~𝓛𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝓢𝓹𝓻𝓮𝓪𝓭𝓼 𝓛𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓕𝓲𝓻𝓮~

Chapter 1~ 𝓢𝓽𝓻𝓪𝓷𝓰𝓮 𝓫𝓾𝓽 𝓣𝓻𝓾𝓮

Claira P.O.V.

The classroom was so hot and humid I was sweating from just sitting there.
"Are you kidding me, it's sooo hot," Sophie Asbury groaned. "And it's not even summer. Give us a break."

"Agreed," mumbled Rachel Morgan, going over her answers from a painful math exam.

"Same here. What'd grade did you get in the exam?" Sophie asked Rachel.

"A damn B+. I just can't see where I messed up!"

"At least ya didn't get a D+ like Joel. Half the boys, like, don't even care. Be happy even if you didn't get your usual A+, girl." Joel Darlington eyed her suspiciously from the other side of the table.

"At least I didn't get a D-," Joel mentioned. "So there."

"Whatevs. I got a C. Eh, good enough for me," Sophie shrugged. "How 'bout you, Claira?"

"Oh, uh-- I got a B," I mumbled. I... was focused on something else. Never mind.

"Nice. Great compared to me. Blah blah blahhh..." Sophie trailed off on another 100 subjects after that. She's kinda loud, but like, at least she's nice-loud. Not, hmm, Joel-loud.

"'Like oh my gahhhhhhd you gat a B, slayyyy' shut up, you're all so weird," mimicked Joel in a squeaky voice. 

"'Oh my gadddd like dat footy dude's so damn bad that goal was so trashhhh get your sigma gyatt rizzler outta here' like, look who's talking, Joel," Sophie mimicked, her voice deep and dumb like Joel's.

"I don't say sigma or gyatt or bloody rizzler. That's what bloody 10-year-olds go on about," Joel spat, and I caught him saying something like "bloody skibidi toilet" under his breath.

"Whatevs. Got it all from my brother. I can hear those damn YouTube Shorts from my bedroom," she said, poking out her tongue when Joel rolled his eyes.

I don't quite know what I was doing all that time. All I remember is him.

Will Clint.

He's funny. Cool. Always got his air pods in whenever he can. Always teasing his friends jokingly and making jokes. And no. It's not like I... like him or anything.

He's sorta just...

Funny?

I'm weird.

And I think someone noticed, too.

"Who're you looking at, Clair? Me? Ew. Max? Jacob? Zander? Will? Ooh, does someone have a cwushhhh?" Joel said in a soppy 'romantic' tone of voice.

"All those boys are disgusting, Joel, shut up," Sophie said in disgust. "Unlike you, my friend here has a brain. Surprised?"

"Yes," Joel sniggered.

"Guys, stop talking in class, we're all gonna get detention," Rachel hissed. "Lunch break starts anytime now, anyway--"

The loud bell rung louder than anyone's voices (even Joel's, surprisingly) and the math teacher, Mr. Lalando dismissed the class.

"Have a great lunch, people. Remember your homework- it's due tomorrow!" He said cheerfully.

"'Have a greeeeaeaeat lunch, people. ExTrA HoMeWoRK HeHeHeeeEeE!'" Joel imitated. Mr. lalando eyed him through his thick glasses, and Joel ignored him.

"Whatevs. Byeee slay girlpops!" Joel said in a 'girly' tone.

"Ew," Sophie said blankly.

Lunch break began with me opening my lunchbox to a half brown banana and a plain cheese sandwich.

"Yay," I said flatly. "The banana probably went brown in the heat. Blech."

"I have..." Rachel rustled around in her lunch bag, "a muffin, and some grapes. Halved."

Rachel had only just got braces and has been eating stuff like banana, halved grapes, soft muffins and yoghurt.

Sophie was crunching on Pringles from a small can. "I also have Hubba Bubba gum, if anyone wants some."

"Sure, thanks," I thanked her. Rachel eyed the gum.

"I hate these braces. They hurt so damn bad. They feel like they're pushing in on my teeth. Horrid."

Just as Sophie started chomping into an apple viciously, Joel, Zander, Max walked over. 
Oh yeah.
And Will.

Sophie looked horrified. 

"Uh, hey, if you didn't notice, we're currently eating our lunch and don't want some disgusting weirdos like you coming here to pester us," she complained.

"Oh, sorry," Max said sarcastically. "We're just coming to ask you 'bout that Joel here says that Claira has a crush and apparently it's one of us."

"Uh, how-- what?" I choked on a piece of bread from my sandwich while trying to... talk. If that counts as talking, that is.

"Yuck. Someone with a brain wouldn't like a brute like any of you," Sophie gagged.

But what if they weren't all brutes?

"Well, she does, actually," Zander said matter-of-factly.

"Well, let's think. It couldn't possibly be me," Max said knowledgably, "I'm too weird. Plus, I already have a crush," he span around and gazed at a girl named Winter (from a distance), from another year 10 class. "Joel is the one that found out, so I doubt it would be 'im, Zander already has a girlfriend, so that wouldn't work, and Will--" he paused for a moment. "Is it Will?" Will glanced at him curiously, and I swear I could see a shade of pink spread across his cheeks. "Wait a sec, nah, it couldn't be! As everyone knows, Will likes Rachel!"

Rachel looked disgusted. "Really?"

Zander laughed. "Oh yeah, that's right! Perfect match!"

Max looked at Rachel tauntingly. "Oh, is she blushing? Gee, I bet she likes him back, awww!"

Rachel was not blushing. If anything, she was paler than usual.

Even Will looked confused.

I think.

"That's it, get outta here. Before I throw a piece of apple at you," Sophie threatened, and Joel let out a squeal.

"Ah! Omg, I am like sooo scared," Joel squaked.

And after that the boys slowly walked away laughing.
Except Will.

He was walking in silence.

Unlike him, really.

I stared at him, almost. Without really noticing. 

"Claira! What was that even about, like they are all so ugly and disgusting, so--"

"Uh, I could maybe possibly like one of them," I mumbled.

"Wait, really?" Rachel and Sophie said in unison.

"Well, did you hear what they all just said?" I... almost shouted.

"Uh yeah," Sophie said blankly.

So I told someone.

A start.