Hailey

Chapter 6

Hailey POV

This school was a disaster, I frustratingly thought, as I gripped the schedule they had mailed home tighter between my hands. I traversed the hallways at a winding speed, trying to make sense of the buildings and the room numbers. The whole school was set up like a convoluted hamster maze. Each hallway section had a number such as 100, 200, 300, etc. which was simple enough to understand. The complicated part was that you would assume they would start with 100 or 101 but the actual classroom numbers were apparently chosen at random; almost like the numbers for the lottery.

The bell suddenly rang, scaring me half to death and made me panic even more because I had yet to find homeroom. The hallways became immersed with students and I felt my body begin to shake as I tried to avoid crashing into bodies. Realizing I wasn't going to find my room before the late bell, I decided to stop someone. I turned to the right and loudly said "excuse me" but wasn't directing my words to anyone in particular.

A boy wearing a plaid shirt and glasses approached me. He seemed just as nervous as I was. Unable to formulate words, I simply shoved my schedule his way. He adjusted his glasses as he looked over my classes printed on the sheet. He inclined his head and started walking away. Like a lost puppy, I eagerly trailed behind him. When he easily made it to the dreaded room 307, I almost hugged him by how happy I was.

I was going to properly thank him but he simply walked off without another word. I vowed I would figure out who that boy was and show him my appreciation. I recognized a shy, kindred spirit in him and I hoped to make a friend out of him, or at least an acquaintance.

Entering the surprisingly spacious room, I noticed the teacher had yet to arrive. Trying to determine where to sit, I remembered my own advice to wait for everyone to sit down in case I took someone's seat. I felt idiotic just standing there at the front of the classroom but was unsure what else to do.

A boy suddenly started waving and I quickly moved out of his way; assuming he was talking to someone else. He laughed, making my gut twist. Was he making fun of me, the new girl? I quickly glanced down, finding nothing wrong with my attire which is the only thing that could possibly warrant such a reaction. So then why was he laughing at me?

My breath left me in whoosh, when he suddenly start pointing at me. Stupidly, I pointed at my chest. There was no one else behind me but I feared making a bigger fool out of myself by approaching when I was unsure if it was me who he was referring to. His loud voice was shocking in the mostly quiet classroom, he called out "Yeah, you, the new girl".

Once realizing it was indeed me he was calling, I slowly made my way towards him. As I came closer, I noticed his shaggy honey blonde hair. It was paired with fair skin and warm brown eyes. His smile was infectious with a dimple forming on the right side. I caught sight of his large chest and bulging arms and found myself gulping. As I looked back into his eyes, he was blushing at my perusal. I could imagine he had done the same inspection of me and I immediately started feeling self-conscious.

Rapidly sitting down next to him, I placed my mostly empty bag by my feet and adjusted my hair around my shoulders. I was suddenly grateful for Kimmy's advice about leaving it down since it was suddenly functioning as a shield from the other student's prying eyes. The guy next to me distracted me from my nervousness of the other watching me by outstretching his hand and saying "my name is Adam."

I politely placed my hand in his and shook it lightly. I quietly explained "my name is Hailey."

His brow immediately furrowed as he loudly said "what?"

I immediately cursed, I hadn't spoken loud enough. As I repeated it again for him, he moved his desk chair closer as if to hear me better. I didn't really like strangers so close to me but he seemed fairly safe, for the most part. He smiled at me as he said "So you're new?"