THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

except for the monitor and keyboard in front of me. I might not know how these units worked, but I was sure I’d seen something like them before.  
    “Whoa, I know you’re not startin’ my favorite class widdout me, Mr. S,” someone announced as he entered the room. A husky-built guy with chopped-off black hair and an olive tint to his skin.
    He looked about my age but had an attitude years older. His dark-brown, calculating eyes searched out each of the other five girls in the classroom, and gifted them with a wink and a cocky grin.
    I noted that all the girls returned his attention with varying degrees of smiles.
    Even Hannah, whose lips quirked when she tossed a brief glance his way.
    Mr. Suarez paused to frown. “You’re late, Tony. I told you the first day of school I don’t tolerate tardiness from anyone.”
    “My apologies, Mr. S. A young lady needed my personal assistance.”  His hands moved constantly, as expressive as his I’m-the-man tone. Here, there, touching a silver medallion at his neck, punctuating his words in the air. “Being a gentleman and all yourself, I know you wouldn’ta wanted me leavin’ the young lady on her own.” 
    “What kind of assistance?” the instructor asked, wary-eyed.
    This Tony guy beamed a sneaky-cat grin I didn’t buy any more than I bought the grandiose performance.
    And what was this guy’s strange accent?
    Tony opened his hands in a what-else gesture. “New kid from Jersey and Italian, like me. Got lost her first day. I delivered her safe and sound to the front office. But I didn’t waste no time humpin’ it here. Like I said, sorry I was late, Mr. S, but I’m ready for the Top Ten Project. Seein’s how my last name starts with an S, I’m thinkin’ I’m paired up with the delicious Miss Georgiana Sanderson, right?”
    A look came over Mr. Suarez’s face that knocked the foundation out from under Tony’s grin. “Miss Sanderson has been paired up. In fact, everyone has a partner. In light of your charitable nature to help new students–”
    No. No way. Don’t do it . I sat up straighter.
    “–you’ll be teamed up with our newest student. Rayen.”  Mr. Suarez pointed in my direction. “Take your seat, Tony.”
    Tony’s eyes finally lit on me. All his smug attitude slid away leaving disbelief. He stepped over to the teacher and lowered his voice, but my sharp hearing caught every word he said.
    “You kiddin’, Mr. S, right? You know how bitchin’ I am on computers. I need someone who can hang with me, not...” Tony cut a sharp glance at me then his face smoothed, all charm by the time he faced Mr. Suarez again. “Not somebody just off the reservation.” 
    One of Mr. Suarez’s eyebrows arched at a sharp angle. “If this was so important you should’ve been punctual and I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that last comment. Rayen is your Top Ten partner until I say differently. Take your seat.”
    “But–”
    “Now, or you’re out of the competition altogether.”
    That had Tony snapping to attention.
    I’d grabbed the seat closest to the corner from which I now watched as Tony swaggered down the center of the room, scowling. As he drew closer, I could see part of an image in black ink that crawled up his neck, peeking out from beneath the collar of his shirt. The design was a creature with sharp pinchers.
    Some memory niggled at me. Neck markings meant something, but what?
    When Tony reached my table, he dropped into the chair and crossed his arms.
    The minute Mr. Suarez turned to the white board again, Tony leaned over, a nasty smile on his face when he whispered, “Find a way to disappear or I’ll do it for you, sweet cheeks.”
     

CHAPTER 5
     
    “Unfreakinbelievable!” 
    I ignored Tony’s latest outburst since we’d left Mr. Suarez’s classroom and concentrated on searching the equipment room for a computer we’d been instructed to rebuild. 
    I couldn’t stop thinking about how I’d read that green book in seconds, yet I now stood here staring in confusion at tables filled with equipment that had monitors.
    Wish I could get through this assignment as easily as I fanned through that book.
    Much of the terminology in the classroom hadn’t clicked for me. When Suarez had explained the principles of what he expected to see built from outdated equipment in storage, I’d rolled my eyes. The jumbled words still spun through my mind, some pinging a trickle of memory but others sliding past.
    I hadn’t