Skye sighed as she walked through the doors on her first day of high school. She glanced wistfully at the older students as they laughed and chatted while they calmly stood around waiting for the first bell. Envious, Skye stuck a hand in her pocket and fumbled around for her crinkled schedule. By the time she finally figured out what room she needed to go to, the first bell rang, sending a pang of nervousness through her. Taking a deep breath to collect herself, she started off down the maze of hallways.
She felt lucky when she slid into her seat just as the tardy bell rang and watched with smug satisfaction as several students came hurrying through the door, late to class. Finding her way around wasn't going to be as hard as she had thought, she realized happily. Her math teacher was just as dull as those that had come before her, however, and Skye was more than happy to jump up and race through the door after being lectured for an hour and a half on class procedures. She was busy trying not to get lost on the way to her next class when a hand grabbed her shoulder and a familiar voice said, "Hey Skye! What's up?"
She turned to find Rachel, her old babysitter. "Wow, you have grown!" Rachel said with a grin. Skye shrugged and returned the smile. "Well, maybe a little." Suddenly the warning bell rang and she quickly looked back at her schedule, a growing feeling of panic welling up inside her. She distantly heard Rachel ask where she was headed, and glanced up at her longtime friend. "I'm not lost, if that's what you're asking," she said defensively.
"Okay, well I'll catch you later, then," Rachel said, hiding a smile. She turned and started off to her class with a final wave and was soon lost in the crowd. Skye sighed, knowing she couldn't possibly make it to class on time now. She decided to head off in the direction Rachel had taken and managed to make it to class only a minute after the tardy bell. As she stood nervously before the door, she noticed a sign which read "Mr. Trebond." Pictures of mystical creatures lined the door frame and covered the walls. Shaking her head at this strange first impression of her teacher, she walked into the room and quietly took a seat beside a girl she had know since 7th grade.
As Mr. Trebond began the required lecture over classroom procedures, Skye could tell right away that she would like this class. The teacher had both a great sense of humor and also seemed to possess a great deal of knowledge - the ideal teacher, in her opinion. She was so intent on listening to him that it wasn't until halfway through class that she noticed a boy across the room staring at her. Annoyed, she turned to glare at him for disrupting her unusually enjoyable time in class. Instead of looking away when she turned to look at him, he simply smiled and winked at her, his eyes dancing. Shooting him another glare, Skye turned back towards the teacher, who was writing something on the board. She could still feel those eyes watching her. What does he want? she wondered. At first she had been surprised to see he looked older than her, but she remembered that there were often older kids in freshman classes for various reasons. She soon forgot about the boy, however, as they began their first lesson over short stories, and was dismayed when the bell rang for her to go to lunch.
The rest of the day passed without mishap, and Skye felt much better about high school once she got home. She was reluctant to think about the amount of homework that loomed over the course of the next year, but she knew that if Rachel had done it, she could too. That night before she went to sleep, as she was pondering whether or not to like her new school soccer coach, she remembered the boy from her English class. She scowled and rolled over, pulling her covers tightly around her. Why was he staring at me? she asked herself, a little unnerved as she remembered his steady gaze. Maybe I can ask for a seat on the other side of the room. Satisfied with this solution, she closed her eyes and immediately drifted into a sound sleep.