As he slammed the door of his midnight blue Jeep SUV shut, Aidan felt numerous heated stares land on his back from the students around him. Ignoring their blatant pity, he walked up the front steps and into the school building.
Once inside, he noted with disdain that the students not only stared, but murmured to each other about him, too. It was worse than being ignored. When he thought he could finally take his mind off of his dad in school, the students decide to do everything they can to remind him. Awesome. He'd already received enough sympathizing glances and apologies to gather up an actual pity party. Jeez.
He took long, steady strides through the bland, thick- aired gray halls to his first class, never stopping or making eye contact with anyone. Once inside, he sat in the seat nearest to the teacher's desk, the place where no student would dare to talk aloud or whisper disturbing things to each other.
Class started about ten minutes late, Aidan noted. The teacher was a balding old man in an overused polo shirt with square, black framed glasses. He introduced himself as Mr. Claude Greyman, the sophomore English teacher. Then, after absorbing the uninterested silence of the class, he let out an unexpected sigh and seemed to deflate a little.
"Class, I have been teaching for forty years. I realize that you don't want to be here, but can you at least fake some spirit? It's your second year of high school! You're no longer the youngest ones in the high school anymore. Isn't that something to celebrate?"
"We're second graders, yahoo! I'm so overjoyed." A male voice hooted from the back of the class. The students erupted into laughter over his sarcastic comment. Aidan kept his eyes trained carefully on the whiteboard, away from the tired old man who was being ridiculed by his students on the first day. He couldn't help but think that Mr. Greyman lived up to his last name right then, for he truly seemed to be a gray, gray man.
Somehow, a few moments later, Aidan realized that English had ended and the students were filing out of the classroom. Mr. Greyman hadn't said anything after the class dissolved into discord, instead passing out a stack of papers; a list of books he recommended sophomores to read, the supplies that his class required, classroom rules, etc..
The class had actually taken both my and my classmates' attention off myself, albeit it being a horrible treatment to the old man, Aidan thought, caught between feeling guilty and relieved.
Once in the halls, he looked at his schedule and held back a smile. His next class was Chemistry, which couldn't be bad. He enjoyed science as a rule, for it was always constant. He'd realized lately that, even parents could be taken away abruptly. Easily, even.
Searching for the Chemistry classroom, he completely missed the small figure making its way towards him, head down. With a high yelp that didn't belong to him, they collided in the middle of the hall, spilling books everywhere.
"Sorry, you okay?" Hurriedly, he gathered up the books, apologizing profusely. The girl had yet to open her mouth, but when Aidan returned her books to him, she looked him in the face.
"I'm sorry, too. I... wasn't looking." Taken at first glance, he noticed that beautiful locks of ebony hair- highlighted in places with streaks of honey gold- curled delicately around her face and draped across her shoulders. The striking girl underneath had pearl white skin, strawberry pink lips, and the cutest nose he'd ever seen on a girl's face. But even more mesmerizing to him was the striking green of her eyes. They reminded him of a blue-ish forest colored jade stone that he'd once seen in a museum display. It seemed to be a color more beautiful on her flawless face than the most costly accessory in the world.
It didn't take him long to find that she was taking in his face as well. Had he not been refraining from saying something stupid or dazed, he would have been happy to know that she was attracted to him, too.
YOU ARE READING
Rising Secrets
Teen FictionAidan Frosz always thought he was normal. A normal boy whose biggest concern is maintaining good grades and getting a scholarship to his ideal college. Then, one day, his father is brutally murdered and ripped from his life. He drowns in grief, sorr...
