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I found my locker and opened it. It was actually pretty clean, I was lucky. I let out a sigh as I stowed all the notebooks my mum had told me to bring into my locker. I begged her to leave it at home since it was my first day and I didn’t really need to bring so much stuff. She just gave me a quick telling off and said, “It’s better to be prepared than to wait until the last minute.”
Then, someone leaned casually against the locker next to mine. I looked up and saw a guy with curly blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. He had a nice build. You could tell because the dark grey shirt he was wearing showed off his nice body. I would’ve been swooning over him, but he had a cocky smirk on his face. I’m not keen on arrogant guys. “Hey, sweetheart. What do you say we get out of here and do something more entertaining?” He asked and added a wink.
“Sorry, my parents told me to stay away from strangers,” I said, almost smiling when he looked shocked for a moment. He wasn’t used to being turned down, obviously. I gave myself a little smile.
“But how are you going to make new friends if you don’t talk to people you don’t know?” He gave another smirk. I was already ready to give this guy a good slap. Did my forehead read, “I’m easy”? I don’t think so. “I’m Luca. Luca Carson. And you look familiar.” He said. Oh man, here we go with the pick-up lines. Great.
“Yeah, I guess I look like the girl you’ve been waiting for, or maybe even your next girlfriend?” I’ve heard that a lot before.” He looked shocked again, before smirking at me once more.
“Darling, you could fall off a building or out of a tree, but –”
“But the best way to fall is to fall in love with me,” I interrupted him, and looked up to see him shocked. I laughed and scrunched up my nose. “Just give it up, Romeo. You’re lame and boring.”
“Romeo’s a wuss and I’m not boring,” he said, faking hurt.
“Well, he’s got more man-ness than you’ll ever have.”
He laughed. “Chick, you’re good,” he said, and held out his hand so I could give him a round of applause. “You know what? You’re my new best friend. I’m really keen to find a great woman. “All the girls here are too easy.” He put his arm around my shoulder in a friendly way and we started walking down the hall. “I’m going to show you off to my mates! But seriously, what’s your name?”
“Wow, Luca. You’re so bipolar! I mean, first you hit on me and then you’re suddenly excited that I rejected you,” I laughed. “I’m Talia. I said, “Talia Ainsley,” in a husky voice, just like he had when he introduced himself earlier, and he laughed.
“Do you have a Band-Aid?” He said something in my ear.
“Why?” I asked, pausing dramatically. “Let me guess, you scraped your knee falling for me?” We both laughed out loud and I gave him a playful shove.
“Wow, you’re really good at this.” At last, we got to his group of friends. I was gobsmacked. How many good-looking people are in this school? This school is full of people who look like gods or goddesses. “Hey guys, this is Talia Ainsley. Just call her Tali. You know, like Elias Ainsley’s sister.” They nodded, like they knew what was going on. I was surprised they knew my brother. “She’s a total badass. She turned me down.” Everyone laughed when he pretended to cry.
“I’m Damien,” the guy with the brown frohawk and grey eyes said. He had his hands around a pretty girl’s waist. Obviously, that was his girlfriend. “He’s a real badass, just like your brother.” He asked. I nodded and smiled, feeling pretty proud of my brother.
The girl Damien was holding had green eyes and blonde, wavy hair that went past her shoulders. She piped up. “I’m Brielle Carson. That idiot’s twin sister,” she said, nodding towards Luca. She looked at her twin with a look of disgust on her face. Luca stuck his tongue out at her.
“I’m Avery,” the guy with the dirty blonde hair said, shaking my hand. He looked a bit uneasy. He wasn’t the social type, was he?
“And I’m Roman,” the last guy said. He had short black hair that was spiked up. From the way he looked, I could tell that lots of girls were into him. He smiled at me and shook my hand.
The bell went and I said goodbye, not wanting to be late for my first class. That would make me look bad for the rest of the year. We had five minutes to get to class before the late bell sounded. I hurried up the stairs to the ‘A’ section of the building.
I strolled down the hallway, keeping my eyes peeled for Class 218. I was getting impatient. Oh no, I’m going to be late for my first class on my first day, I thought. My teacher’s going to think I’m one of those people who think they’re ‘badass’. I rolled my eyes. Teachers were so judgmental. Oh well, it’s not my fault the numbers on the board were faded and so hard to read.
I was trying to work out the numbers on the classroom wall, and I bumped into someone. I took a step back when I felt it, but luckily, I caught myself before I fell. Where our skin touched, it tingled, and I couldn’t help but rub it. “Oops, sorry,” I said, feeling a bit nervous. Would this person have killed me? To be honest, I was a bit intimidated by the school from the start, mainly because there were so many attractive people and the atmosphere felt a bit off.
I looked up at a tall guy who looked about my age and had a nice build. He had black hair and blue eyes. He was a total hunk. I’d probably have been a goner for him if he hadn’t had that look on his face. We looked at each other, and everything just stopped for a second. It felt like we were the only two in the hallway. My heart was in my mouth and I couldn’t breathe. I saw something in those blue eyes. It was as if I were looking at the scene all by myself. It was a massive grey wolf, and he looked like a puppy that had just been given a treat. It was as if he’d finally found what he’d been looking for all his life. I don’t know why, but it made my heart swell up.
The scene disappeared, and I closed my eyes. I felt dizzy and stupid. I was hallucinating again. I opened my eyes again when I got my strength back. His face softened a bit, but then he looked a bit grumpy. “Watch where you’re going, woman. Are you blind or something?” He said something pretty harsh and then just walked off, but he bumped my shoulder really hard, and I fell to the ground. I grabbed my shoulder in pain. It was bad enough that it was hurting already. Everyone started laughing at me and I felt the blood rush to my cheeks. I watched the mysterious guy’s back retreating, and for some reason, I felt like my heart broke in two.
What on earth? I thought. What’s happening? And what on earth is that guy’s backside? I smiled a little. He had a great b**t, no doubt about it. I shook my head to get rid of those nasty thoughts. He wasn’t having a great morning, but he shouldn’t have taken out his anger on me. I didn’t do anything to him. Why did I feel like my heart broke in two? I didn’t know him. I certainly didn’t love him. I don’t believe in falling in love. It was a bit overrated, to be honest. I started to feel angry and heard a deep growl. It wasn’t until then that I realised it came from me. What on earth? Did I just growl?
This school just doesn’t feel right. I could feel it in the atmosphere. I felt like there were a lot of things I was meant to find out. But how can I find it if I don’t even know what I’m looking for? And why did I feel like I didn’t know myself anymore? I felt like I was stronger, but my temper was on the edge. I’ve never lost my temper that quickly before. I was curious about the reason for this change of mood. Oh yeah, I wasn’t myself. I’m Talia Ainsley. I was a bit off the wall.
The people were still staring at me, and for a moment, I felt embarrassed. “Keep your chin up and grin. Keep your chin up and stay strong. You’re strong,” I heard my brother say. So, I got up, grabbed my things, and walked out with my head held high, feeling strong.
Hey, just wanted to let you know that I’ve got a couple of things to sort out before I can get back to you.
I did a little victory dance in my head when I found classroom A218. Yeah, I made it just in time. I thought I was just about to get there as the late bell went. The class was full of students, with a few chairs empty. Some of the students were lost in thought, while the others looked a bit bored. When I walked over to Mr Brooks’ desk, everyone looked up, and a bunch of people started staring at me.
Mr. Brooks was pretty young. I’d say he was about twenty-five. He was pretty fit, but I was too young for him. And let’s not forget, he was my teacher. I felt pretty grossed out by the idea of a teacher kissing a student. He had light brown hair that was cut short and hazel eyes. He had a perfect face and a great body. A little voice in my head was like, “Please don’t tell me the teachers here are hot, too.” I don’t think I could handle all that pressure.
I got up close to his little office at the back of the room, and he was sitting with his feet up on the dark wooden desk. He was looking at his phone and tapping on the screen. Was he texting? I was surprised to find he looked pretty relaxed. The teachers at my old school never looked this relaxed and carefree.
I looked at Mr Brooks, but he hadn’t spotted me yet. He was still texting on his iPhone. I cleared my throat and he looked up slowly. He smiled and it looked like he got it. “You must be the new student,” he said. “Talia, right?”
“Just call me Tali,” I said, smiling and nodding.
“Right, class, this is our new student, Tali,” Mr Brooks said to the class. I turned around and gave a little wave to the class. Some students smiled, while some guys checked me out. Ew, I thought.
“You can sit over there,” Mr Brooks pointed at a desk near the windows. “We’re just waiting for some students.”
I sat down in my assigned seat and let out a sigh. I closed my eyes for a bit to regain control of myself. Hey Tali, keep it together. We’ll get through this. You’re doing really well so far. I remember thinking to myself that I was strong. “Tali, I didn’t know I had this class with you!” I heard a voice I recognised say.
I looked to my right and saw Brielle sitting next to me. She had a massive grin, all lopsided and toothy. “Hey Brielle,” I said, smiling.