Sterling's Daughter

Waking up late was not a good way to start the next week. Between juggling school books and trying to cram breakfast down, she missed the bus by several minutes. Zena had made it on time, but Mum had ended up driving Laya to school.
When Laya reached school, the hallways were deserted. Should she just ditch school for the day? No, Mum would recieve a phone call and if she knew that Laya had bunked school, she'd be dead meat. Sighing, Laya broke into a run towards the maths class.
"There you are!" a voice called from behind her. Pausing in mid stride, Laya glanced over her shoulder as Kirsty drew up beside her.
"Hey!" Laya was surprised. "Why aren't you in class?"
"I was waiting for you," Kirsty said as they jogged side by side. "That's why I'm a good friend, right? I like to stick by my late riser of a friend."
"I'm not always that late," Laya protested.
"On Monday's you are," Kirsty grinned.
They burst through the door a few seconds later, to find their classmates seated and working on a sheet. Every head turned to look. Mr Olsen regarded them coldly from his position at his desk.
"Excuse, ladies?" he asked in an unfriendly tone. When the girls just stared at him dumbly, he added, "Take those two remaining seats at the front of the room there. Please."
Laya dumped her books onto her desk, noticing that Will was in the seat along from her, watching her very carefully. Giving a haughty toss of her head, she went to sit down. Only, she didn't sit on the chair, she sat on nothing. She hit the ground on her backside with a teeth rattling crash. Her feet shot out on awkward angles as she plummeted to earth, and went over with a startling bang. Her books and pencil case slithered to the floor.
"Miss Sterling!" Mr Olsen snapped as the class roared with laughter. Cheeks flaming with embarrassment, Laya stood up and pulled her desk and books up with her. She turned and snatched her chair out of Will's grasp, sending him a death glare as she did. He'd ripped it out from behind her so there was no chair for her to sit on, she realised.
She sat down on her chair firmly, trying to will away the red flush she knew coloured her face.
"Out," Mr Olsen jabbed a finger towards the door.
"What?" Laya blinked. Was he for real? Throwing her out of his class because Will had caused her to land flat on her butt? Did he think she'd actually wanted to do that? Because right now, not only was it her backside that hurt, but also her ribs and teeth from the jarring impact.
"I will not tolerate this," Mr Olsen glared at her. "First of all, you're a good ten minutes late, and now you and Hamilton are acting like fools."
"But he..." she began indignantly.
"But he nothing," Mr Olsen's voice was dangerously low. "Out."
Laya walked quietly around the desks to the door and shut it behind her, grinding her teeth together in anger. She glanced over her shoulder, and met Will's gaze. His smirk was definitely not discreet, she thought bitterly. He was the highest form of a jerk, she decided. And she was determined to hate him for it.