Highland Hearts

CHAPTER TWO

"Oh, thanks." I smile. I open my mouth to speak until I hear a clatter. I look over to see the girl with the braid trying to correct her swords mid-dance.

"Stay inside that box, Mirren!" Miss Maureen yells. "Good points, Mhairi."

My eyes stray towards the girl at the front, her ponytail swinging with every move. Mhairi. Her name is Mhairi.

"She's beautiful, right?" Aaron says from beside me. I turn to see a wide smirk across his face.

"Oh, uh," I hesitate. "Which one."

"I mean, all of them are pretty, I guess, but I meant Dawn." He says, nodding towards the girl in the teal.

"Yeah, she seems nice," I say, but my eyes look back to Mhairi and the concentration on her face as she finishes the dance.

"That was good guys. Take five." Miss Maureen smiles. "Actually, Mirren. I'd like to talk to you." She adds. The girl with the braid, who must be Mirren, sighs and nods. My eyes keep following Mhairi though. It's like they're glued to her. She's gorgeous.

Just then, the two other boys make their way over to the bench we're on. Well, one does. The other one makes his way over to the two girls, who I suppose are Mhairi and Dawn, and says "Pretty sure I heard your swords move a little during that, right, Mhairi?"

"Ha-freaking-ha." Mhairi says, her voice soft and extremely sarcastic. "That wasn't even me. That was Mirren." She protests.

"Shouldn't you know that Ross, since you're looking at her all the time?" Dawn jumps in. I hear Aaron snicker from beside me. And apparently, so does Ross.

"Oh, shut up Aaron. I'll stab you with your sword, oh wait," he pauses. "You forgot them."

"Why are you always picking fights? Plus, we've got a new kid here and you're being rude." The other guy, whose name I don't know, chimes in and gives me a supportive smile.

"No change there." Dawn scoffs, taking a sip out of her water bottle.

"Of course, you're being a people-pleaser, Harris." Ross rolls his eyes.

"He's right, mind you." A new voice is added into the conversation. "He's not going to want to come back next lesson, thanks to you. Eejits."

The girl, who I think is Mirren, rolls her eyes as Ross mutters an apology.

"It's not me you should be apologising to, but never mind." She shakes her head and then turns in my direction. "Hi, I'm Mirren." She smiles as she stretches her arm out. I shake her hand as I introduce myself.

"Lachlan." I reply, "It's nice to meet you."

She nods in agreement. "Since no one else here knows how to introduce themselves, I'll have to do it for them."

I smile as she continues, "That's Dawn, Mhairi, Ross, Harris and I'm assuming you know Aaron."

"Hell yeah, we're best friends." Aaron replies, smugly. "Right, Lachlan?"

"Sure," I say, trying to hide my amusement, but it doesn't really work.

I make a mental note and match the names to the faces. Dawn is the dark-haired one in the teal, Mirren is the one with glasses, Ross is the tall one, Harris is the one with black hair and Mhairi is the one in red. She looks good in red.