...without any makeup on
Honors English I, Mr. McCarthy, Freshmen Year. Why was I at McKinley? Defiance would have been my choice school, it's cruel and unusual punishment to be the new kid starting high school, for goodness sake! Everyone already had friends, what would they want with Lindsay Pearce?
She couldn't believe how awkward she felt sitting in that English class, so she sat in the middle of the classroom and tried to look occupied with the syllabus placed in front of her. A beanie hat was not the right way to start out the new school year.
Suddenly, Lindsay felt someone standing over her. She spun quickly in her seat to find a rather tall boy standing over her. He had dark brown hair that made his pale skin look even darker, and a slight build that lead Lindsay to believe that he was either a soccer player or a cross-country runner. However, all that but that wasn't what brought kept Lindsay in her silence: it was his eyes. The bluest she had ever seen, and that was counting her own. In the brief moment she had to really look at him, she realized that they could easily be mistaken for brother and sister.
"Excuse me," he said, "is anyone sitting here?" As he motioned to the desk beside hers, several things ran through her mind: is someone actually talking to me? did he just ask if he could sit by me? this kid is really cute...wait, was that a Scottish accent? Irish?
"No, go ahead," she finally managed to stutter out. He flashed her a quick smile and slid into the seat right beside her. He seemed like an extremely friendly person so Lindsay was relieved to say the least when the bell rang and the teacher walked in. Answering questions was usually where she blew all of her chances, and that totally felt like a 'deer in the headlights' moment.
"Welcome to William McKinley High, class of 2014!" their teacher boomed, an air of theater about him. "My name is Mr. McCarthy, and welcome again to our World Literature Survey! Now, because I don't know any of you, we shall take a roll call!"
"McKynleigh Abraham?"
"Here!" a rather tall girl, with a mop of curly hair and a slight country twang responded, perhaps a bit shyly.
"Aylin...Bayramoglu? Did I say that right?"
A girl with caramel-colored hair and what looked like Muslim features sitting to Lindsay's right nervously raised her hand and nodded.
"That's impressive!" he said with a kind smile, "Of what origin is your surname? Normally I would try to guess, but yours is quite unique."
"Um, I'm not entirely sure, but I'm Turkish Muslim," Aylin answered.
"Again, fascinating! Mario Bonds?"
Lindsay started to tone Mr. McCarthy out as she noticed the boy who had asked to sit by her leaning closer to her and extending his hand.
"Maxfield Camp?"
"My name is Damian McGinty. How do you do?" he whispered his greeting softly, as to not get caught or disrupt their teacher's enthusiastic roll call.
"Taryn Douglas?"
Lindsay took his hand and shook it. "Lindsay Pearce. Fine thanks, and you?"
"Matheus Fernandes?"
"Nervous."
"Tyler Ford?"
"Oh, really?" Lindsay was quite surprised at his response, this kid seemed like the ultimate jock, confident and slick. You really never can judge a book by its cover.
"Lily Mae Harrington?"
"Yeah, I'm a foreign exchange student from Ireland, I don't really know whats going on, and truthfully, I'd rather be anywhere but here. Ohio, really? No idea how they pick where they send you."
"Shanna Henderson?"
"That's interesting, I'm in the same boat," she admitted."
"Blake Jenner?"
"Really? How's that?"
"Samuel Larsen?"
"I'm a transfer, new to this city," Lindsay answered, heck, she was new to this part of the country. "I don't know any of these kids who have been going to school together since they've been wearing diapers, and I've never felt more out of place in my life."
"Abraham Lim?"
"Where did you transfer from?"
"Charlie Lubeck?"
"California. Modesto, actually. The climate change alone is enough to shock a person," Lindsay said and she found herself smiling for the first time that day.
"Damian McGinty?"
"Here!" Lindsay was surprised to say the least when Damian paused their conversation to answer Mr. McCarthy's call. She had been so caught up in their conversation that everything else was dulled to her senses.
"McGinty...you must be our new Irish foreign exchange student!" the excitement radiating off of their teacher was almost infectious, Lindsay knew that he was going to be one of her favorite teachers.
"Yes, sir, I am," Damian replied, "Derry City."
"Fascinating, once again. If you choose to come back to our little school in two years I believe I'd have a place for you in my British and Irish Literature class, AP, of course."
"Thank you, sir. I'll be sure to consider it," he gave their teacher a genuine smile at that, truly interested in this future class.
"Hannah McIalwain?"
"Sorry 'bout that," came Damian's whispered apology. "So, Modesto? Where is that?"
"Cameron Mitchell?"
Lindsay was intrigued by this boy to say the least. He could go from having a whispered conversation with her to talking to the teacher about his hometown and back without batting an eye.
"Alex Newell?"
"Um..."
"Lindsay Pearce?"
"Here!" Lindsay had never been more relieved to hear her name being called. It allowed a short distraction and a chance for her to recollect herself from the shock Damian was giving her. The boy was decidedly relatable, very polite, and, though she wouldn't admit it, very cute.
"Ah, our other transfer," Mr. McCarthy said, "well, what do you think of Lima, Ohio so far?"
"It's much cooler, and smaller, than California," she admitted, "but it's a really cute little town, and I think I'll like it here," finishing with a smile that was subconsciously aimed at Damian.
"Looks like we have a 'California Gurl' in our midst! Sorry about that, I do love me some Katy Perry!"
The entire class let out a small laugh, their teacher had to be in his forties, and picturing him rocking out to pop music was pretty funny.
"Anyways, welcome. Just don't be in too much of a shock when winter comes."
Lindsay flashed another small smile, and quickly returned her attention back to the conversation with Damian after she was sure her teacher's attention was on the next student.
"Bryce Ross-Johnson?"
"Modesto is smack in the middle of California, about an hour and a half east of San Francisco," she replied to his earlier question, "but let's talk about something interesting. What's it like in Ireland?"
"Dani Shay?"
Damian pondered his answer to her inquiry thoughtfully for a few seconds. "In all honesty, I don't think that Ireland and the U.S. are all that different."
"Ali Stroker?"
"Now, I don't believe that," Lindsay said, feeling her eyebrows rise and eyes widen. Her theatrical background was really annoying, especially when she could feel it kicking in.
"Emily Vásquez?"
"Well of course, they're far from the same, but I guess the people are the things that really remind me of home. By the way, I find whatever we're talking about very interesting," he said with a small smile.
"Nellie Veitenheimer?"
Lindsay prayed that she wasn't blushing furiously as she looked into his eyes, "I'd love to visit Ireland some time, I've heard it's very beautiful. We moved here because my dad got transferred with his job. Why did you decide to be a foreign exchange student?"
"Marissa von Bleicken?"
"They say the best time to live is while you're young," Damian flashed her a quick smile, "coming to the United States has been an adventure to say the least. And Ireland is very beautiful, very old and mystical. If you ever get the chance, I would highly recommend it. Is it a good thing that you had to transfer here?"
"Michael Weisman?"
"I don't know yet. I actually want to know why you started talking to me," Lindsay softly asked him the question that had been on her mind all class, hoping he wouldn't take it the wrong way.
"Ellis Wylie?"
"You looked like you'd be easy to talk to," he replied, "do you want me to stop? Feel free to say no, you seem to be in the same boat as me, and I kind of like talking to you. And I think you're really pretty," he added, quickly, shyly.
Lindsay was dumbfounded. He thought that she was pretty, and she wasn't even wearing any makeup. It took almost a full minute for her to respond: "I won't stop. I like talking to you, too," she said, "although Mr. McCarthy's done with roll call, and we don't want to interrupt class."
"Okay, I'll look forward to talking to you later."
"Same," she whispered, and proceeded to listen as their teacher excitedly went on about a syllabus that outlined their lesson plans for the rest of the year.
When the class ended, Lindsay, along with everyone else, made a quick break for the exit, caught a quick wink from Damian and hurried to her next class, head down to hide the red flush that covered her face.
As she walked away, Lindsay couldn't help but realize how much she enjoyed talking to Damian, and how fast her heart was beating as she walked away from English.
AN: First of all, just wanted to warn everyone that updates on this story may take a little longer because this is a multi-chapter story, and I want it to be really good. It should be worth it, I've worked really hard on it and that's why its taking me so long to write the rest of it. Secondly, you may have noticed that all the kids in this English I class are the contenders from The Glee Project seasons one and two. Should they be in the story as characters? I need your feedback!