Star, Starland Vamp Series, Book 1 by Theresa Oliver Page A

become a journalist one day.” Typical canned answer.
    “Very good!” Ms. Parks encouraged, unwittingly treating me like an imbecile. She was way too perky and patronizing, but I’m sure with the best intentions. “Now, you can find an empty seat,” she said, as her eyes searched mine.
    “Thank you, Ms. Parks,” I replied and took one of two empty seats toward the back of the room.
    The students were typical, average high school students, looking for the approval of their peers, hoping the teacher wouldn’t call on them, or was busy texting their friends under the desk.
    Every guy in the class watched me as I walked to my seat. Men never change. Although I had perfect recall, once in my seat I removed a notebook and pencil from my backpack to make it look good, then turned and smiled at the boys who were still gawking. They quickly averted their eyes. That’s more like it.
    A few minutes later, the door opened and who walked in? Zachary Davis. This was my lucky day, after all. Ms. Sutherlands’ neurons were safe for another day.
    “Sorry I’m late, Ms. Parks,” Zachary said in a low voice. “I was cut off by some idiot out there and couldn’t find a parking space.”
    Ms. Parks smiled sweetly. “Not a problem, Mr. Davis. This time.” The later was a warning. “Now,” the sweet demeanor returned. “Go take a seat.”
    He nodded, then hurried to the vacant seat next to mine. This just kept getting better. I said nothing, but watched inconspicuously. I was 5’4”, but he was much taller. 6’2” to be exact. My sense of measurement was perfect, having experience over the years. He had broad shoulders that fell to a narrow waist and hips. I could tell he had nice legs under his trousers and arms that bulged from over training and years of playing sports. His sun-streaked hair was cropped short on the sides and the back like in his picture, was parted inconspicuously toward the side and fell lazily over one eye, just like in his picture. He wore tan khakis and a nice white dress shirt. A bit dressy for a student, but on him, the look was very becoming. And I wasn’t the only one to have noticed. When he took his seat, every girl followed him with their eyes, but he was completely oblivious to it. Quickly, he pulled out a binder and a pen, then listened attentively.
    I watched him, taking in his mannerisms, studying his little habits, in essence, trying to get to know him through body language. My heart pounded within my chest in response. I pushed the thoughts aside, telling myself that he was in my charge. As I watched him from the corner of my eye, it was easy to see why half the girls in the class were in love with him. He was truly one of the most beautiful humans I had ever met. And I’d met many, stars included. But it was his demeanor that was the most attractive. He was totally oblivious to his golden good looks, focusing instead on the task at hand. I kept my eyes averted forward, so as not to be conspicuous.
    When he saw me sitting beside him, he did a double take, which pleased me, but why would I care? “Hello,” he said in a low voice. “I’m Zac.”
    “Lisa,” I said, nodding. So, he goes by Zac. It suits him well.
    “It’s nice to meet you,” Zac replied with a half smile.
    I nodded, then averted my attention toward Ms. Parks, playing hard to get. 
    He turned back toward the front, as well, but looked at me out of the corner of his eye.
    Ms. Parks lectured on the three branches of government: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial. Then she divided the class into three groups and assigned each group a branch. We were doing a Jigsaw, within which she gave each group two separate articles about their branch, but gave a copy to each of us. It was then up to each group to become the “expert,” presenting the collected information to the class. Zac and I were in the same group, with a little push from me. Ms. Park’s brain could handle it. No one in the class noticed.
    “You