The bell rang, and its echoes cried through the hall. Vibrations in the air beat on her eardrums, pricking the soft and tender flesh. It would take a while to get used to it. Back home, the bell was played over the PTA, several high notes instead of a continuous ringing.
"So you've got your schedule, and oh-" Principal Dorothy Martin cut herself off mid sentence, calling out to a student who appeared to be trying to get to class. Of course, if the Principal herself decided to stop you, obviously one would think it was for an important reason.
"This is Theodore Harrow," Principal Martin gestured towards the boy, "he shares most of his classes with you. He'll help you through the day."
Sakura turned towards the other student, who in turn grinned at her with what had to be one of the most brilliantly structured faces she had ever seen. "Now then, if you need anything, you can come to me. Although I'm sure you won't have to, since you'll have Theodore's assistance. Have a good first day, dear!"
Principal Martin had sauntered off in the direction of the main office before Sakura could say anything. Of course, it's not like she would have spoken against Principal Martin's judgement; if she had decided to entrust Sakura's fate to this boy then it would obviously had been for the better. At least Sakura hoped so.
"So... I didn't get your name," Theodore spoke as soon as Principal Martin had left, without breaking a beat. Sakura was thankful, it seemed he knew how to keep conversations flowing without a trace of awkwardness.
She looked up at the boy, who was indeed taller. Intimidation flushed her cheeks, but the color was more from how good-looking she found this boy to be. "Sakura," her voice came out low and uneven, her tongue nearly tripping on its own self.
Theodore smiled again, "Pretty name. You must be the exchange student from Japan. I may not know a lot about the language, but I do know enough to say with confidence 'Sakura' is the Japanese word for cherry blossom."
Sakura nodded. Common knowledge, but even so, impressive. "Thank you," her eyes cast downward, not sure what to say next, "I'm not sure where to go for this class," Sakura awkwardly pointed at her schedule, inwardly beating herself for how clipped she was making herself seem.
Another blush crept up her neck, threatening to bloom across her face as Theodore leaned closer to examine.
"Oh, we have that class together. Let's start walking, we only have like three minutes left of passing time before the tardy bell rings. We can talk on the way too," Theodore smiled again, already a few steps ahead of herself. Sakura decided she liked his face. And he had proven to be quite kind as well.
"Umm, Theodore-"
"You can call me Teddy," Sakura was surprised how quickly he had interjected, as if it was a consecutive practice.
"Ok," Sakura began evenly, "Teddy, is Principal Martin always so informal?"
"Martin? Informal?" Teddy turned in Sakura's direction, and she gave a little nod to confirm what she was asking.
Dorothy Martin was an elderly, sincere and kind woman, from what Sakura observed from a few moments ago. She was a different kind of principal; certainly distinguishable from the one Sakura had at her old high school back at Japan.
Teddy pursed his lip in thought, and Sakura looked over. His hair was a lovely shade of brown. Like the color of tea, and she especially liked when the it caught the light at a certain degree. It made his hair shine rusty red, but only sometimes. Teddy's eyes were framed with impossibly long and thick eyelashes that shamed her short lengthed ones. Sakura turned away, embarassed she'd been caught staring when Teddy caught her gaze.
"Well, it's not necessarily informality she's showing. It's just the slightest bit formal, but maybe you're just not used to it? And it's not like we're not showing her any disrespect either, just because Principal Martin's incredibly friendly towards us. She's like a grandma to the students here, and she treats us like we're her grandchildren."
"She sounds welcoming," Sakura familiarized herself with the caring grandma image of the principal as they turned a corner.
"She's not the only one," Teddy stepped in front of her as they neared a classroom door, and offered another dazzling smile, "Tell you what, I'll come find you when it's lunch time, and I'll introduce you to my friends," his hands were shoved into the front pockets of his jeans, and he leaned forward so his eye level was equal with Sakura's.
"O-okay," she could feel the heat on her face, and she knew she was blushing. Boys back in Japan were certainly not daring, at least to this extent.
Teddy beamed, "Alright then, that's that," the brunette stepped back and pointed at the classroom entrance, "This is our first period, here," Teddy explained when he saw Sakura's confused expression.
Her eyes widened, "I knew that," Sakura bit her lip when Teddy gave a small chuckle before he set a foot through the door.
"And by the way," he turned around, pausing before the rest of himself entered through the door, "I hope you don't mind, but I think I'll just call you Cherry."
aaaand there we have the second chapter. pretty boring for a start, but eh.
my introductions are never good haha. read and review please. i'd love to know.
oh btw, i've introduced two care bears already to the story line! can you guess them?
one is most definitely grams bear, and the other is tenderheart bear :D
