august || donbelle au

one : meet

*two months earlier*

- Belle's POV -

"Belle! Did you hear the news? We have a new classmate!" The loud voice of my friend Cara was the first thing I heard the moment I entered our classroom that morning.

"A newbie? Who?" I asked, looking around. Cara moved closer and occupied the seat right next to mine. "No, but I saw him in the principal's office ... he's quite hot."

I stared at her and realized she was blushing. I sighed and then just turned my attention towards my phone.

"Well, someone's not in the mood."

I looked up and saw my other friend Izzy walking toward us. She placed a piece of paper on my desk before taking the seat behind mine.

"Camping??" I asked, reading what was written on the paper.

"Yep, apparently acquaintance or homecoming dances are so 2010s ... this is what they want for this year." She replied. "Oh yeah, Cara ... did you say we have a new classmate?" Izzy asked Cara. She smiled and nodded profusely.

Boy crazy ...

I thought to myself. A few moments later, our advisor Ms. Sotto entered the classroom with the newbie. Cara was right, he was quite hot.

This dude ... guy ... was at least 6 feet tall. He was wearing this green jacket over his school uniform even though the weather was pretty hot. His shoelaces were tied neatly, and his messenger bag looked quite expensive.

Okay, Belle, but why the fuck are you observing him so much?

A voice inside my head asked. I blinked twice to pull myself out of my thoughts and glanced around, seeing that every female in my class had their eyes glued to him.

"Okay kids, this is your new classmate ..." Ms. Sotto before turning her head towards the newbie. "Please introduce yourself."

The guy nodded and flashed a nervous smile at us. He uttered before bowing his head a bit. The girls in my class immediately swooned over him, and I already felt the envious energy emanating from my male classmates.

"Told you he's hot," Cara whispered. I turned to her and she was grinning from ear to ear.

"Yeah ... I mean, he seems interesting."

--

– Donny's POV –

Mom left for work early that morning so I had to go to my new school alone. It was just past 7:00 am when I was asked to go to the principal's school for a quick briefing with my new advisor, Ms. Ana Sotto.

A few minutes after the bell rang, the school's front gate closed. I followed Ms. Sotto towards my new classroom. My heart was beating so hard against my chest that it felt like a desperate animal trying to escape its cage.

"Please introduce yourself." I heard Ms. Sotto say. I looked on and felt dizzy for a moment because of all the new faces staring at me.

"Hello, my name is Donato Antonio Pangilinan. You can call me Donny, nice to meet all of you." I said, trying to prevent my voice from quivering too much.

"You may take the seat at the back, by the window." Ms. Sotto told me. I thanked her and hastily made my way there. I felt a thousand eyes staring at me like I was some sort of a weird anomaly.

I heard some of the females whispering excitedly to each other, and then the bell rang once more, signaling the start of classes. But before Ms. Sotto could say anything, a voice erupted from the speaker installed at the corner of the room.