Every Word Sounds Absurd

I let out a long, melancholious sigh as the bell rang, announcing my need to migrate to fourth hour. I hooked my messenger bag over my shoulder and paced quickly to the girls' dressing hall for citizenship. Mrs. Halsey greeted me warmly, giving me the white polo, dark joggers and athletic skirt I would be using for the year.

"Change into your joggers," she called out attentively in her thick, Scottish accent. "It's raining, but we'll be running anyhow." The hall of young women groaned as they changed slowly in front of their lockers. I looked back at the older women, looking to be in about her mid-40's, as she assigned me my own locker.

I moved through the girls, a slight blush creeping onto my cheeks as they were half undressed and staring at me. I was thankful to find my locker located in the very back of the hall, clearly out of view from all of the other girls. I opened it up quickly, setting in my travel-sized deodorant, shampoo and body wash. I slid into my joggers easily after removing my uniform, slipping on my athletic bra and polo before tying my hair into a tight ponytail on the back of my head. My feet slid into my black Adidas before I closed my locker and made my way out to the crowd of girls that were now migrating outside. We had all pulled on our hoodies, all having the school emblem stitched onto the front.

I pulled my hood over my head s we entered the rain, hoping to keep it from drizzling onto my glasses lenses. I looked around to see what I assumed was the popular clique, whispering, smirking and pointing at me, probably discussing my figure. I moved my hands to meet in the front pocket of my sweater, looking across the field to a class of boys also coming out to exercise.

My dark caramel eyes quickly met the emerald ones of the young man from earlier, the same smirk still gracing his lips. I blushed incredulously, quickly looking down at my sneakers as the teacher called out to us, allowing us to now run the track.

I ran fairly quickly, adjusting myself to be in the middle of the crowd, my mind blocking everyone and everything out. I simply listened to the rain cascading onto the grass and the track and the school buildings, soft chatter being said back and forth among some of the other girls. We quickly passed the boys, the girls who had rolled up their joggers and gone without sweaters earning wolf-whistles as their lacey bras became visible behind their soaked t-shirts. I shook my head to myself before once again scanning the crowd of young men, my eyes widening slightly as they landed on the curly haired boy from the morning.

He had his large hands planted firmly on the bum of a very skinny blonde girl, embracing her in a fierce lip-lock. I tore my gaze away, feeling a slight pang in my chest of an emotion I couldn't quite put my finger on.

So I kept on running.



After showering quickly ahead of all the other girls in hopes of not being noticed, redressing and moving out quickly to the corridors, I found an empty seat closest to the door in Mr. Lawson's French 4 class. Just as the bell sounded, signalling the beginning of their period, the chair next to mine was pulled with a screeching sound. I looked over and was met with the soft smile of the blonde boy from earlier, his gaze moving quickly down my body and back up to my eyes, but not in a perverted way. ""Ello, love." he said, his Irish accent even thicker than before. I felt a small smile playing on my lips as he held his hand out to me to shake. "I'm Niall- Niall Horan." I nodded gently, taking his hand and shaking it slowly, his braces-covered teeth showing behind his lips in a friendly smile. "And you?"

I felt a soft blush creep onto my cheeks as I quickly pulled my hand away, looking down at them as they laid flat in my lap. "I-I"m Anastasia... B-but you can uhm.. call me Annie, if you'd like..." My voice was soft and weak, a sort of nervousness coursing through me, as I rarely made contact with many people. No one wanted to talk to the frump girl.

"Anastasia, eh?" he grinned down at me, his large blue eyes sparkling. "Beautiful name for a beautiful girl."

I felt my skin burn, my blush deepening from his compliment; it had been the first compliment I had ever received, in all of my life. And it made me feel good- it made me feel special.

"T-thank you.." I managed to choke out, a soft chuckle escaping his bright pink lips. "You're American, eh? I went to Boston once, as a kid. It was nice. Food was good." His gaze shifted down onto me again, his top teeth grazing gently along his bottom lip. "Where're ya from? Anywhere I'd know?"

I couldn't help but stare at his lips as he licked them frequently, their slight chappedness visible over the bright, natural color they possessed. The thought ran through my mind of how they would feel against mine in a kiss, or how just a kiss would feel in general. I had never been graced with a first kiss, or any kiss for that manner. "Albany.." I murmured softly, tearing my eyes away from his lips. "It's not too far from New York City, where my father works... He's an attorney there.."

"That's nice." he said, the smile still evident in his voice. He opened his mouth to speak again, only to be cut of by Mr. Lawson's booming voice. "Class, we'll be having you first unit exam today." he announced, earning a round of moans and groans from the students. He came around quickly, passing it out to everyone, including myself. "Try this out so I can see where you are, yes?" he suggested, an eyebrow raised. I gave him a reassuring half smile and nodded slightly before jotting my name on the top right corner. "Bien, classe. Vous pouvez commencer. Si je t'attrape parler, vous recevrez un à zéro automatique."

I looked down at my paper and quickly filled in the blanks, the correct answers coming at me like fire. By the time I was done, I hadn't noticed that the class had ended and everyone else was gone. I felt sort of sad and embarrassed of myself, when I looked over at where Niall had been sitting and saw a folded piece of paper. I furrowed my brows, picking it up and opening it slowly, reading his chicken-scratch like scrawl, a soft giggle escaping my lips.

Anastasia-
You looked too into the test for me to bother you. I really hope you know that you're beautiful; it's also really cute how shy you are :) sit with my mates and I at lunch tomorrow, yeah? We can be friends :)
-Niall

I felt my heart swell in my chest and butterflies in my stomach. Friends? He wants to be my friend?

I wish that had been the only thought that had mattered to me, but it wasn't.

I was really only thinking of one thing: maybe Harry will be there...