The Life and Times of Zac Claxon

Chapter 2 - Hazel.

Grinning like the crazy idiot I am, I stuff my keys in the ignition and push off. Me being me, I probably woke up the whole neighbourhood. This'll make an impression at school.

If there's one thing I can never get used to, never get over, it's riding a motorbike. There's something about the constant attack of the wind and the bike's angry growl that gives me a rush every time. Not to mention it attracts attention. The good type of attention.

I'm here. Hoffman Estates High School. Home of the koalas.

Just kidding. We're in the US, not Australia. It's home of the sharks. Let's hope they don't bite.

Taking a quick look in the side view mirror to make sure I look alright, I put on my best smile and hop off the bike in one agile sweep.

My grin disappears pretty quickly though. Everyone's looking at me. It doesn't exactly help that I was grinning like a maniac on the bike and that I popped up not at the start of the school year but halfway through.

So I decide to play the safe card. I give everyone a friendly smile and start making my way to the front door. A smile and a nod to the people I pass makes sure I'm not considered awkward enough to be labelled. No verbal contact yet.

"Hi there!" A slightly high-pitched voice exclaims as I'm on the last step up to the front door.

Contact.

Putting on my best dimple-showing smile, I turn around, hoping for the best. Praying that the first person I talk to here isn't the school loser or someone equally embarassing.

"Hey..." my voice trails off, deeper than I expected.

Standing before me is a girl a few inches shorter than me, with wavy brown hair and dimpled cheeks. On her mouth is a smile almost as wide as mine gets. And that's pretty damn wide.

She's definitely not one of the cheerleader types. I can tell from her clothing, and she's definitely not a loner. Too pretty for that. Her eyes are hazel. Like I-could-stare-into-those-forever type of hazel eyes.

"Hi, you're new right? You must be looking for reception." She says sweetly.

"Yeah, that's right. My name's Zac."

"I'm Hazel. Why don't you come with me? I'm heading the same way." Wow. The name read my mind perfectly.

"Uh, yeah, sure. Thanks."

"No problems. You a junior?"

"Nah, I'm a sophomore." She gives me a quizzical look.

"You're not from around here are you? Your accent's funny. Sorta cute." A grin hits my face.

"I just moved down from England." I explain. Evidently this was the right answer as Hazel's face lit up brighter than a light bulb.

"OHMIGOSH YOU'RE BRITISH? SPEAK SOME MORE! SAY SOMETHING!"

"Shush Hazel, everyone's staring!"

Ignoring me, she continues. "Say beer can!" She exclaims, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Beer can?" I question, eyebrows raised.

"Ohmigoshhh!" She almost screams, then notices the glares coming from all sides of the corridor. "Sorry, it's just that a little bird told me that beer can in a british accent sounds like bacon in a jamaican accent." She whispers.

A beam reaches my lips. You know, I think I'm going to like this place after all.

"What year did you say you were in again?" She says.

"Sophomore."

"Ohhmigosh that's great, I'm a sophomore too! We might have some classes together. Oh and here's reception. Hi Mrs. Petrini!"

"Why hello dear!" A dreary Mrs Petrini asks. "And who might this young man be?"

"I'm Zac. New sophomore." I reply monotonously. I had a bad experience with teachers.

"Ah yes, our new student! Here's your timetable, and I'm sure Hazel here will show you around."

"Thank you. " I reply coolly. On second thoughts, maybe the teachers here aren't so bad.

"Alright, hand it over." Hazel says, in a somewhat menacing tone. I look at her, surprised. Is she some sort of bully in disguise?

"Hand what over?" I prompt sweetly. Maybe she'll get lost in my infinite hotness and forget about bullying me?

"Your timetable, you idiot. Let's see what classes we have together. By the way, where's the ghost?" I realised I had gone pale in shock from the hand it over thing.

I rolled my eyes and "handed over" my timetable. "Don't lose it."

"Forget losing it, nearly all our classes are the same! Everything except gym, which is separated by gender, and Physics. And here's our class-" She whisked me away before I could get a word in.

And there we were, standing at the front of a class full of students. Suddenly I became conscious of how much I was smiling and whether I looked normal in my bald hairdo. They probably all thought I had cancer or something.

"Where have you two been?" A nasally yet deep voice resounded across the room.

"Sorry we're late Mr Donald, Zac here is new and didn't know the way." Great, I thought. Blame it on me.

"Good morning Zac," he said, in a somewhat friendlier tone, "Welcome to Hoffman Estates High. I'm Mr Donald, and this will be your class. Now where to seat you?" Looking around, I noticed there was only one free seat in the room, and that was next to Hazel, who had quietly seated herself while Mr Donald was talking.

"Seeing as you're already acquainted, you might as well sit next to Hazel. There we go."

I took my seat wordlessly, Hazel's chatter beginning before I even sat down.

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A/N:

Alright so you read this far, hopefully that means you liked it :p I told you it would get happier didnt I?

anyways, comment, vote, comment, vote! I need to know what you guys think of this !!!

and again, thank you my wonderful readers, for reading :p