I dart out of my classroom before the teacher can catch me. I do not want to have to be lectured about punctuality and how I should buy a watch. Mr Yearwood is notorious for his lectures about punctuality, which ironically can make you late for your next lesson. Owen catches me in the corridor and glares at me.
"You ran off earlier. You didn't say goodbye." I'm about to reply when one of the assistant principles tries to get through.
"Come on, get a move on people. I've got places to be, so have you. Owen, move."
"We'll talk later then." There's no compassion in his voice and his stare is as sharp as knife. It's a little intimidating.
I put my head down and try to push it from my mind. As I walk into the English classroom, I bump into someone. I step back in shock and look up to apologise. Asha, a quiet girl from English, Biology and Physics looks up at the same time as me.
"I'm so sorry! I wasn't looking where I was going." She's biting her lip and her eyebrows are arched into an apologetic expression.
"No worries! Neither was I!" I assure her. Her sea-blue eyes are gazing straight into mine, and I can feel my face getting hotter, but I can't bring myself to look away. Her strawberry blonde hair is catching the golden sunlight just right, and her hair frames her face perfectly.
"Hi."
We don't break eye contact for a couple more seconds. I look down before I start hyperventilating, but still smiling, and gesture for her to walk through the door, and then follow her. As we walk through the door, our teacher, Miss Ackley announces that we don't have to follow the seating plan today. I don't know who to sit next to. I have quite a few friends in my set, but they always partner up together and I'm always the odd one out. I'm looking around the class to see if one of my friends are available when I meet Asha's eyes. It's weird, but we seem to talk without speaking. I make my way over to her, and sit down.
"Hi."
"Hey"
We smile, and I'm aware that my face is starting to feel hot again. I look down before she notices.
"Right peeps, sit down please." Miss Ackley calls out, "I'm just waiting for the bell to go and then we can start taking the register. You can keep up your conversations until the bell."
"How are you?" I ask, trying to make conversation. I'm surprised that she invited me to sit next to her. I hardly know her. I'm not complaining though.
"I'm ok, thank you, you?" She speaks quietly, not whispering, but just not in a loud voice. It's a nice change from my usual friends. They're not loud in an obnoxious way, it's just who they are.
"Yeah, I'm alright, thanks." It's a bit of an understatement; I'm actually very happy sitting next to her. I'm not sure why that makes me so happy, but I'm not about to start having a small therapy session in my head. I smile, and she smiles back as a cloud that had been blocking the sun moves and suddenly the whole classroom is filled with gold light. We both squint against the sudden change in light, and laugh.
"I love the autumn, it's so pretty!"
'So are you' I think. I would say it out loud, but I don't want her to think I'm weird.
"It is." She's smiling and looking around the room, and I can't help smiling as well. She looks so happy.
"The park looks amazing as well at the moment, with all the different colour leaves." I say.
"It does!! I love sitting under the trees and reading a book! It gets quite cold though, so I usually go and get a hot chocolate in the small café." She chuckles. "We should totally go at some point!" Her face lights up at the idea, but then doubt crosses over her face. "I- I mean, if you want to. No, forget it. Sorry, it was a stupid idea. I mean, we hardly know each other."
"It's not a stupid idea. It sounds fun! When are you free?"
"Saturday, I think?" She pauses in thought, and I notice that she's biting her lip again. "Yeah, Saturday."
"Cool! Do you want my number?" I start to grab a sticky note from my pencil case and write my number on it. I have to check my phone because I made the mistake of looking up at her and I completely lost my train of thought. I write my name and draw a heart like I usually do, but for some reason, it makes me blush. I try to ignore it and hand the paper over to her. I smile as she reads over it and gets her phone out of her blazer pocket. I notice something as she sets it down on the table.
"Oh my god, we've got the same phone!"
She looks at mine and then at hers and laughs. "Oh my god, we do! That's so cool!"
We both laugh at our reactions.
"Whoops, sorry everyone! Apparently the bell didn't go off! Right, I'll give everyone a sec to finish conversations and then I'll start taking the register." Miss Ackley calls out.
The teacher starts to call out names in a familiar order. I watch what Asha's doing with her phone, confused. She doesn't turn it on, which I am expecting her to. Instead she flips it over and starts to take the phone case off. I then realise what she's doing. I keep watching with a smile. When she finishes, she looks up and looks into my eyes. We grin at each other, and I don't know if she feels the same, but I suddenly struggle to hear everything around me. I know the lesson is still going on around us, but it seems far away. We stay in our own bubble throughout the lesson, hardly breaking eye contact.