Chapter 1: Nice to Meet You
"And don't forget to make plenty of friends, girls. Maybe you'll even get a boyfriend this year!" I blush deeply as my chatty mother reviews our to-do list for school. "Gressenheller is only allowing the most intelligent young adults in, so you two better be on your best behavior. Especially since this is a new place we're living in." she rambles. My mother has a tradition that on every first day of school, she drives us there, even though I and my sister are capable of taking ourselves.
"Honestly Mother, you'd think we haven't been to a new place in millennia!" I grumble. My big sister laughs while I continue to look out the car window embarrassingly. "Teresa, Mother's only trying to encourage us to do our best." she chuckles. I turn to my sibling, seeing her give me an amused smile. I shake my head in annoyance while the driver pulls into an empty parking space. "Ok girls, let's go." She calls out from outside. Letting out a groan, I gingerly step out into the still humid fall air and gently close the car door.
Inside the university office, it smells of freshly washed clothes and the arrangement reminds me of my grandma's house. A salt and pepper haired woman with bright red lipstick sits at the front desk with a thick book in both hands. My mother clears her throat, causing the lady to jump a little out of her chair. "S-sorry, can I help you?" she stammers. "Right, my two daughters are starting school today." The older woman pulls up something on her computer. "Can I have their names, please?" "Teresa and Claire Foley." My mother announces.
Once we are signed in, the assistant principal Mr. Delmona shows us around the university and gives my mother paperwork. "Here are your schedules and the school map. You'll get the hang of it soon. Good luck, girls." With that, the assistant principal stalks off, leaving my mother, my sister, and me by ourselves. "Bye mum. I'll see you after school." Claire says cheerfully. With my sister leaving to her first class, I say farewell to my mother and begin to walk away.
"Teresa, wait!" she calls out. I turn around and my mum runs up to me. "Can I...walk you there? I just want to see if you have the right class." She pleads. I sigh and usher her to move quickly. Before entering the room, she plants a kiss on my cheek and I hug her in return. She opens the door for me and I nervously walk inside.
The teacher stops mid-sentence and everyone immediately gazes at me. I take a deep breath, trying not to let the embarrassment get to my head, and introduce myself to the teacher. "I'm Teresa Foley, the uh new student." I mumble. The dirty blonde man smiles and shakes my hand. "I hope you have a good time here. Everyone, this is a new girl we have joining our class, Teresa. Treat her with respect and help her feel welcome." he announces to the class.
"There's an empty seat near the middle. Come after school and I'll give you some items you'll need." He whispers. I nod swiftly and find my seat. But then I hear someone holler, "LOVE YOU, HONEYBUN!" I quickly whip around and see, in horror, my mother waving and blowing kisses. I nearly faint in utter embarrassment and shame. When she runs out the door, the room erupts in laughter, along with the teacher turning a little red. I can feel the blood rush to my face and seek out my seat. When I find it, I fold my arms and stare down into my lap.
Once the laughter dies down, I slowly raise my head so I don't bring any unwanted attention. My heart misses a beat when a boy with round black eyes and a red hat on his caramel colored hair. He chuckles and waves slightly at me. I stare wide eyed and smile weakly. When he turns around, I sink into my chair and listen to the teacher's lecture, trying to slow down my heartbeat. I swear, my mother ruins my life sometimes.
As I sit next to a thick tree, with a textbook on archaeology on my lap, I think about that boy I saw in my first class. I never saw him after that moment and I remember his deep black eyes. The cheerleaders are practicing their choreography and a couple squirrels are chasing each other down the sidewalk. Looking back at the large book, I write another bullet point in my notebook, still thinking about the boy.
"I'm sure you'll get used to all the attention around here. You look like you get nervous at anything." A voice says. I look up into the same eyes that I was thinking dreamily about. With a yelp, I bang my head against the tree and cringe a little. The boy crouches down next to me and lifts the textbook off my lap. "My apologies, are you alright, Teresa?" he asked politely. He looks at me with a very worried expression. "Oh it's quite alright. I get pretty easily scared." I half-heartedly chuckle.
He helps me on my feet and examines my head. "It looks like you'll survive. I'm Hershel, by the way." He introduces. "Nice to meet you, Hershel. Well, you already know my name. You're right though, I'm not used to a lot of interest from others. Why is it you're staying after, may I ask?" "Oh, I like to take a walk around campus before heading home. I see you are learning the archaeological basics. They're easy to grasp quickly."
After talking for a while, a car honks repeatedly until we look at my mother waving eagerly at us. Blushing again, I mumble, "Well, that's my mum, here to get me." Hershel bends down to pick up my book and offers to take me over to the silver minivan. I accept his offer cheerfully and we both walk towards the parking lot.
My mother gazes in amazement at the boy next to me and smiles warmly. "Hello, you must be Teresa's mother. It's very nice to meet you." Hershel offers his hand in greeting. "My, are you a polite young man. It's nice to meet you, too." She raises an eyebrow at me in curiosity. "Well, miss; I should be getting back home. I hope we'll meet again sometime." He turns to me and hands me my book before leaving.
"I didn't think you'd find a boy this early, Teresa. I'm very proud of you." She says, astonished. I roll my eyes in amusement and climb into the car. The car goes into motion and I close my eyes, treasuring the moment where I had met the soon to be man I would share my adventures with.
Hi everybody! I was a dummy and forgot to leave a message at the end of the prologue. Anyway, this is my first fan-fiction I've made and my big sister is also making one called Across Two Worlds or something like that. It's pretty good so you should check it out along with my story. Now, about my updates on this thing. I think I'll try writing a new chapter three days a week but if I'm too busy I'll post it at least once a week. But let me know what you think I should do. Thanks for reading and keep your eyes on the screen! ;)