their relationship worked. At times she would describe it as how chaos and peace could work together to create something amazing, but whenever she told Arella this the other girl would just laugh and say how ridiculous the notion was.

The shadows of the small school building grew longer as the students sat in their hard wooden desks, waiting for the age that was math to pass. Miss. Arana stood in front of the room with an old book in her withered hands, reading from the pages in her constant ear-piercing voice. Her dark gray hair was gathered into a bun that was so tight it seemed to pull her wrinkled skin taunt. Accordingly to rumours, the woman had once been the beauty of Greenwater but a hard life and time had not been kind to her personality or looks. Now she was forced to teach stubborn teenagers in a hot, stuffy classroom all day. Estella had tried to keep this in mind when she had her encounters with the School Mistress, but it had not always been the easiest task to pity her.

All thoughts of the teachers depressing life left Estella as clanging came from outside the building, signalling the end of the hour. Miss. Arana delicately shut the mathematics book and picked up another text from a stack that lay on her desk. A thrill ran through Estella as she waited for the History lesson to begin; it was the one of the only subjects she loved and excelled at. Her joy was quickly quelled when she caught the sparkle in her teacher’s eyes, they said that there was about to be a large assignment. Despite Estella’s love for history, the projects that were given, she feared, would be the death of her. For most of the projects students were paired up and she always was with someone who was extremely incompetent at all they did.

“For today’s history class, students will be starting a project on past clans and fractions that made up Oisian.” The school Mistress walked over to a piece of parchment that was nailed to the wall. “Each student will be in a group of two. You can find your partner and your topic on this list. Be forewarned, this assignment is worth a majority of your grade for this class. You will have a fortnight to complete the ten page research paper, so there will be no excuse for tardiness or poor penmanship. You may now, in a quiet and orderly fashion, find your partner and use the library to gather information”.

The classroom went into a tizzy of movement as all two dozen students got up from their seats and moved quickly towards the small parchment that held their fate for the subject. They were like cattle being herded to the slaughter. Estella waited patiently as each student looked for their name on the small list. Some came away from it smiling, while others had the look of trying too hard to hide their displeasure. She stepped up and read the list, her eyes stopped when she caught sight of her last name. In neat cursive writing the sheet said, ‘The Clan of Atlin- Estella Mendoza and Connor Pena’.

Estella gazed blankly at the piece of paper. In all honesty, it was not the worst pairing she had had but Connor had a reputation. Ever since he had arrived at the gates of Greenwater as a toddler, almost starved to death and completely abandoned, people speculated about his origins. Because of this he had grown up as a little bit of a loner and, from what Estella had gathered from stories, did not always do his part in research projects. However, when paired with girls his shyness was not a problem for him. Connor looked like he was a prince that had just jumped out from the pages of a fairy tale book, with his dark locks, fiery green eyes, and winning smile. The mystery surrounding him made him all that more attractive to many young women, who in return willingly did the all the work. “I will not be one of those girls,” Estella swore softle to herself, as she moved away from the wall.

A few moments later Arella also walked away from the list with a slightly disheartened expression. Estella couldn't help but ask, “Who did you get? You look like you got the worst possible person”.

Her friend shrugged and responded, “It’s not that bad, I got Derek." Her pairing was actually rather good since Derek was a fine student, he was just a little too shy and reserved at times. However, Estella knew the true reason her friend was a little melancholy. For all of her good qualities, Arella did tend to be a flirt and at times looked for any chance to talk to boys, especially ones like Connor. Her current partner was not entirely unattractive, but Derek did look rather fragile, despite being the blacksmiths son, and his unique, bright blue eyes caused many to feel unsettled. Estella could sense that Arella would have preferred her partner instead.

She nudged Arella playfully as they walked towards the small bookcase that was considered the ‘library’ and said, “At least your partner will actually do some work." A small smile appeared on the other girls face and she shrugged. If Arella was going to say anything else then it was interrupted by an impatient tapping on Estella’s shoulder. She spun around to see Connor standing behind her, hugging a book to his chest.

“So it seems like we are working together,” the teenage boy stated vacantly. Estella could tell that he was just as unhappy with the pairing as she currently was and just maybe, she realized, Miss. Arana picked on more students than she had initially thought.

“I guess so," she said. Out of the corner of her, Estella could see Arella twirling her silky dark hair around a finger and giving the boy her sweetest smile. Estella hastily made up an excuse to get away from her over-friendly companion. “I see you have a book already. We should probably start gathering some notes".

The two students chose one of the unoccupied wooden desks and sat down.“Once we have gathered notes, how are we going to be splitting the work up?” Estella asked, getting straight down to business. With any luck the project would be as painless as possible.

“Well, I was thinking that once you have all of the notes you can write the rough draft and I’ll do the final copy”.

“That sounds semi-reasonable.” Estella was actually surprised that he had suggested such a fair idea, “Did you want to take the book tonight or tomorrow? I doubt there will be any more books on this clan”.

Connor uttered a short bark of a laugh, he gave her a smile and said, “You misunderstood me, I meant that you make the notes and then write the rough draft”.

Estella was speechless for a minute, and her mouth moved open and shut as she tried to think of what to say. She had to pause and think a few times, stopping herself from saying anything completely rude. Finally she stuttered out, “Excuse me?”

“Honestly, it will not be that hard. You seem like an intelligent young lady.” Connor gently put his hands on hers and gave his most winning smile, which was really quite persuasive. For a minute, a part of Estella almost caused her to giggle in glee at the compliment and would have given in to the good-looking boy’s request but, luckily, the voice was subdued by her logical side.

“No! I am not one of those flimsy girls who will give in to whatever you want, when you just flutter your eyelashes,” Estella responded angrily, as she removed her hands from under his. For a moment he looked absolutely shocked but the look was soon replaced by a smirk.

“I like you, Estella. You actually have some personality, it’s refreshing,” the boy said with another laugh. “Well since you do not want to do all of the work, I guess you can have the book tonight and I’ll have it tomorrow. After that we’ll alternate nights until we have all of the notes collected. How does that sound?”

Estella was amazed by the sudden change in the conversation, and merely nodded in response. Any more discussion on the project was ended as the clang of the brass bell outside the school rang, marking the end of school and freedom for the student. Picking up the leather-bond book from the desk, Estella gave Connor a small nod as a good-bye and made a beeline to the buildings exit. The day could not end soon enough.