The Five Steps To Smile

Chapter Two

Nolan stared at the honey-haired girl, her dark green eyes boring into his without any emotion.
"Hey, are you gay?" Khloe called, arousing the chuckles of the students. Nolan dragged his gaze off of the source of his peaking interest and glanced at the dark red-head who's hazel eyes looked at him expectantly. Nolan couldn't help but chuckle lowly before shaking his head.
"Sorry to say that I am not. I guess you could say I'm straighter than an arrow." She smiled widely, lighting up her whole face as she heard his answer.
"Good, I just wanted to make sure. If that's the case, are you single - Ow!" The class burst out into loud laughter as Khloe rubbed at her shin, shooting a glare to her friend who was the cause of her pain. "What was that for?" Adira shook her head.
"Don't you remember what happened with Blaine?" Adira said with a raised brow. Khloe scoffed and pouted.
"Aphrodite spawn over there was a pure accident. I couldn't tell what he was," she said in a bored tone.
"What did I say about calling me Aphrodite spawn?" Blaine glared at her in annoyance. Khloe shrugged in response.
"You won't agree to Angel Boy, so I have to resort to more imaginative nicknames for you." She grinned evilly at him and Blaine opened up his mouth to spit out another retort before Adira stepped in.
"You two, now is not the time to be doing this. Nolan is in the middle of introducing himself," Adira scolded lightly. She switched her attention to the new boy and looked at him expressionless.
"Ms. Blackwood, always the proper student." Mrs. Bancroft looked at Adira with amusement twinkling in her eyes.
"Proper my butt. Adira here has a wild side that you don't know about." Khloe threw an arm around Adira's shoulders, grinning big. Adira rolled her eyes and glanced at the new student to see his reaction to all of this, surprised to see a small smile on his face.
"This class seems quite lively," Nolan commented.
"I would have to agree that there never seems to be a dull minute," Mrs. Bancroft mused. "Now, if all of you would be quiet for just a few more minutes, Nolan can finish his introduction." It took another five minutes before the chatter went into silence, all eyes back on him. Nolan couldn't help the way his eyes seemed to trail to the impassive brunette, the way she stared at him unnervingly and without restraint was, in a strange way, refreshing.
"I am Nolan Axton if all of you haven't noticed." He grinned at the enraptured crowd. "I've moved here from Paris and I lived there for approximately six years until moving here." He stopped as the dark red head from earlier raised her hand.
"Why did you move here?" Khloe blurted before she was called on. Blaine covered his face with his palm, this whole situation reminding him of when he first moved here. Adira just sighed and leaned back in her chair, knowing that she couldn't stop Khloe from asking her questions. Nolan looked at her with small smile, amusement etching his features.
"My parents just wanted to come back to their home town of White Rock."
"Wait, your parents used to live here?" Khloe asked, incredulous.
"When they were younger, yes." The class as a whole seemed to take this new information and digest it, making Adira watch the boy closely.
"Any more questions?" Nolan called.
"Do you have any french guy friends who are single?" Khloe did not disappoint to seize the last chance to ask. Blaine slapped his hand to his face while scattered low laughter rose in various parts of the room.
"Sadly, all of my friends are french fiends who break the hearts of fair ladies such as yourself." He smiled dazzlingly, no doubt a heart-breaker himself. "Of course, I am no better I suppose."
"I true Casanova then," Adira said out loud, her thoughts becoming voiced to the outside world. His eyes met hers, the striking color of his light brown eyes reminding Adira of brown sugar.
"There's the Adira I know and love. The one who never holds back," Khloe said with a smile, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. Adira rolled her eyes at her over dramatic friend and Mrs. Bancroft chuckled at the front of the room.
"Since Nolan seems to be finished, I suppose we should find a spot for him." Her sharp eyes scanned the room until they stopped on one particular spot. Adira already knew what she was thinking as she noticed Mrs. Bancroft's eyes meet hers with a smile.
"Why don't you sit behind Adira? If you have any questions I bet she would be more than willing to help you." He couldn't lie to himself - Nolan was more than happy to hear this.
"Of course, Mrs. Bancroft." Adira said dutifully, her expression just as blank and emotionless as before. Nolan couldn't tell if she was happy or annoyed to be stuck with the new kid but he didn't question it as he picked up his bag lying next to his feet and made his way down the aisle.
"Dang girl, you got the lucky end of the stick today," Khloe leaned over to whisper to Adira before Nolan had reached them. "I want a hunk to follow me like a lost puppy." Adira rolled her eyes not for the first time that day and probably not the last.
"It's nice to meet you," Nolan greeted the three, a smile lighting up his face. Adira couldn't help but notice the perfectness of his teeth, the whiteness reminding Adira of pure white snow, left untouched by people.
Of course, it's been years since Adira has seen snow. White Rock is not a common place for that type of precipitation to occur very often and the one time that she did, was when she visited some relatives in Alaska. During winter. Ended up being stuck inside for days as snow piled too high to really travel. Nowadays, her uncle and his family come down to visit them instead.
"Nice to meet you too," Adira politely replied, giving a nod in acknowledgement. Nolan moved passed and sat in the vacant seat behind them, everybody watching his movements like hawks.
"All right everybody. This isn't a zoo where a new species of animal has been discovered," Blaine retorted while shooting everybody a look. It was affective as everybody turned away and began chatting with their own groups. The three turned to look at Nolan and he met all of their eyes calmly.
"So Nolan," Khloe crossed her legs and faced him. "Have any siblings?" Nolan shook his head, his hair getting into his eyes before he flicked it away with ease.
"No. I am the beloved one and only child in my family." He grinned widely which Adira was beginning to understand that that was his resting face more or less.
"That's too bad. I think this school could've used another one of you." Khloe pouted and Adira shook her head.
"I don't think that's necessarily true," Blaine said sardonically. "I could do without one."
"Blaine." Adira spoke sharply and her eyes drove into him like icicles, the cold sharpness bleeding into his body and mind. "Remember, you were new once."
He stared at her as he felt the underlying of shock at her words. He knew she was right but for some reason the new kid pricked at his nerves like a very annoying cactus. The way Nolan kept shooting glances at Adira made Blaine's patience go taut until cracks were beginning to form from the pressure of it.
"Sorry," Blaine mumbled, not even looking at Nolan.
"No problem." He smiled easily and Blaine just grumbled incoherently under his breath.
"Oh Blaine," Adira said with a sigh. "He's not usually this rude." This was directed to Nolan. He shook his head good naturally.
"Yeah, usually he's saltier than the Dead Sea but today he's even more aggravated." Khloe gave him a knowing glance. "Are you jealous of the new kid?" Blaine stiffened at the accusation, trying to play it off as annoyance. But in reality, she was right on the money.
"Of course not," Blaine scoffed. "What is there to be jealous about?"
"Oh I don't know. Maybe it's the fact that Nolan is like a god descended from the heavens who has blessed us more than Jesus himself?" Blaine choked on his own air while Adira stared at her friend blankly, horror creeping into Adira's conscious.
"Khloe, there has got to be a limit to your mouth." Blaine groaned and thumped his chair on his desk.
"I have to agree with Blaine on this one. You must really like Nolan to be so outspoken," Adira concluded. Khloe stared at her, horrified.
"That's not true," she said. "I just want to get to know him a little better." Nolan watched the three blatantly talk about him while he sat there, a sense of amusement and confusion overpowering him like a cresting wave.
"I guess I should feel flattered from all of this attention," Nolan mused out loud. All three heads whipped to look at him, as if they finally realized his presence.
"Well what did you expect? You're the new kid after all." Blaine raised a blond brow, resting his chin in his hand.
"Khloe wants to marry you Nolan. Will you accept her proposal?" The way that Adira asked this was with total seriousness, and that is why Nolan stared at her completely baffled, thinking that she was indeed serious.
"Adira!" Khloe screeched and went to slap her hand over her mouth but Adira simply grabbed her reaching hand and held it away. "You know that's not true. I'm trying to hook Nolan up with you!" Nolan sat stunned as he watched the friends interact, completely bewildered at their lack of embarrassment.
"Khloe, what have I said about trying to play match maker?" Adira gave her a meaningful look, but Khloe was not having any of it today.
"Oh come on Adira. It would be totally easy to set up a date for you. Do you know how many guys ask me if you're single? And do you know how many I have to tell to go buzz off because you're not interested?"
"Khloe, we've been over this." Adira sighed heavily and her dark green eyes pierced through Khloe. It was unsettling to her how Adira's gaze seemed bottomless - a fathomless pit that sucked people out of their own little world and into hers.
To put it simply, Adira was just a paradox.
"A boyfriend isn't on my to-do list, you know." Blaine perked up at this and for some unexplainable reason his heart sank when he heard her words.
"You just haven't found the right guy yet, Addie. You have to experience the butterflies, the fireworks, and the blood-pumping excitement of having a crush." Khloe leaned across the aisle, her hazel eyes earnest.
"I'm in high school. I honestly think I have time to experience that later," Adira couldn't help but tilt her head to the side, the only sign of her amusement at the moment. Khloe huffed and sat back in her own chair, throwing her hands up in surrender.
"Alright. I don't even know why I thought I would win against you in this argument."
"Me neither. You've never won before," Adira said bluntly, examining her nails for effect. If it was any other person, they would smile and show they were joking, but with Adira and her stoic expression, you could never tell.
"You're lucky that we're friends," Khloe huffed. "Or else you would definitely be in my burn book."
"What is this, Mean Girls?" Blaine scoffed and shook his head, making his golden hair catch the sunlight coming through the window, throwing back the golden ethereal beauty which was his hair.
"Yeah, and you would be the dumb blond." Khloe snorted which released a new argument blooming between the two like a poisonous flower. Adira only shook her head at her two bickering friends before shooting Nolan an apologetic look, who was staring at them with slightly furrowed eyebrows along with a small smile.
"Don't mind them. They're just being their usual selves," she said softly. He shook his head.
"I don't mind. It's more entertaining than anything, really." She didn't say anything but nod, leaving Nolan unsure what to say next. In reality, Nolan was usually a boy who never ran out of words, a smooth talker in another sense. Yet, as he sat there staring at the girl before him, the words on his tongue abandoned him completely as if she had stolen them personally.
As the minutes ticked by and the hour flew, Nolan chatted and laughed with the three, excluding Adira of course. Instead, she would throw in comments here and there causing them to laugh while she sat and watched all of them with no expression but with her eyes light. Finally, the bell rang to signal the end of class.
"What class do you have next?" Adira asked Nolan.
"Chemistry, I'm pretty sure." He reached to his back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper, the neat little square becoming undone as he unfolded it. "Chemistry with a Mr. Jolly?" Nolan's brows furrowed as he read the name. Khloe clapped her hands together and grinned goofily.
"I love that man. One of the best teachers around I think," she said excitedly. "He is honestly the only person who could make chemistry remotely interesting." Her nose wrinkled as she even thought about that horrid subject.
"Chemistry is only bad for you because your tiny brain does not have the capacity to understand the complexities of such things," Blaine quipped, smirking at her. The four were walking out into the hall as he commented this, to which Khloe let out a warrior's cry and jumped onto his back.
"If I'm dumb then I must be the brawn in this relationship," Khloe hissed as she tackled him to the ground. Blaine let out a muffled shout as he and Khloe fell to the ground.
"Get your fat, blubbery body off of me." Blaine tried to push her off but she simply sat on his chest with her full weight to keep him in place. Khloe Watts was not a big girl. In fact, she is about the same stature as Blaine himself, but somehow she seems to have strength hidden somewhere in her small body that mystifies even Adira.
"I thought you were just a simple, idiotic Aphrodite spawn, but you just proved me wrong by saying the two most important things that a boy never says to a girl." Khloe leaned down, her eyes promising pain for his words. "You will not leave my grasp unscathed from my fury." Blaine paled as he lay trapped underneath her, his wide green eyes wide and fearful.
"You wouldn't do anything in front of all of these people," he said boldly but even he didn't believe it. She simply stared down at him, her eyes narrowed.
"You-"
"Alright you two. That's enough for now," Adira cut in, grabbing underneath Khloe's armpits and lifting her up with ease like a young child. "Any more of this and we'll be late for class."
"Adira, put me down!" Khloe thrashed her limbs but Adira held her, unfazed. In fact, she turned Khloe over and threw her over her shoulder while Khloe kicked and demanded that she be put down.
"Blaine, you have chemistry next hour. Please show Nolan the way." Adira spoke evenly, ignoring the erratic Khloe on her shoulder.
"Sure," he responded as he stood and dusted off his clothes. With one last nod to Nolan, Adira turned and started to make her way down the hall, students splitting down the middle to let her through as they watched with amused smiles and light laughter.
Nolan kept staring after them even as Adira turned around the corner and disappeared, the shouts of Khloe still audible down the hallway.
"Don't worry about this. Stuff like this happens all the time," Blaine said with a sigh. Nolan nodded absentmindedly while his eyes still stared down the student crowded hall. Blaine took notice but didn't say anything. Instead, he decided to grab his fallen bag and started to head in the opposite direction that the two girls went. "Come on then. Class is this way."
Nolan took one more second to get lost in his thoughts before he shook his head and began to follow the other boy, thinking not for the first time that day that he was glad that he moved to the small town of White Rock.