Always, Alice

First Day Nerves

As she had scrolled, one picture in particular caught her eye. It was of Harry, the only one of him on his own. He was wearing a bright maroon coloured shirt paired with darker jeans, his lean slender figure hugging the clothes perfectly. He was looking towards the ground and smiling - like he had been laughing at something just as the picture was taken. Alice noticed the rings on his fingers - one in the shape of a rose, her favorite that had caught her eye at the coffee shop. He was effortlessly handsome, his hair perfectly styled with a few curls falling loosely. It was dated just a few days back with the caption - Here's to new things.

She arrived at school early, expecting Harry to need some help in setting up. However, when she arrived, he was sitting at his desk looking through one of the kids folders she had shown him the day before.

'Hey,' he said, a smile appearing on his face when she walked through the door. Across each of the desks were jotters, three for every pupil and each in different colors plus a brand new pencil case full of essentials for them all. They were set out so neatly and Alice couldn't help but smile.

'Looks like you're ready to go,' she said, taking in the classroom around her. It already felt like Harry's, so warm and welcoming.

'Yeah, been here since like half seven - wanted to be super organized for the first day,' he replied.

He stood up from behind his desk and popped away the folder he had been reading. Today's outfit of choice was black jeans with a white shirt rolled up to his forearms with black polka dots speckled over it. The outfit was pulled together with smart black shoes that had rainbows across the buckle, a cute touch Alice thought to herself. His tartan coat was sitting over the back of his chair and the satchel he carried was down under his desk. Alice loved his casual yet bold sense of style and couldn't help but stare as he pushed his hand through his hair, rings scattered across most of his fingers.

'I got each of them some stationary - some kids won't have any, which sucks, don't want them to be embarrassed so figured they all start out with the same,' he said as he shuffled over to one of the desks. He was smiling brightly, clearly already happy with what he had done and excited for what the day would bring as he continued to tell Alice about everything.

'Also their journals, a math jotter and a writing jotter, anything else they do we can put into folders so we can keep a record of work,' he looked around, rubbing his hands together and frowning a little as he suddenly went quiet.

'You alright?' Alice asked him.

'Yeah, I'm excited - more nervous than I thought I would be though,' he sighed, taking a deep breath and gazing around the classroom again, perhaps checking to see if he had missed anything.

'It's a lovely class you have, all this that you have set out for them will have them loving you straight away - I promise,' Alice smiled at Harry, their eyes locking with one another's before they both looked away again.

'Thanks,' he rubbed his hand over the back of his neck as he looked at his feet, 'Glad your going to be here too, you know, to keep me right,'.

'Of course,' Alice replied before suggesting they head up to the staff room for a coffee, to settle his nerves a little. They had about half an hour before the kids would begin to arrive and Harry was clearly organized, having a little break might help.

A few other teachers were in the staff room when they arrived. Some munching on breakfast or sipping teas and coffees from their mugs, chatting away about what they had been up to over the weekend. Everyone was in their usual cliques and following their same old morning routines - Alice could give Harry a play by play on each one of them, she was observant in that way.