Reason and Romance (River Valley Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

locker area for freshmen. Sighing, she retraced her steps until she found the math section. From there, she stumbled onto the English wing. The posters of famous writers and poets were plastered all over the walls, so this was it.
    Her heart beating hard, she scanned the classroom numbers until she found the right one. Squaring her shoulders, she pushed the door open and went inside. Still plenty of seats unclaimed, so she picked the one in the corner. It gave her a strategic view of the door, the teacher’s desk, and the view outside.
    She took a fresh notebook out of her bag and opened to the first page. Her pencil was already sharpened, her folders all labeled. It was a bit of a joke in the family how everyone was so organized, Nicky being the lone exception.
    Alex sauntered into the classroom just a couple minutes before the bell. There was that collective response, one that was predictable by now, but it never failed to amaze Adrian how girls straightened in their seats and pretended they weren’t primping. The guys greeted him with “hey man” and “how ya doing?” even though they’d seen him outside. When would this constant adoration of Alex stop? As far as she could tell, he hadn’t really done anything to earn it.
    The teacher entered with a cup of coffee in hand and a pile of papers tucked in the crook of his arm. Nodding a greeting to the students, he went straight to his desk and started taking attendance right away.
    “Abdullah al-Hassan,” he called out. Even before Abdullah answered, the teacher marked him present and said the next name. He evidently knew most of them, so this was a mere formality. “Philippa Atherton.”
    Then it came, the moment that Adrian had dreaded. “Marissa Blake?” the teacher said.
    She raised her hand. “I’d rather be called Adrian, sir. That’s my middle name.”
    It was one of her sore spots. Marissa was a beautiful name, but not when one’s mother, the first Marissa, had died in a car accident driving with a man explicitly not her husband. She’d died when Adrian was only seven, but even so, Adrian couldn’t stop wincing whenever someone called her Marissa. She’d instantly known they were mentally comparing her to her mother. Oh, they didn’t say it aloud, but it had been there in their eyes. Even here, they would—
    No one knew about her mother here.
    Her lips parted in surprise. She hadn’t thought about that angle, but that part was true, wasn’t it? Her father had probably told his fiancée, but Adrian doubted the kids at her new school knew. Here, they judged her on the merits of being related to Alex instead.
    The teacher was speaking again. “I don’t think I’ve seen you here before. Did you just transfer?”
    “Yes sir. I moved from Chicago.”
    “Big city.” He glanced at his attendance list, and Adrian thought that was the end of it, but his attention snapped back to her. “Wait. Are you related to Alex Montgomery?”
    She willed herself not to let her surprise show. The kids here had acted as if Alex had significant social status, but now she had actual proof. Even the teacher had heard of her.
    “I will be,” she said.
    The man’s face darkened. It was a change so perceptible that Adrian was startled once again. He drew himself up straight.
    “Maybe you aren’t aware, but I have my students sit in alphabetical order. That seat up here is yours.” He pointed to a seat in the front row, the one right before his desk. It was empty because everyone had sequestered in the back.
    Her eyes narrowed. “Yes sir.”
    Just another reason to dislike her ‘stepbrother’, she thought bitterly as she gathered her things. Who knew what Alex had done to make the teacher hate him so? Whatever it was, it was exactly why the teacher hated her now.
    Even after she’d sat down, the teacher didn’t let it go. “It’s customary for new students to introduce themselves to the class, Marissa.”
    Marissa.
    She gritted her teeth. Hadn’t she