Chapter 5

It was Friday afternoon, the last study period of the day.

The classroom was quiet, broken only by the soft scratching of pens on paper.

I sat in the back row, absorbed in a book, not a textbook, but Elizabeth Gilbert's Eat, Pray, Love. A girl like me needed a bit of cultural depth. Reading Elizabeth Gilbert felt more sophisticated than diving into a romance novel.

Leon walked over from the front row and took the seat next to me.

"What are you reading?" he asked, leaning over to check the cover. Then he grinned, a little surprised. "Wow, you're…