Aliera fences (and roleplays on the weekend). This puts her outside any of the cliques at her school - fencing doesn't fit with the jocks, she's not smart enough to be a nerd, gloomy enough to be a goth, etc etc. [Evidently this school doesn't have a geek clique, because they'd be all over her.] She's okay with being alone, focused on her successes with fencing, and her roleplaying cousin.Then the hot new boy in school is assigned to be her partner in biology class. [Given who this boy turns out to be, I'm presuming this is a deliberate poking-of-fun-at of a more famous biology class.] The hot new boy is creepy in a not-all-that-good way, and I think we're meant to be against him overall as a love interest, as in this volume it's wholly a matter of "good looks outweigh all other considerations".The story is quite short - definitely a first chapter of a longer story, rather than wholly satisfying in itself - and enjoyable without being particularly exceptional. Enough to read on, but unless the rest of the story picks up considerably, nothing to write home about.
