“Everyone quiet down,” Mr. Rieder ordered. “Your book for the semester is already in front of you. Write your name in the front page and make sure you bring it to every class.” Mr. Rieder was a short plump man who was as round as he was tall. His black hair was littered with streaks of white, and his gold circular spectacles always rested on the tip of his nose. The way his mouth was shaped always reminded me of a turtle, as if at any moment his head might recede beneath his dark green sweater. “Now I want all of you to turn to page 256. We will be talking about the Spanish Inquisition today.” I flipped my book open and immediately began studying the first paragraph. “Read over that section while I go through the class roster. When you hear your name, please raise your hand so I can see who all is here.” I perused the page as he called out various names, barely hearing mine. My hand shot into the air for a second before resuming my reading.

“We're going to start off talking about the two rulers of Spain who initiated the Inquisition.” He turned back around and started scribbling various dates and names across the white marker board. “Essentially, the purpose of the Spanish Inquisition was to punish converted Jews and Muslims who were thought to be insincere in their conversions. Authorities of the church instituted it, but it was under control of the Spanish monarchy. It was established in 1480 by Ferdinand the Second of Aragon and his wife Isabella the First of Castile. If you turn the page you can see a painting of Isabella in the top left corner.”

I flipped the page over and glanced at the picture. The first thing I noticed was the pendant hanging around her neck. Its beauty perfectly complimented the delicate gold and pearl crown she wore. An ornate gown clung to her fair skin, making her appear every bit the queen she was. I could hear the door open and shut with a slam, but my eyes remained on the woman in the picture. Something about her seemed familiar to me, as if I were looking at a picture of an old friend whom I hadn't seen in years. I was unable to tear my eyes away from her, even when Mr. Rieder announced that a new student was joining our class.

“Class, this is Conrad Bourdet. He is a new student here at Tulson, so I want all of you to make him feel welcome! Where are you from, Mr. Bourdet?”

“Los Angeles.”

“Well, you certainly did come a long way from Los Angeles, but anyway, we're glad to have you in our class! Why don’t you take the open seat in the back by Claire?”

Suddenly, Caroline elbowed me in the shoulder.

“Ouch! What was that for?” I asked, shooting her a glare.

“Because the most gorgeous guy that’s ever been to this school just walked into class and you're staring at that stupid book!”

“You assaulted me over a guy?”

“Heck yes, I did!” she whispered. “Just look at him!”

I glanced up from my book, only to see Conrad’s back as he turned away from me. Claire stood in front of him, chatting flirtatiously. He had a deep, golden tan and short chestnut colored hair. He ran a hand through it, causing the brown locks to become slightly disheveled. As I looked at him, I noticed he had to be at least six feet tall, and despite his height, you could see the well-developed muscles in his arms stretching underneath the tight black shirt he was wearing. Confidence seemed to roll off him in waves, which was fitting because every girl in class was ogling him. I turned to see the notes Mr. Rieder had added to the board.