The corridor spanned a tremendous length, painted in an ugly assortment of browns and pastel yellows that made one question the sanity of the decorator in charge. The walls themselves, besides the dark red doors that hosted the classrooms, were covered with posters and projects that I'm sure had never been read in the years they had been there.

The corridor to my surprise and complete annoyance was absolutely packed. Clearly, Sam and I were not the only ones to think about hiding inside away from the cold. We walked down the corridors, meandering with no real destination in mind as we continued our inane chatter from before. However, that soon became difficult as I took in the surroundings and saw the looks and glances directed at both Sam and myself from the other students. Raising no question about who the constant whispers around us were about, the low-pitched murmuring attacking my senses and worsening my already poor mood and migraine.

"I swear, do they have nothing better to do than stare at us like we're animals in a fucking zoo?" I venomously spat, interrupting Sam in annoyance, unable to tamper down my anger.

To say Sam and I were unpopular would be an understatement of a life time. The two of us were basically outcasts. Myself due to being the school pauper. The kid who lived with the bottom rung of society, who constantly looked malnourished and only a single push away from collapsing. Sam on the other hand for the simple fact that he hung out with me. If he didn't I had no doubt he could have been one of the most popular blokes in school. What with his wealth, grades, kind attitude and annoyingly good looks. Just being next to him did wonders for my already low self-esteem, making it almost non-existent.

Sam chuckled, completely at ease. As if the numerous stares had no effect on him. "It's alright man, just ignore them. I swear you would think you'd have gotten used to them by now." He joked.

Before I was able to offer a retort he quickly slapped me on the shoulder with a bit more force than really necessary. For someone who hated fighting as much as him, he really was far too strong; Just one more thing that he had that I could only dream about. When I looked at him in annoyance as I absently rubbed my shoulder I saw a lopsided smirk stretch across his face and his eyes alight with mirth.

"Looky there. Doth my eyes deceive me or is that Helen standing over there?" he said in an irritatingly gleeful tone, pointing to our left-hand side.

I quickly dragged my eyes over to the left, scanning the scattered groups around us and immediately regretting how eager I must have seemed. No doubt something I would inevitably be mocked for by Sam later. Suddenly, my attention was grabbed by the enriching sound of quiet laughter not too far away. Quickly my eyes found the source, a group of girls, three in total, standing together in a circle over ten metres away chatting and laughing.

Instantly my eyes were drawn to the girl facing towards me in the centre of the three. A girl standing at around five foot four, not much smaller than myself, with wavy, chocolate brown hair that cascaded down to the middle of her back and bright hazel eyes. Eyes that always looked to be upturned in delight and accompanied with a grin stretched across her face. As if what was being said was the funniest thing in the world.

As I none too subtle stared in her direction, as if she could feel my gaze, I was unexpectedly met with those hazel-covered eyes staring directly back. I stood frozen in shock and before I was even able to look away in panic I watched as her gorgeous eyes lit up with recognition. Immediately a smile appeared on her face, lighting it up in a way that had me totally entranced. I stared blankly in reply before a sharp elbow landed on my side, jolting me back to earth. I quickly smiled back, trying my hardest to seem as charming as possible and praying to god I didn't look even half as stupid as I currently felt.

Her smile seemed to widen even more, or at least I think it did. At that point, my brain had all but stopped working. So much so that I almost didn't see the small wave she gave towards me. One which I numbly returned as I felt my face heat up, turning a bright red in embarrassment. Embarrassment over what? I wasn't sure, but embarrassed I was nonetheless. It was in this embarrassed state that I noticed the amount of attention we had seemed to draw. The stares and buzzing of whispers even louder than before and setting me into a panic.

Rapidly I spun around and began all but jogging away. Not even caring to see whether Sam had followed me or not. It was only once I turned the corner and I knew I was out of sight of the majority of the crowd that I started to slow down, taking a slow deep breath as I did so in an attempt to squash my rising panic.

"Hey, man! Why did you just run away like that? She waved at you! You should go back and talk to her. This is your chance!" Sam exclaimed in excitement as he caught up to me, nudging his shoulder into mine.

"Not a chance! I can't just walk back after running away from her like that. I probably already seem like a weirdo. I'm not about to go make it any worse." I let loose a loud sigh as I looked up towards the ceiling, hating myself for suddenly running away in panic like a coward.

"Why did you walk away?" he asked again in confusion, clearly a bit puzzled by my actions.

"I don't know! I just panicked, I guess." I yelled angrily, drawing more glances towards both Sam and me. Though this time I was far too angry to care. Not angry at Sam mind you, not even the surrounding crowd. No, I was angry at myself, for ruining my chance to talk to Helen.

Sam, seeing I was upset paused for a second before clapping me on the back comfortingly. "There's always next time. And hey, for what it's worth, from my point of view she looked interested. Maybe you actually have a chance after all." He said encouragingly, trying to lighten the sombre tone that had ensnared me. Something I was truly thankful for.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a loud screeching sound rang through the halls at such a volume as to almost deafen all those who heard it. Yet not a single person looked even the slightest bit surprised, simply resigned. Hearing the ear-shattering volume of the school bell commencing the start of the school day everyone sluggishly began to march and trudge their way towards their first class. Sam and I being no different, headed towards our classroom for the first class of the day, history.