Tied Together With a Smile

I rushed through the entrance to the school, half running to my class. I was running a little late. Class had not started yet, but I really wanted to get there early. I rush through the crowd, carefully making sure I didn’t bump into any one, then bam it happened. Out of nowhere a shoulder smashed against mine and my bag fell to the ground with a few books falling out. I looked to the person who carried on walking, not a care in the world. I kneel down fumbling with my books; this made me feel a little unsettled. A few people walking past steered and laughed, but I kept my head down. I got up and rushed to the classroom, keeping my head down and not interacting. So much for a good start eh? Well it could have gone worse I guess.

I walk through the doors and the teacher smiles at me, “hello, you’re Emma right? The new girl?” She asked and beckons me over.

I slowly walk over and smile up at her, she seems nice. “That is correct” I say and look out over the classroom. You could easily tell who was popular and who wasn’t. And I am certain I will fall into the unpopular crowd.

“Great! It is nice to meet you, I am Mrs White and I am your English teacher,” She says and then looks to the rest of the class. “Alright everyone, class is in session. This is our new student, her name is Emma.”

“Hi Emma,” the class all say out. I blush a little and look down at my shoes then over to the teacher. She signals me to take a seat, and then she starts class. I walk over to an empty seat, next to a red headed girl and she smiled over at me. She has glasses on with slightly frizzy hair. I smile back at her before looking to the front of the class and beginning my first class at this new school.

xXx

After class the red head girl turns to me and asks, “So what do you have next? My name is Abigail by the way!” She seems very excited and fun.

“Hey! I have maths next,” I reply as I look at the sheet of paper telling me my classes. “With Mr. Hanson,” I add and she grins at me.

“Me too!” She says and we both start talking and head to our next class. We sit next to each other and it wasn’t long before she was filling me in on everyone in our grade. She tells me about the rich kids with a lot of money, who are like extremely popular. She then tells me about a couple of the kids that keep to themselves a lot. And then there is her, Abigail says she keeps to herself, but we hit it off instantly.

It wasn’t long before class had finished, we both headed to the cafeteria and we grabbed some food and sat down at a table by ourselves. Now she started to tell me about everyone, and it wasn’t long before we got up to the grade 9’s. One in particular stood out, it was him. It was my next door neighbour. She starts to talk about the small group he was amongst. The outsiders, the group that didn’t really fit in, they all had dark hair, wore skinnies and band shirts. I smiled and asked if she had talked to him. She quickly denies it and says how a girl called Scout, a grade 10 student had a crush on him, and how she was ultra popular and would destroy anyone else in her way.

“She likes him so much, and he knows it...” She pauses and thinks about what she just said. “I think he knows it. I am pretty sure. The two will probably start dating soon; he needs to pluck up the courage to ask her out,” She starts to babble on more about the love that the two have for each other. I cringe and look down; maybe I should cut my losses?

“Why doesn’t she ask him out? Like, a guy asking a girl out is so old fashion,” I interrupt her and she looks at me and laughs.

“Do you really think miss sophistication could take being turned down, just in case he doesn’t actually dig her?” She says and laughs again. I grin and look over to him; I might as well cut my losses, no point getting hurt... Right?

It wasn’t long before the first break was over and we were heading to the music class. I met some more cool people in this class; a lot of down to earth kids were with us. The teacher was really cool to, he knew the best ways to teach each student, and treated us as individuals, instead of a whole. I really liked that class; we all got along so well. It wasn’t long till we were hitting physical education, then another break before science and history. After school finished Abigail and I hopped on the bus and we both chatted near the back. I saw him again, he was laughing with a few friends. Scout was near the group with her friends and they were being pretty loud. Probably trying to draw attention to themselves, and it was working. I looked and could see him eyeing her up. It made my heart break a little. “Bye! See you tomorrow!” Abigail says as she gets up. I smile and give her a big hug saying that I will see her tomorrow, before looking out the window. I had only met him a few times as a kid; yeah we got a long well. But should I really be feeling this way about him?

It wasn’t long before I reached my stop; it wasn’t far from my house. I got up and started making my way to the front, but I couldn’t help but feel like eyes were on me. I look behind me and there he was, with a big smile on his face. I blushed, my cheeks going crimson. “Did you really have to look?” I mumble to myself quietly as I hope off.

“Hey, your Emma right?” He says as he gets off the bus and starts walking next to me. I still could feel eyes on me; I look to the bus and see Scout and her friends glaring at me. “Don’t pay attention to them, but you are Emma right?”

I look back to him and blush a little more. His eyes are so gorgeous, beautiful blue crystals. “Y-yeah, it’s Emma,” I stutter and then curse myself for sounding so stupid.

“Oh cool! I thought it was you, I couldn’t forget your smile,” He says and then stops and looks at my uncle and aunt’s house. “You were really cute as a kid, it is good to know the world hasn’t destroyed that,” He says and then takes my hand and kisses it. “See you round!” He says and then runs off up to his house. I feel my legs go weak, my stomach gets a bit woozy, and I stumble into the house, sitting on the stairs and taking in deep breaths.

“Calm Emma, calm,” I mumble to myself as I try to slow my heart rate down. I really can’t believe that happened. He kissed my hand. Andy, the boy next door, he kissed my hand.