by Olivia Quint
“That’s fine by me, deal!” I accepted his support wholeheartedly before suddenly remembering something unrelated. “Before we go, there’s one other thing I’d like to ask. You mentioned something called the Chambrun Badge earlier. What’s that all about?”
“To put it mildly, the Chambrun Badge is the most important and prestigious award that this Academy has to offer. It’s pretty much a guaranteed scholarship to any prestigious university across Europe!”
I’d never heard about this particular award before Zayn himself mentioned it to me earlier that day. Still, once the words guaranteed scholarship left Zayn’s lips, I knew I wanted that Badge more than anything else.
“How do I get it then?” I asked him eagerly.
“Ah, it’s quite simple, really,” he winked. “You just have to do one thing: be the absolute damn best!”
“What do you mean by that?” I pressed him on for answers.
“All of the scores awarded by the Academy are processed into averages, right? This means that the highest-scoring student from each year wins a Chambrun Badge.”
“That’s it?” I was somewhat underwhelmed by his answer. “Just get the highest score in my class? That doesn’t seem like much of a challenge...”
“You misunderstood me,” Zayn promptly intervened, shaking his head. “Your average score has to be the highest in the entire Academy for that particular year. I hope you realize that the students here aren’t just for show. We have very old names and legacies to protect, so you can bet your peers will try their damnedest to be the best. We don’t just ride on our families’ prestige alone. That’s one of the reasons that it’s incredibly tough to get in here in the first place. Even with a scholarship, you have to be somewhat of a prodigy to be accepted to Chambrun. After that, you’ll have to fight all of the other prodigies to get the Badge!”
“Wait a second,” I stopped him for a bit as I tried processing all of the new information. “So you’re telling me I can actually win this in my first year?”
“Yes, you can technically win the Badge in any year – even more than once during your studies – although that hardly ever happened in the Academy’s history. Most of the students who end up winning it do so in their second or third year here. The advantage of previous experience and all that…” Zayn trailed off as he reached for his cup.
“All right, I see. So, if I win it this year, then I’d be one of the very few to win it in their first year?” I pondered the idea dreamily.
“You’re quite the ambitious one, aren’t you?” Zayn chuckled, setting his cup back on the table. “You’re right, of course, but I wouldn’t count on it if I were you.”
“I guess we’ll just have to see,” I retorted with an excited grin. There was new resolve building up inside me, and I was prepared to do anything it took to win a Chambrun Badge for myself.
“Well, well… What do we have here?” a familiar voice suddenly drawled from behind me. Cringing, I turned in its direction and saw Marceline, standing there with her arms folded, just like she stood in front of me that awful first day.
“I was just leaving, actually,” I mumbled to both of them. I just wasn’t in the mood to have another confrontation with her, not in front of Zayn.
So, I simply walked away. As I grabbed the door handle to leave the café, I heard Marceline greet Zayn as she took the seat that I had just occupied.
Chapter Eight
Zayn
“I’m flattered you want to sit with me, Marceline, but I was just leaving too,” I said just as soon as she sat down across from me. “I’m done with my coffee, and I’ve got stuff to do at home.”
“Oh, that’s no problem,” Marceline replied with a coy smile. “I could walk you home... In fact, I would absolutely love to!”
I was about to say a firm no to her brazen offer, but then I remembered the promise I’d made to Sophie.
“Walk with me then,” I said, standing up. Marceline followed me around with a huge grin as I made my way to pay for the drinks. When we walked out of the café, the first thing I did was look up the road to see if I could still catch a glimpse of Sophie, but she was nowhere to be found.
“I’m so happy you want to talk to me, Zayn,” Marceline purred somewhere to my right. As we headed back to my dorm, she moved increasingly close to me. “Why haven’t we done this before?”
“Because I like keeping busy,” I replied in monotone. “But it seems to me you’ve gone through some effort to get my attention recently.”
“Whatever do you mean?” she asked, batting her eyelashes and feigning innocence. Poorly.
“You can cut the act, Marceline,” I sighed, finally glancing in her direction. “You were top of your class in your first year, and I’m sure nothing’s going to change now that you’ve just started your second. I know you’re smart, maybe too smart for your own good. So I know for a fact that you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
“Oh my, has the great Zayn Courtenay taken a liking to me?” she asked with a practiced giggle. “You seem to know quite a bit about me!”
“I know a lot of things…” I replied in as casual and non-interested a tone as I could muster.
Our conversation continued with more pointless nonsense like that the rest of the way. To her credit, Marceline managed to deftly outmaneuver my questions about her blog. It was becoming abundantly clear to me she was just stalling for time, and I knew exactly why.
“This is me,” I said to her once we got to the front door of my dorm building. “Clearly, our conversation didn’t go anywhere after all.”
“No, don’t say that!” Marceline protested in a low voice. “We could always continue it upstairs. I mean, I’ve got the time if do…”
I made a promise to you, Sophie, and I’m a man of my word, I thought to myself while pondering her suggestion. That’s the only reason I’m doing this.
“Follow me then,” I said, pulling on the front door and holding it open for Marceline to go in first. After a short flight of stairs and a walk down the second-floor landing, I did the same with the door to my apartment.
“Make yourself at home,” I announced after I invited her in. “I’ll be in my bedroom for a change of clothes, but I’ll be back shortly. In the meantime, you can have a seat wherever.”
I walked out of the living room and made a beeline for my bedroom before Marceline could have a chance to respond. Taking off my shirt, I almost jumped out of the jeans I’d been wearing and replaced them with a pair of shorts. I was busy searching for a shirt to put on top when I heard the door to my bedroom creaking open. Marceline walked in soon after without the slightest hesitation.
“Is there something I can help you with?” I asked in a serious tone. That didn’t get her to back down, however. She continued walking up to me until she was mere inches from where I stood, unflinching.
“Uhmmm, it’s not about what I want,” Marceline replied, biting her lip. “Rather, I think it’s about what you want. Me…”
Her brashness amused me, so I decided to humor her. “How could you possibly know that?”
“Knowing things is what I do best. And I’m fairly certain that I know what you’d like,” she mused, the same coy smile dancing on her lips.
“So what would that be?” I asked, crossing my arms and eyeing her incredulously.
“I’d prefer showing you instead,” she whispered, looking straight up at me.
Marceline then traced her fingers down the sides of my arms, never breaking eye contact with me as she did it. Meanwhile, I kept staring her down without flinching. Her hands went lower and lower until they met with the obstruction posed by the waistband of my shorts. Without breaking pace, she slipped one of her hands into my shorts and caressed my slowly hardening member with the back of her finger. That eager bastard betrays me every time…
“Find what you’re looking for?” I asked, still trying to keep my composure despite what was happening below. Marceline chose to ignore my question, an
d with an even wider smile, she grabbed me tenderly in her hand. She started stroking me up and down, gently at first, before steadily increasing her grip as she went.
“Wow…” Marceline gasped as she ran her hand down my entire length. She then promptly knelt in front of me and used her free hand to pull down my shorts completely. Locking her long fingers around my member with the skills of a pro, Marceline brought her face closer and closer until her tongue started touching my tip. She then made small circles around it, all the while looking up at me with smoldering eyes.
An involuntary moan escaped my lips, and right on cue, Marceline wrapped her lips all around me, taking in as much of my length as she could. Cupping my balls with one hand, she stroked me up and down with the other while gently swirling her tongue around my tip. I couldn’t help but grunt in pleasure as the speed of her movements increased. I quickly gathered up her hair out of her face and held it out as she sucked on me faster and faster. Marceline’s inviting mouth proved incredibly well-versed. She almost drove me entirely over the edge several times before I lifted her in my arms and dropped her on the edge of my bed.
She looked up at me with a Cheshire Cat grin. “You liked that, didn’t you?”
My response to her question was pinning down both of her hands above her head with my right. Meanwhile, my left was busy raising her dress higher and higher. Looking down at her exposed crotch, I noticed she wasn’t even wearing any underwear. Someone came prepared, I see…
After I placed my lips on hers, Marceline pushed up toward me as much as she could. Slipping my tongue into her mouth, I fought with her for dominance. We only broke our kiss when I finally managed to lift her dress off completely and throw it somewhere behind me.
As soon as it became free again, my left hand cupped her full breast and pinched her already erect nipple. Marceline’s whole body writhed in pleasure, and her arms instinctively wrapped around my head. In an instant, she was the one pulling at my hair so that our naked bodies would move closer toward each other. My lips then touched her right ear, and I whispered into it.
“I see you want me too…” I teased her, biting down lightly on her neck afterward. Even as she struggled for breath, Marceline kept a defiant look on her face. This one’s not going to give in to me that easily.
“Is that what you think?” she managed between shallow breaths.
“Your body’s betraying you,” I replied as I used a knee to part open her legs.
Before she could protest any further, I thrust myself into her, as deep as I could go, driving the wind out of her lungs. Marceline gasped so loudly, I was afraid my neighbors would rush in to her rescue. I pulled out of her completely and then moved into her again slowly. Her tight slit was positively dripping with lubrication, and the feeling of her wrapped around me was intoxicating. Holding her by the waist, I started rocking my hips faster and faster, watching as her eyes rolled to the back of her head in delight.
Marceline’s body shook beneath me as I continued my powerful thrusts. She tried saying something at one point, but she clearly could not find the words anymore. Instead, she held tightly onto my back, digging her fingernails in to spur me on. Not even a minute later, her mouth formed a perfect “O,” and her entire body shook beneath me in a powerful orgasm. Moments later, I pulled out and shot my load all over her sweat-slick abdomen.
After I collapsed on the bed next to her, Marceline pulled herself closer to me, wrapping kisses on the side of my face as I drifted off into exhausted nothingness.
***
Later that evening, I woke up to an empty bed. I craned my head around looking for Marceline until I heard the shower being turned off in my bathroom. Moments later, the queen bee of Chambrun walked into view, patting herself dry with one of my towels.
“This must be quite the sight to wake up to,” she smirked at me from afar. And people tell me I’m full of myself.
“If you say so…” I answered, drawing myself up against the headboard into a sitting position.
“Why aren’t we together, Zayn?” she asked while dropping the towel onto the back of a chair.
“What?!” I protested, slightly startled by her questions. “What are you even talking about?”
“Just think about it,” Marceline went on without skipping a beat. “You’re the most popular guy here, and I’m the top girl in my year. It’s obvious to me you and I were made for each other.”
I couldn’t keep in a small laugh. “While I admire your flawless logic, I’m afraid I’m not looking for anything remotely like that.”
Marceline paused in the middle of the room with her hands on her hips, letting me have a good long look at her stunning body before she picked up her dress. Even then, she put it back on slowly.
“I’ll see you around, Zayn. You’re going to be mine,” Marceline declared as she walked out of my room with a satisfied smirk.
Chapter Nine
Sophie
“Tell me everything!” I said as soon I got comfortable on our living room sofa back home.
My first official day with Zayn had gone fine overall. Had it not been for Marceline’s stupid interruption right at the end, I could’ve said it went great even. However, it seemed that Fleur’s had gone even better than mine, judging by the excited look on her face and the fact that she simply couldn’t sit still.
“All right, all right!” Fleur exclaimed as she handed me a plate of still-steaming cookies. As it turned out, we both loved to cook, but Fleur was also incredible at baking, and she used every opportunity to put the oven to work. And I always love sampling the results!
“Thanks a million, I really needed these right about now. So, how was your guy like?” I asked Fleur, curious to know what her chaperone had done to make her so happy.
“Oh, Jacques was simply amazing…” she sighed with a dreamy expression plastered on her face. “Like I told you previously, I’d actually met him once before in passing. He’s one of Zayn’s buddies, but I don’t think they’re that close. Still, I never expected him to be so nice!”
“What did he do then?” I inquired further. “Your cookies are as great as ever, by the way, but I’m hungry for some juicy details about Jacques too!”
“He seemed like he was thrilled at having to show me around,” Fleur managed between her own cookie bites.
“Aha, aha, go on!” I motioned her to give me more.
“You know, Jacques actually told me he was excited when he saw my name because he’d always wanted a chance to see me again!” Fleur almost squealed, crossing her fingers.
“Whaaat?! That is just fantastic then,” I giggled at her schoolgirl excitement. “But what exactly did you do together today?”
“Well, we sort of bypassed the formal tour entirely because there isn’t much I don’t already know about the Academy, but the rest of the day was simply great. Jacques took me out to lunch at this really nice restaurant at the Student Union, and we just ended up talking and talking... It really made me wonder why we hadn’t tried that sooner. And after we were finished, we went out for a walk through the forest trails, and he held my hand the whole time,” Fleur paused for emphasis as she reached out to grab another one of her scrumptious cookies.
“No waaay… Fleur, you’re so damn lucky!” I couldn’t help but feel happy for her phenomenal success with Jacques.
“I know, right?!” she simply gasped with excitement. “But enough about me, now you tell me about your experience. How did your day go with Zayn?”
“Oh, it all went perfectly fine until Marceline somehow bumped into us at one point, and I felt like ending our day right there and then. I mean, Zayn’s really not a bad person once you get to know him better,” I admitted, looking down at my hands. “But he’s also kinda full of himself, and I think he just loves being a player. That’s too bad for him, though, because I’m not going to be one of his girls.”
“Hmmm, I’d think twice if I were in your shoes…” Fleur mused as she chewed. “I mean, you’ve seen
for yourself just how handsome he is, plus you’ll be spending a lot of time together from now on. You really think you’ll be able to brush him off like that?”
“Oh, you can bet on it!” I answered, nodding my head firmly.
“Well, all right then,” Fleur conceded as she dusted her fingers before picking up her laptop from the coffee table. “You said you also saw Marceline today. Let’s see if she has anything more to say about you two…” Fleur browsed what I assumed was Marceline’s blog for a while before looking up at me with a smile. “Nothing more about you at all. You’re in the clear! I think Zayn’s really got your back, girl. I mean, it looks like he managed to get Marceline off your back after all… Ah, no, wait. Merde!”
“Huh, what do you mean, what’s wrong?!” I questioned Fleur, suddenly standing up in my seat.
“Well, there’s sort of a hint here that they might be a thing now?” my flatmate looked over to me with a pained expression.
“What… No, I don’t believe that. Since when?” I couldn’t quite process what Fleur was trying to tell me.
“She doesn’t say, but it must be really recently. Still, it might just be another one of her lies, though. You know full well now how she is...” Fleur offered, and deep down, I hoped she was right.
“Yeah, you must be right,” I mused. Nevertheless, I decided I was going to ask Zayn myself the next time we met.
***
The rest of the evening passed by without any other shocking revelations, and the following day I was all set to meet Zayn inside Chambrun’s main library. Stepping into the imposing building early in the morning, I instantly spotted him sitting alone by a secluded window, far away from the other students. I walked up to him with a guarded smile on my lips.
“Hey, Sophie, good morning!” he greeted me, standing up as I got closer. “Are you ready to begin the second day of our amazing tour?”