"You can do this," I murmured to myself as I stood at the gate leading towards the school grounds. Students shuffled past me, their voices mixing into a loud muffle as they discussed their summers. I gripped the strap of my backpack tightly, my knuckles turning white. "It's just a new school."
A new school for the richest kids in the city. Of all the schools I could be going to, it had to be this one. Some days I wish my father hadn't rescued that dog and never met that lady who was married to one of the board officials, then I wouldn't be standing here right now. It was obvious I didn't belong here. Most of the girls were covered in make up and even their uniforms looked designer made despite being the same as mine. A girl with strawberry blonde hair struts past me, her hair beautiful and bouncing in perfect waves down her back as she laughs with her friends. Self consciously, I reach up and examine my own boring brown hair.
"You've been standing there gawking for at least ten minutes now," someone said behind me. "Are you going to move or continue blocking the rest of us from entering?"
Embarrassed, I stepped aside to see a boy with soft, blonde hair move past me with a glare from his icy-blue eyes. "I'm sorry," I muttered as he passes. He doesn't speak as he continues walking ahead. I take it as my cue to follow and head for the main entry.
I reach the main hall where kids gather around and talk. I had already grabbed my books, my backpack pressing against my back to remind me. I probably didn't need to bring all of them, but it was my first day and I had no idea what would happen.
I slide the backpack off my shoulders and set it on a nearby table as I unzip the front pocket and pull out a crumpled piece of green paper. Typed out in fancy font is my schedule for the semester. Home room started in fifteen minutes and it was in Classroom A-2 with Professor Giles. "Professor, huh?" I say quietly. "Nice title."
I gaze up from my paper for the stairwell I remember from my tour, but with the influx of students gathering, I have a hard time remembering where exactly the stairwell was. I glance around, looking for any hallways that could lead to the stairs.
"Lost?" A male voice startles me.
I turn and gaze up at a tall figure standing before me, his hands resting in his pockets, and a wide smile on his face.
"Oh, I'm new here," I blurt. My eyes shifted to his and found two orbs of the prettiest shade of blue staring back. His smile widened and I felt my nervousness increase ten fold. "I'm looking for Class A-2."
"Ah," the boy says and reaches for my paper. "I'll show you since we share the same homeroom."
He hands me back my paper and I fold it and place it back in my front pocket. "Oh, thank you."
"Sid," he says and his smile turns into a playful smirk.
"Sera," I reply.
"Shall we?" He says and gestures towards a hallway. I nod and step ahead, feeling him walking behind me. At least my first day isn't going terribly.
"Sid! I missed you," a high pitched voice squeals from somewhere and I turn to find a young girl leaping onto the boy. "You never called me once this summer!"
"I'm sorry. I had to help my dad," he says holding his hands up in surrender. "I'll make it up to you."
"You better," the girl says with a pout. Her eyes shift to me and her frown increases. "Who are you?"
"She's new so I thought I'd show her to the class room," Sid says.
She eyes me over and I feel myself stiffen at the glare behind her green eyes. She then looks back at Sid and says, "I wanted to show the swimsuit my mom bought me for our trip to the beach."
"Really?" Sid says and I know deep down he wants to see, even if it makes him look like a total perv.
"Go ahead," I say, no longer wanting to have daggers glared at me. "I'll find it on my own."
"Just go up the stairs and it'll be the second on your right," Sid says then waves before turning toward the girl again. I turn to leave as the girl begins swiping through her phone, searching for the staircase Sid mentioned.
Kids line the hallway, all loitering before the bell for class rings. I can't risk being late my first day because I'm lost. Even if the teacher excused the tardiness, that'd be extremely embarrassing.
I spot the stairs and feel relieved. I begin walking to them when my phone vibrates in my pocket with a new text. I can only hope it's from my best friend, Aria. We had a long girls night before I had to pack up and move into the dorms here. I was only an hour away, but it still felt too far and I hated being parted from her.
I slide my phone out, ready to the read the text when my face slams into something hard. I step back a bit, nearly slipping off the step I just took, and feel my phone slide from my hand. A strong arm steadies me and I blink, trying to compose myself.
"Are you okay?"
I look up to find the owner of the arm holding me, and I'm met with two eyes of crimson watching me with concern behind dark auburn bangs. My cheeks burn as I nod. "I-I'm sorry! I should've watched where I was going!"
He watches me for a moment but my eyes look to the people behind him, their hands covering their mouths as they try to hide their laughter. Feeling my blood rushing to my ears and my body temp rising in embarrassment, I step past him and rush up the stairs.
Students glance at me as I scurry past, looking frantically for my classroom. I can't believe I ran into someone like that. Not to mention he was really cute.
I shake the moment from my memory and sigh in relief when the sign to my classroom appears. I compose myself and step inside, acting like I didn't just smash face first into someone. I find a seat at the back and set my backpack beside it. I unzip the large bag and pull out a notebook, pencils, and erasers and place them on the desktop in an orderly manner.
I sit there quietly and observe the students ushering inside. Most of the boys holler at their friends and do some weird handshakes as they catch up on sports. The girls all squeal when they find each other, showing pictures of their summer trips and gossiping about their boyfriends and whatever celebrity they had a crush on.
The door opens and I feel my heart race as someone steps inside. The boy I ran into saunters in, a few people with him, and a few of the guys go over and pat his shoulder. Suddenly, his eyes find mine and I quickly look away, hoping he didn't recognize me. I reach for a pen to keep myself busy, and fiddle it between my fingers. A anxious habit, Aria had told me.
I flick my eyes to the window, hoping to look distracted by the sky outside, but a presence beside has me looking to my right. I glance up at the tall figure beside me, forcing myself to remain calm. He reaches into his pocket and I drop my pen as he sets my phone on the desk.
"You dropped this," he says softly. "You took off before I could give it back to you."
"Oh," I say reaching for it. "Thank you."
"Sure," he says and turns away. He sets his backpack on the desk beside me and chats with some of the guys around us. I turn on my phone display to find it still intact. I slide it into my backpack pocket, thankful it wasn't broken, and find myself watching the boy from earlier again.
He was tall, probably close to six feet I'd assume. His hair was barely past his ears, and he wore a silver earring over his left ear. He turns towards the front of the classroom and I quickly look away in case he catches me staring. I sneak another glance real fast to find him scowling. I follow his gaze to find another tall boy enter the classroom with a few girls chatting restlessly beside him.
He smiles at them all before waving them goodbye to their classes. He smugly adjusts his jacket before striding past the other classmates. As he gets closer, I recognize him as the boy who gave me a tour of the school last weekend. My family and I had come to move my stuff in and the director had a young boy with silver hair show us around. He was well mannered and seemed to get along well with my mother. I think my mom was more flustered by his good looks and flirtatious attitude.
As if noticing my gaze, he spots me and gives me a quick wink. I look away, hoping he doesn't come and talk to me. Thankfully, a girl grabs his attention, telling him about her trip to another country. These rich people.
The sound of a chair being pulled back and a bag being set down grabs my attention and I look up to find a young girl smiling widely at me. "Sorry about this mornin'," she says.
Natalie, my roommate, was called out early for cheer practice and wasn't able to walk me to class. This was her second year, so I was happy to have someone with experience as my roommate. She pulls out her notebook and a pink pen with a fat kitty cat stuck at the end. Come to speak of it, pretty much everything she owned was pink.
"It's okay," I say.
"Cheer practice was intense," she sighs. "Coach knew it was the first day back but still had us running drills till a quarter till."
"Sounds harsh," I say. I wasn't quite into cheer-leading but that didn't mean other people couldn't enjoy it.
"How do you like it so far?"
"Well, it hasn't been terrible," I lie. I refuse to glance at the boy chatting next to me. The less attention brought to that, the better.
"Good," Natalie says. "I'll introduce you to everyone at lunch."
Before I can answer, the door closes and everyone grows quiet as a handsome man walks in. A book rests on his shoulder as he approaches the desk to the left of the room. "Take your seats," he says. "Class is starting."