She'll Never Be Alone

Watching him out of the corner of my eyes while exerting a huge effort to prevent my head spinning to take him in fully, I smiled.
I ran my eyes over him again...comprehending his look completely.Dark denim pants, black T-shirt & combat boots.Dark.Simple.Made him look good.Yeah... I liked it.
I took in the curly strands of his hair flowing about his face gracefully.They emphasized the Green/blue of his round eyes, which were rimmed in black eyeliner giving them a certain attractive glow.
I suddenly snapped back to reality as I realized he started moving, and not only him, but everyone.I knelt down to grab my messenger bag and threw the strap over my right shoulder.I looked behind me to complete my conversation with Farah.She was practically giving me a lecture about talking to weird looking strangers.I blew air out of my mouth audibly in annoyance, took a deep breath and began,

"Farah...", I tried to sound as patient and tolerant as possible, but a person can only try."Ville isn't a freak.He's a pretty nice guy."

At that moment, I peeked at him and saw him blush.

Aw..., I thought.Isn't that just the cutest thing?What the hell!Snap out of it!

I shook my head slightly as if to chase away flies and then shrugged.As I looked at Farah again, I realized she was about to resume arguing.
I raised my hand in her face.

"Drop it." ,I ordered briefly.She opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again, and stomped away with the rest of the 'gang'.

I followed the line upstairs, momentarily pondering about how a boring day this was going to be.I shook my head lightly and looked up to see Ville slowly following the line.
I chuckled slightly, he looked so lost and confused. He'll need help to find places around here. I'll show him around, I decided. It should be fun.
Once the teachers told us what floor our classes were, everybody scrambled to look at two papers with lists of names.There were two lists, list A and B, indicating that we were to be divided into two classes.
I walked up to the paper stapled to the notice board and scanned through them.At that moment, Naila, my best friend, came skipping from behind.

"Yo dude!What class are you in this year?" , she asked enthusiastically as she started scanning the list too.

As my eyes located my name, It turns out I'm in class A.

"Cool dude!You're with me in the same class!!", Naila said after she reached the same conclusion.She gave me a high five.

As I laughed at her immatureness, I saw a dark figure move close by with the corner of my eyes.I averted my gaze toward it and realized it was only Ville.He was obviously at loss at what to do, so I called him over.

He approached us shyly as I introduced him to Naila.

"Ville, this is Naila. We've been best friends for about 10 years now .", I chuckled." And Naila, this is Ville, he's a new comer here." , I sent him a warm smile.

" 'S'up dude?", Naila asked cheerfully , and I could see Ville's lip rise slightly at the corner.

"So what class are you in?" , I asked Ville suddenly.His eyes widened for a brief second, then he said,

"No idea."

"Wait, I'll check for you."

As Naila checked, I could feel everyone's stares, boring into my back.I shrugged off the uneasy feeling.

"Class A, you're with us dude !" , Naila declared and I smiled encouragingly in Ville direction.

Naila, Ville and I started heading for the classroom with the big "A" stapled to the door.We entered and took a seat at the very back of the room.Ville was in the right back corner, me in front of him , and Naila on my left.

As everyone settled down, a short , skinny woman walked in carrying a purse and a folder bulging with papers.She set everything on the teacher's desk.So yeah...obviously she was our new Form teacher.We automatically stood up as she faced the class.I could glimpse Ville eying everyone nervously, then standing up himself.

"Good morning class.Please take a seat."

Scraping of chairs, hushed giggles.

"I'm Mrs Adly.I will be your form & English teacher for this academic year.", The skinny woman spoke again.Her voice had a certain squeak at the end of each sentence."Would you believe introduce yourselves to me.And if you're a new comer, just please mention it."

One by one, every one of us stood up, recited his name, age and clarified his state of existence in the school.
It was finally My turn...I stood up reluctantly.

"I'm Isabella Ahmed," I took a deep breath."I'm 13 and I'm not a new comer"

I sat down hurriedly as the teacher nodded in my direction.I spun in my seat to see Ville's face turn even paler - if that was possible - and he stood up.

"Um..." , he stuttered, and I could see Youssef and his gang snicker at the poor guy."I'm Ville.I'm 14 and I'm a new comer."

"Oh, so you're the only new comer?" , Mrs Adly asked him, eying him from above her spectacles.I could almost hear him gulp before he mumbles a 'yes'.

"What school were you transferred from?", the skinny teacher asked again.I could almost feel his tension.I hated being in such situations.I pitied him greatly.

"Uh...I'm not from Egypt, Ma'am."

I frowned as the boys started making fun of him and wolf-whistling.Just because he called the teacher ma'am.The price you pay for being polite . I thought.
He looked around nervously as Mrs.Adly made an attempt to silence the boys.I saw Naila give him a tiny thumbs-up.

"I'm from Vallila, Finland.", he finally said.He didn't wait for the teacher to nod, he just sat down.The teacher took a moment to arrange some papers.She then looked up, pushed the glasses up the bridge of her nose and asked,

"Would any of you please be nice enough to show Ville around the school and keep him company?", she smiled sweetly.

A moment passes quietly, in which no one spoke and me and Naila exchanged a look.Ville started saying something but I interrupted him.

"I'll do it.", I said, raising my hand to get her attention."Naila and I will do it." I corrected, high-fiving Naila.We both turned to smile at Ville.I could feel the eyes of everyone in class.They were probably going to lecture me about it later...so I wasn't going to think about it much now.

"Why, thank you Isabella.", the teacher said cheerfully."Now...I think it's time we start our first lesson of the year.Tell me what do you -"

She was interrupted mid-sentence by the shrill ringing of the bell, signaling it was the end of our first lesson of the year.I sighed heavily as I watched Mrs.Adly collect her stuff and leave the class.I turned in my seat to look at Ville.

"Hi.", I said cheerfully , grinning.He seemed taken aback, but soon enough his grin matched mine.

"Yo dude, " , I felt Naila whisper in my ear. "You do know they're talking about you , right?"

I simply shrugged, risking a glance to the huge group of people crowded by the window.Nearly everyone in class was huddled in that group , whispering and looking at us.
I shrugged the uneasy feeling off and turned to Ville again.

"So-o-o-o, " I drawled on, but was interrupted when the teacher for our second lesson entered.I turned around in my chair as everyone scrambled to their places.We all stood up simultaneously.

The next two lessons went by in a flash.It was pretty boring though.The teachers who entered wanted to get to know us, and we repeated the same stuff each time.It was obviously hard for Ville.It was hard enough as it is, and he was a shy guy.He didn't need anymore hi-my-name-is's.

Our noisy bell was the thing that woke me up from my fantasies.It was time for the 10-minute break.I got up and stretched.I don't like having to sit down for so long, nor will I ever like it.I scanned the class ,and as usual, every one was huddled at the window.I rolled my eyes and told Naila and Ville I was going to the bathroom.As I left the class, I felt someone tug on my arm.I looked around to find it was Naila.

"I thought you were with Ville?", I asked.

"Well obviously I'm not.Since I'm standing right here with you." , she smirked.I rolled my eyes at her as we entered the ladies' bathroom.

I splashed icy-cold tap water to my face.If lessons continued to be this boring till the end of the day, I wasn't sure I could guarantee being awake.I let the water drip down on my shirt as I looked at my reflection in the mirror. I stared at those ugly purple shadows under my eyes.I loathed them.They showed how much I suffered.A thing I've been trying to hide from everyone.

Maybe this year no one will notice. Hopefully not Ville.

I sighed heavily as someone opened the door to the cubicle right behind me.It was Alia, one of my classmates.

"Hey, are you okay?", she asked kindly, her hand on my shoulder.I smiled warmly at her reflection in the mirror and whispered a 'yes'.

She smiled briefly and left.Naila and I were the only two left in the bathroom.She was still in one of the cubicles.I straightened up at the sound of the bell signaling the end of our break.

"Hey Naila , I'm going to head back to class, okay?"

Her response was an indistinguishable sound that I took for a yes.And so, I ran back to class, entering just a moment before our next period's teacher.

As I settled in my seat and took in the teacher that just entered, it hit me.
We had Arabic.
Poor Ville...
I turned around to look at him.He seemed just as lost as ever.I stood up and went up to the teacher.
After explaining to him the fact that Ville is a new comer and is not capable of speaking Arabic, he asked me to tell him that he was allowed to go to the library for the coming two lessons if he wished, or just stay here in class.

I went back to my seat and explained the situation to Ville.He listened to me with wide eyes, obviously frightened at the idea of trying to find the library.

"It's just at the end of the corridor.Right before the ladies' bathroom.", I said encouragingly.He smiled weakly , then stood up and left.

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An Hour And A Half Later :
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As the bell finally rang signaling the end of our double Arabic lessons, I saw Ville run back from the library and enter the class.He looked pretty nervous.

"What's wrong?", I questioned.

"Nothing.It was just creepy sitting there all alone.Your librarian wasn't even there!"

I chuckled darkly at what he said.After I told him to get whatever food he had, Naila told me that she needed to be down right now because she had a soccer match, and I just nodded.

"Why do I get my sandwiches out?", he questioned curiously.

"Well, it's break time!" , I told him cheerfully.He took in my face slowly then smiled and opened his bag.His hand came out with foil-wrapped sandwiches.As I got out my own, I noticed him get out a notebook and a pencil.

"Why are you bringing those?", I asked ,curiously evident in my voice.

"I like to draw stuff in my free time.", he answered shyly, looking down.

"Oh! Then we have this in common ", I flashed him a bright smile.I left the class, Ville hot on my heels, and started down the stairs to the big sandy playground.

As we took a seat in a shady corner, we watched Naila scream instructions and move right and left rapidly in her place in front of the goal post.She was the goal keeper for our class' team.And damn was she talented.

"So..." , I said, averting my gaze from Naila to Ville, shyly sitting beside me."Can I have a look at your drawings?"

"Well...", he said hesitantly."They suck but...knock yourself out."

I slowly opened the notebook, noticing a different collection of drawings.Some were colored, some were just shaded.Some were not even drawings at all, just some scribbled lyrics.

I stopped at a drawing of a girl in a white dress.She was sitting on a stone wall.Behind her the scene was all grass and blue sky.The girl had her hand reaching out, palm upwards.On her hand stood a beautifully colored butterfly.The look the girl had on her face was unforgettable.
It was kind of a cynical look, a mocking one, if you shall.Like she was mocking you for standing there watching her while she enjoyed all the nature around her.

I stared at that picture for a while, trying to arrange a coherent sentence to describe how much I like it.

"I really like this one", I said. It was all I could say at that moment.The beauty of the painting had captured me.

Ville smiled shyly and whispered a 'thank you'.
I sifted through more of his drawing, the picture of the girl never leaving my mind's eye.