The Long Game
Sophia never led a privileged life. Far from it, actually. Her father’s factory job barely covered their rent for their small two bedroom apartment in New York. He insisted on living in a safer neighborhood, one with good schools for his little girl. The rent was higher, but his family was safe. Her mom’s house cleaning services kept the lights on and food on the table. If Sophia wanted any of the finer things in life- a phone, clothes without holes from the goodwill, a coffee every now and then- she knew she had to work for it.
And work she did. As early as she could, she got a work permit and started waitressing everyday after school. Picked up double shifts on the weekends. Saved and scraped for everything she could get her hands on. In all of her free time, she studied. School was the one thing she had for a hobby, and she excelled in it. She knew one day she’d be graduating, going to college. Neither one of her parents ever did that. And she wouldn’t have their help. So she studied, she worked, and she tried to blend in.
See, New York public schools weren’t exactly kind to the kids who showed up with nothing. Everybody put on a face, made their life seem like more than it was to impress those around them. So that’s what Sophia did, too. The only ones that truly showed up with nothing were the boys from the local group home. Each one of them, with their threadbare clothes, their shoes falling apart as they walked, their bodies a little too skinny, but never so malnourished that the teachers felt like they had to call it in. All except one: Billy Russo. He walked with the confidence of a millionaire, so you’d never know he had nothing.
Billy had a reputation around school. Bad boy. Troublemaker. Possible drug dealer on the side? Teachers' worst nightmare. Girls' wildest dreams come alive, if rumors of his dating life were to be believed. To be fair, he was that kind of unfairly good looking person where he could probably wear a potato sack and still be considered hot by most of the population, and every girl he “dated” came to school practically glowing the next day, so the rumors weren’t completely unfounded.
Sophia, however, never saw the appeal. She’d had some classes with him, seen his lack of academic ambition up close and in person. It was the biggest turn off for her. She was content to stay silent and fume while he wasted everyone’s time in class, until the day his shenanigans threatened her success.
“Russo and Vasquez,” the teacher called out the names as she pulled them from a cup. Sophia rolled her eyes, already sending a silent prayer of forgiveness for ringing his neck when he inevitably got on her nerves.
When the teacher read the final pairing, the whole class bustled to move next to their new partner. Sophia let Billy move closer to her, since that’s probably the only contribution he’s going to make to this little project.
Billy took a second to size up his new partner. He hadn’t noticed her before, despite the many classes they had together. Her dark hair was back in a low ponytail, her face free of makeup. Her clothes, while free of any serious damage, weren’t exactly what one would call flattering. One word to describe her? Unassuming.
But still, her olive skin was blemish free and looked soft as velvet. Her hazel eyes were rimmed with thick, dark lashes that didn’t need mascara to stand out. And her lips… well, he could imagine those lips doing a lot of things. A new target, he thought to himself.
He extended his hand, greeting her with his charming Billy smile. “Billy Russo.”
Her gaze could be called a lot of things, welcoming was not one of them. “Sophia.” She replied, letting his hand hang in the air. “Sit.”
Sit he did, intrigued by the girl who would dare tell him what to do.
“I know school is nothing but a joke to you,” she started, “but for some of us, it’s really important. And I will not have your negative attitude bringing down my grade, got it?”
His lack of immediate response prompted her to keep going. “Just do what I say, and stay out of my way, and you’ll get a fantastic grade on this project. Mess it up for me, and I will make your life hell.” How she would do that, she didn’t know, but he didn’t know she didn’t know, so she figured she could bluff her way through this one.
He sat back in his chair, crossing his arms over his chest. This was going to be a more challenging target than he figured. A long game.
“So what, you’re some kind of brainiac?” He finally answered.
It was enough of a response for her. “More than you, Russo.”
Oh this is going to be so much fun, he smirked.