Chapter 2: New Friend?
Cagalli heaved a sigh as she stood in front of her locker. The first day was finally complete, and she was one of the only students left in the halls. Slowly, she turned the dial until her locker door opened. So far, other than her backpack and jacket, only a notebook and a textbook from her science class was inside. She had four out of her eight classes today (the welcoming assembly took up almost two hours of the school day) and wondered how full her locker would become as the months went on.
Onogoro Academy included many areas of study. Besides the core math, science and literature classes, the students could pick to study almost any topic they could think of; from culinary arts to robotics. It was almost like a University's curriculum. As a junior, Cagalli was required to take Algebra, Physical Science and Contemporary Literature (The classes of the day). The rest of her roster, for the first half of the school year, included: Physical Education, Health, Political Science, Culinary I and Orb History.
I wonder if he'll be in any of my classes, she thought as she zipped her bag.
Heaving another sigh, she shut her locker. Instantly, she gasped. Her bag fell to the ground. A boy, with brown skin and hair, who was eye level to her, was standing beside her.
"Holy crap!" she exclaimed, her hand clenching to her chest.
The boy bent down and picked her backpack up, handing it to her.
"Ah, sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to shock you."
"You shouldn't creep up on people," she flung her bag over her shoulder. "I didn't hear you come up."
"Yeah," he rubbed the back of his head and looked down, sheepishly. "I was a little nervous coming over here."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Why?"
"Because you're Cagalli, right?"
Hearing her name caused her heart to race, and she feared what he would say next.
Does he know? she thought.
"Cagalli Yula? You used to play field hockey in my town."
Cagalli let out a breath. She almost chuckled.
"You're referring to Desert Dawn," she said.
"Yeah!" the boy lit up."I saw the name on your jacket, but I wasn't completely sure, so I had to come see for myself."
Cagalli smiled.
"Well, my days with them are over. It was fun, but mainly something for me to do so I could escape home. I needed to let out frustration and my list of extracurricular activities were limited by being homeschooled."
"I didn't know you were homeschooled."
"Well, you don't know me," she shrugged.
Cagalli began to take her leave. Giving her farewells, she started down the hall.
"Wait," the boy shouted.
Cagalli turned around.
"I always thought you were really cool," his cheeks were red, "and I am glad to see that we now go to the same school…would you want to hang out sometime?"
"What year are you in?"
"I'm a junior," he said, proudly.
Cagalli's face contorted into an expression that read skepticism.
"You don't look it…"
"Well I am!" his entire face was red now.
She giggled.
"What's your name?"
"Ahmed."
"Nice to meet you, Ahmed. We can definitely hang out sometime."
R&R