The Exchange

Chapter 3: Giselle

'You wish.' I push his chest and walk around him. I can feel Rafe still staring at me.

'Your face says it all.' Rafe's voice calls out to me.

'Excuse me?' I turn around and place a hand on my hip. Archer sits in the island and opens a packet of crisps, watching us eagerly.

'Your face.' He repeats. 'It's so readable.'
I scoff and cross my arms.

'You wish it was your legs over my shoulders as I work my tongue.' He smirks.

Who the hell does this guy think he is? We met two hours ago and he's already so full of himself.

'Get over yourself.' I snap.

Whatever thought I had of Rafe being a charming guy immediately disappears. He's a cocky, self absorbed, arrogant asshole.

'You know I'm right.' Rafe smiles.
I walk up to him so that we're face to face. He towers over me, I'm nothing compared to his height.

'You know what I want wrapped around your neck?' I touch his chest lightly.

'Hmm?' He says.

'My hands.' I snarl. 'I'm going to strangle you.'

'Woah!' Archer jumps off the island and pulls me back. 'That's enough of that.'
Rafe watches me, a glimmer of mischief in his eyes.

'You two need to be kept separate.' He says.

'I don't think Gigi will be able to stay away from me.' Rafe smirks.

'Archer if you don't shut him up then I'm going to break his perfectly charming face.' I snarl, as Archer pulls me back.

'You think my face is perfectly charming?' He bats his eyelashes. 'Oh you're making me blush.'

I glare at Rafe. No one has ever been able to get a reaction with me no matter how much they poke and prod. But this man, he manages to get on every single one of my nerves and I haven't even known him for that long.

The door of the apartment opens and a red haired girl walks in, carrying two luggage's and a huge backpack.

'Let me help you with that.' Archer says, immediately leaving my side and shooting her a smile. She raises an eyebrow as he willingly picks up both her suitcases.

Rafe walks past me, purposely bumping his shoulder into me was he goes to get her key card.

'I'm Anya.' She extends her hand, a Russian accent coming through when she speaks.

'Giselle, nice to meet you,' I smile, shaking her hand.

'London?' She asks. 'Your accent?'

'Yeah,' I reply. 'I got the scholarship for ice skating.'

'I got one for swimming.' She smiles. 'I'm from Russia.'

'I love international girls.' Archer swings an arm over both of our shoulders.

'I'm not interested.' I say, taking his arm off me and he looks at Anya. I see Rafe holding back a smile.

'And I'm not interested in men.' Anya takes his arm off her. Archer wipes a fake tear from his eyes and slumps dramatically onto the couch with a sigh.

'Worth a shot.' He shrugs.

I shoot Anya another smile when Rafe gives her the key card. I go back into my room so I can finish unpacking. The room is so big that it has its own walk in bathroom.

I set my alarm for 9:00am so I can wake up for my first literature class and then the rest of the day is devoted to ice skating, fitness and flexibility training.

Archer and Rafe's voices get louder as they watch some American football thing. I put on my headphones so I can drown them out.

************
'The homework is to read chapter 5-8 of The Scarlett Letter.' Mrs Jonae says.

We all pack up our stuff and head over to the cafeteria for a snack break. The vending machine is filled with healthy snacks. I buy a granola bar and a mini chocolate protein shake before hurrying back to my dorm so I can get changed.

I'm about to close the door of the dorm when Rafe jams his foot in and stops me.

'Already trying to get rid of me.' He smirks. I roll my eyes at him and walk away.

I'm not going to let him get the pleasure of getting a reaction out of me.

I put on my black co-ord and white leg warmers before packing a bag with my skates and a mini packed lunch. I take my spicy hummus and carrot sticks out of the fridge when Rafe grabs it out of my hand.

'Hummus and carrots?' He raises an eyebrow.

'It's spicy hummus.' I snatch my food off him when he picks up the granola bar and protein shake.

'You really take all this dieting seriously.' He says.

'Can you please bother someone else.' I reply, zipping up my bag. 'I don't have time.'

Rafe opens his mouth to say something when I push past him and make my way to the ice rink. I'm tying up my skates as I see Coach standing with a group of ice skaters.

She stands proudly, her black hair in a tight bun. Her skates shine and her deep purple leotard is freshly pressed. One girl glares at me and I recognise her as the one who was in Rafe's bed. Sage I think her name was.

'Welcome everyone.' Coach's thick French accent comes out. 'I am Madame Lulu.'

'Good evening Madame Lulu.' We all say in sync.

'You are here either because your daddy could afford the best school for you or you're here on a scholarship.' Her eyes land on me and she gives me a tight lipped smile.

'In two months we have the first round of the Synergy Ice competition.' She explains. 'The elimination round.'

Each year, the contestants choose a song and make a short but amazing routine to do on the ice. If you're not good enough you get eliminated, if you're amazing you move onto the next round, the semifinals.

'This year, only five of you will be able to move onto the next round.' My heart drops, its usually an unlimited amount of people. I turn around and my eye catches on Sage who's looking forward and smiling brightly, like she already knows she's going to be one of the people passing.

'For now,' she says. 'Show me what you've got.'

*AUTHORS NOTE*
I hope you're all enjoying the book.
Have a nice day!