Chapter 2

“Married?” they asked in unison, praying that they heard the teacher wrong.

Ms. Kraft smiled at them. “The project is a marriage simulation. You two will go through the different stages of marriage throughout the semester. It’s our way of preparing you for the real world.”

“What if I don’t ever plan on getting married?” Liz asked sarcastically. She really didn’t want to be stuck with this creep all semester.

“Too bad. It’s part of the curriculum. Now go sit down and read over the project outline. This week you’ll be planning your wedding. Since real life won’t give you specific orders, you’re on your own with what to do. The more detailed and realistic you are, the better your grade. That’s how the project will work. The weddings are being held here on Friday, so don’t be absent, or your grade will suffer!” she said before going back to the blackboard to continue with the day’s lesson. “Oh!” she exclaimed, turning back around. “I need your names.”

“Elizabeth Webber.”

“Lucky Spencer.”

There were two empty desks at the back of the room. As they headed back for them, Liz turned to her new partner. “What kind of name is Lucky?”

He still couldn’t believe he had to work with this obnoxious girl. “It’s a nickname, okay? At least it’s original. How common can you get with a name like Elizabeth?” he asked, not really meaning it, but wanting to get her back for insulting his name. He actually kind of liked her name.

She shrugged. “It’s what my parents named me. What am I supposed to do about it?” As she sat down at her desk, she dropped her schedule. Lucky leaned down to pick it up, looking at it as he did so.

“Great. We’ve got three more classes, and lunch, together. As if my day couldn’t get any worse.” He said, handing it back to her.

“Thanks. You’re no day at the circus yourself, you know. How are we going to do this project? We’ve only known each other for a few minutes and we already can’t stand to be in the same room!”

He chuckles. “Well, from what I hear, there are a lot of married couples out there with that same problem.”

She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the front of the classroom, trying to ignore Lucky. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. No matter how hard she tried not to, she kept stealing little glances at him, studying him out of the corner of her eye. He seemed to be watching the teacher intently, chewing lightly on his pen cap. She had to admit, personality aside, she could be getting ‘married’ to a worse guy. At least this one was easy on the eyes. He had nice hair, a good complexion, nice cheekbones, dressed okay, and seemed to have nice eyes, even though most of the morning they were burning with anger towards her.

‘Stop it Liz!’ she scolded herself silently. ‘This guy’s a total jerk. He’s probably dumb as a post too. With your luck you’ll end up doing the whole project by yourself!’ She sighed and went back to listening to the teacher.

What she hadn’t realized was that Lucky was studying her as well. Even though she infuriated him, he felt somehow drawn to her. She wasn’t supermodel-gorgeous, but she was attractive. She had nice hair that fell softly to her shoulders. She was wearing a tight shirt and mini-skirt, so he could tell she had a good body, and although she’d been yelling at him all morning, something told him she would have a pretty smile if she ever bothered to show it to anyone.

‘What’s wrong with you, Spencer? The girl’s a total brat. She’s probably going to make you do all the work, and then take credit for it. As much as it’s going to suck, you’re going to have to stick to her like glue until this thing is over.” He heard her sigh, and looked over. She was still watching the teacher. He couldn’t help wondering what she was thinking about. Her brow was wrinkled like she was deep in thought, and she was absently chewing on her bottom lip. He caught himself staring at her mouth and immediately tore his eyes away, silently berating himself. ‘Oh, boy,’ he thought, ‘this is going to be a long semester.’

“All right, class,” the teacher said, looking at her watch. “There’s ten minutes left. I want you to get with your fiancees and get to know each other for the rest of the class period. Remember, you’ll be getting married on Friday, so you don’t have much time to plan your weddings!” She sat down at her desk and watched as the students slowly moved their desks around to sit with their new partners.

Lucky and Liz both groaned as they turned to each other. “I can’t believe I have to marry you,” Liz said bitterly.

“Yeah, well the feeling is mutual.” He grumbled. They sat there in an uncomfortable silence for a minute before noticing that the teacher was watching them. “Look, Ms. Kraft is watching us, so we better talk about something.”

Liz sighed. “Like what?”

“Well, we’re supposed to be getting to know each other. You said this was your first day. How come you’re starting a week after school started?” He asked, trying to get her to drop the attitude and just talk to him.

Figuring that they’d have to talk about this kind of stuff sooner or later, she decided now was as good a time as any. “I grew up in Boulder, Colorado with my parents and older sister, Sarah. She’s at the University of Colorado now, and my parents just got transferred to Bosnia last week, so they shipped me off to my grandmother’s. I didn’t want to leave all my friends, especially the last year of school like this, but they wouldn’t listen to me. They refused to leave me without ‘adult supervision.’ So now, I’m stuck here.”

“Why did they go to Bosnia?” he asked.

“They’re both doctors, and they do a lot of volunteer work, so when war broke out, they were recruited.” She said, trying to hide the fear she always feels when she thinks about her parents being over there.

“Wow. I’m sorry about that. It must be hard being so far away from them.” She shrugs. He thinks for a minute before speaking again. “What did you say your last name was before?”

“Webber, why?”

“What’s your dad’s name?”

“Jeff. Why the twenty questions?” she asks, getting annoyed again.

“Because my mom’s maiden name is Webber, and I know her stepfamily were mostly doctors. I think her uncle’s name was Jeff. Her stepfather’s name was Rick, does that ring a bell?”

She perks up at that comment. “Yeah, that’s my uncle’s name! What’s your mom’s name?”

“Laura.”

“That sounds familiar. Is your grandmother’s name Lesley?” He nods. “Eww. Does that mean we’re related? Hey, that’s a good reason not to get married. Maybe she’ll let us switch partners!” She starts to get excited at her realization, but he stops her before she can say anything.

“No, we’re not related, at least not by blood. Rick Webber isn’t my mom’s real dad. He just married her mother. Anyway, something tells me that this teacher would care if we’re cousins. It’s only pretend anyway. Nice try, though,” he adds, smiling at the way she came up with that plan.

“Okay, so we’re stuck. You know about me now, so what about you?” she asked.

“Well, I’ve lived here since I was 11. Before then, we used to move around a lot, because my parents were on the run from the mob,” her eyes grew big when he said this, but he just kept going like it was the most normal thing in the world. “Once the guy chasing us was killed, we were able to settle down here. I have a younger sister, LuLu, who’s 6, and an older half-brother, Nikolas.”

“Half-brother? Was your mom married before or something?”

“Well, yeah, she was, but he’s not Nikolas’s father. She was married when she was really young to a guy named Scotty Baldwin. She divorced him and married my dad when she was 17.”

“Wow, that’s our age,” she said, in awe.

“Yeah, she was young, but they’ve always been really in love. People say they’re soulmates. If your family’s from here, I’m sure you’ve heard of them. They’re sort of a legend around here: Luke & Laura.”

She nodded. He was right, she has heard her grandmother mention them before. The name Baldwin also sounded familiar, but she couldn’t place it. Must just be someone else her grandmother knew. “It must be nice to have parents that still love each other so much.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not so fun when you come home early and find them making out on the sofa like a couple of kids!” He said, making a face. She laughed. He was right, she did have a pretty smile. He shook his head, trying to stop the thought from going any further.

“Anyway, a few years before I was born, my mom was kidnapped and brought to Greece by my dad’s mortal enemies, Mikkos and Helena Cassidine. He thought she was dead, and they told her that he was dead, and she was forced to marry their oldest son, Stavros. She got pregnant, and everyone thought it was his, but it turned out that she had an affair with his brother, Stefan. When she found out my dad was still alive, she left the baby with his father and uncle and came back here. She never told anyone about the kid until a few years ago when my sister needed a bone marrow transplant. None of us was a suitable match, and one day Nikolas and Stefan came riding into town and Nikolas ended up being a match. My dad and I were really mad at her for a while for keeping his existence a secret, but we’ve worked it out. He was supposed to be a Prince, and the heir to the family fortune, but then it came out that he wasn’t the son of the eldest son after all, so now he’s just a regular guy like the rest of us. At least as regular you can get with private tutors, a big creepy house on an island, and a royal upbringing,” he finished bitterly.

“You don’t like him?” she asked, wondering how anyone couldn’t like a prince!

“I didn’t at first, but now that I’ve gotten to know him, he’s grown on me. We’ve managed to become friends, sort of. He’s dating a close friend of mine, Emily Quartermaine, so I have to put up with him for her sake.”

For some reason, Liz felt a stab of jealousy when he mentioned Emily. She had heard about the Quartermaines as well, and knew they were the most influential family in town. How did this obnoxious kid have so many high-society friends?

Before she could say anything, the bell rang and everyone started filing out of the room. “I guess I’m off to American History,” she said, looking at her schedule.

“It’s on my way, I’ll show you where it is,” Lucky said, picking up his bag. He couldn’t believe he had just told a complete stranger so much about his family.

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