Gabriella bit her lip as she power walked through the unfamiliar school with her mom and the principal. They were talking, but she couldn't really hear anything they were saying. The only thing she could think about was how she had just met a kinda-cute boy (alright, very cute boy), Jesse, at her old school, and even though his group of friends didn't really mix with hers, he sat with her and her friends at lunch, and even though she was ridiculously smart and often called a know-it-all, he seemed to want to take her out anyways, and as soon as she thought something exciting might happen for once in her life, her mom's company had transferred them to Albuquerque with two days notice, and with all the packing and crying and calling relatives, she hadn't been able to go see "The Holiday" with Jesse, and now she was going to be the freaky genius girl again, just when she thought she might finally break free from that label.
Her mom told her, for the billionth time, to "Just Be Gabriella", but that hadn't got her anywhere. She had Just Been Gabriella at all her previous schools, and at all her previous schools, she had gained a reputation as freakishly brilliant. Kids she didn't know would ask her for help in classes she didn't take, and although she'd courteously show them how to do their work, they pointed and whispered to their friends about her as soon as they understood. She was sick of being Gabriella, because being Gabriella meant being the school's freaky genius girl.
As her mom kissed the top of her head, she made herself a promise. I'm going to be different this time. I promise I'm going to be different this time.
Sliding into her third period advanced trigonometry seat, the first thing she noticed was her teacher's hair. It was brown and shaggy, and reminded her of Jesse's. He was turned away from the class, writing the date on the board, and a few strands were out of place. Gabriella wanted to stand up and fix them. Um, not a good first impression, she thought to herself. Still, resisting that urge turned out to be much harder than she expected.
She noticed everyone else getting out their notebooks, and she inwardly groaned. She only had a binder for this class. This was one of the things she hated about transferring in the middle of the year; not only were you majorly behind in all the schoolwork, but you also didn't understand exactly how this particular classroom worked, and you didn't have the advantage the rest of your classmates did of being clueless together in September. You had to be clueless alone, and ask your teacher where the hall pass was alone, and you had to figure out how strictly teachers enforced tardy rules alone (not that that had ever been a problem for Gabriella), and you had to see if eating was permitted in class through trial and error, rather than the teachers words on the subject on the first day of school. It drove her crazy.
She was busy deciding whether to be angry with her mom or her mom's company, and she had just chosen the latter when her teacher turned around.
Wow.
Firstly, he was young, he couldn't be more than five years older than her, and secondly, he had incredible eyes.
They were an astounding shade of blue, a deep, yet at the same time, light, blue. She had never seen anyone with eyes that color, yet here he was. She had thought Jesse's eyes were amazing, but they were nothing, nothing, like this.
"Questions on the homework from break?" His voice shattered her thoughts, but not because it was rough or abrupt, but because it was almost as incredible as his eyes. She shook her head and laughed at herself. You're being ridiculous, Gabi!
She sat sheepishly in her desk, waiting for him to notice her and tell her what was going on while the rest of the class shouted out numbers and talked with their friends. She didn't have long to wait. As soon as he had finished writing all the numbers of problems on the board, he sat down at the computer to do his attendance, then immediately stood up again.
"Montez? Do we have a Gabriella Montez here?"
Gabriella apprehensively raised her hand.
"Hello, Ms. Montez. How are you?" He asked as he walked over and bent down so he was at her level.
"Good." She croaked. Goddamn, Gabi. You couldn't have wet your throat?
"Well, I hope you'll have a great first day here at East High. I'm Mr. Bolton, and if you could briefly see me after school to go over what we've done first semester, that'd be great." He smiled at her, a smile that reached his eyes. They were almost hypnotizing, and Gabi almost shook herself. She stopped herself last minute; he didn't need to know the momentary trance he'd put her in.
He straightened up and addressed the class.
"Class, this is Gabriella Montez. I'd like for you to make her feel welcome here." He motioned for her to turn around, so she did and gave the class a tentative smile.
One of the boys in the back of the classroom wolf-whistled, and she quickly turned back to the front of the classroom.
Yeah, she was a little cute, but once guys realized that she didn't put out, and then once they realized that she was a nerdy bookworm, that was the end of the admiring whistles.
No, no, don't think like that. It's not going to be like that this time. You're not going to be a freaky genius girl.
She was still going to get good grades and save herself for marriage, of course, but she was going to have a little more fun, be a little less uptight, and hopefully, a little more boys would look at her.
As the class continued, Gabriella just awkwardly sat there and looked at Mr. Bolton. She hadn't done the homework, clearly, so she just watched him and tried to make it seem like it was just about the lesson. But, God, was he beautiful.