After homeroom ends, most of which consisted of me looking at my schedule and reading, I head to my first class: History. I rather like history, though it can sometimes be hard for me to pay attention. I walk into the class and am immediately stopped by my teacher.
"Name?" He asks curtly.
"Um, Belle Dalton."
He takes a look at the seating chart in his hands and responds, "Third seat back in the row by the window."
I head to my seat and wait as my other classmates receive their assigned seats. Looking out the window, I begin to wonder what adventures I would have gone on if I lived during another era. Maybe in Medieval Times I would have been a bandit or a knight. Ooh a knight. I would have disguised myself as a young boy and join the king's men through my impeccable sword fighting skills. Even if someone found out, they wouldn't be able to do anything about it because I'd be the kingdom's best chances for true protection and-
"Oh god you're still here…. Ew."
"Ewww…" Two voices echo.
My thoughts are interrupted by none other than Becky Thompson and her faithful Bimbettes, Bianca and Brenda. The three blonde girls are seated around me and I feel myself getting red.
Becky continues. "I'm surprised your dad is still able to afford living in this town. Tell me Belle, did he finally strike gold as a mechanic?"
I try to come up with a witty response but I'm too flustered to think of a comeback. Luckily, my teacher starts class and I just glare at the Bimbettes before turning back to the window to resume daydreaming. Though who am I kidding? I wouldn't be the best knight. I can barely get through gym class without feeling like I'm going to die. I'd just be a lousy peasant. Probably the kind that just scoops cow manure…
History ends and the day continues rather uneventfully. Finally, it's lunch. I've manage to avoid Gaston so far and if I hurry to grab lunch, I can probably head to the library before he even reaches the cafeteria.
I scurry towards my locker, trying to go as fast as I can without running into someone. Luckily, no Gaston is spotted nearby and I swiftly swap my morning textbooks for my afternoon ones. So far so good. I head towards the cafeteria but I soon stop in my own tracks, frozen and unsure what to do. In front of me are two different groups, one of Gaston and his friends and the other of the Bimbettes, both blocking the hallway. Even if I manage to squeeze through one group in an attempt to hide from the other, I doubt the other group wouldn't notice. I try to think of my options but my mind is completely blank.
Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I spot someone vaguely familiar. It's a girl from my English class. Without a second thought, I dart towards her direction.
"Hi! You're in my English class, right?" I hear myself ask. The girl turns towards me, understandingly surprised.
"I believe so. You're Belle, if I'm not mistaken."
"You're not. I'm sorry. I forgot your name-"
"It's Emma. Emma Potts. It's a pleasure to meet you."
We continue to make small talk and I soon forget about Gaston and the Bimbettes. Emma seems like the real life Mary Poppins: sweet, cheery, and well mannered. If she wasn't short and a bit on the heavy side, she probably would have looked like her too. Assuming Mary Poppins would wear a purple shirt with a Peter Pan neckline and a plaid skirt, which I think is perfectly possible.
Our conversation is soon interrupted by a tall, lanky, red headed boy and tall, but not quite as tall, and rounder boy.
"Emma! Are you ready to have lunch? I'm starving!" The lanky boy exclaims. He then notices me and asks, "Emma, who's your beautiful friend here?"
Emma rolls her eyes and giggles. "Lucas, this is Belle. Belle, Lucas Bouchard. That's Stewart right next to him."
"Bouchard means 'Big Mouth' in French. An appropriate last name if I do say so myself" Stewart snickers.
"Shut up! At least it's not Cogsworth. What the heck is a Cogsworth anyway?" Lucas retorts. He then turns to me. "Enchanté," he says as he grabs my hand and kisses it.
"Lucas, you can't keep using that move on every girl you meet," Emma laughs. "What are you going to do when you actually are interested in the girl?"
"Easy. I'll put my arm around her and give her a huge smooch on the cheek." As he's saying this, he demonstrates by putting his arm around Stewart and giving him, well, "a huge smooch" right on the cheek.
Stewart groans, "Can we just go to lunch already?"
"Sure, let's" Emma responds. "Belle, would you like to join us?"
I probably smiled a lot more than I should have but somehow I felt like this is the friend group I've been wanting for a long time. "Sure!"
