Falling for You

Chapter 1

Hey! This is my first Fanfic ever, and I'm open to suggestions/ideas/ways to improve, so please comment :)

- JS

- Jennifer's P.O.V -

My eyes fluttered open as a stream of light escaped through my curtains and warmed my body. I groaned and turned towards my alarm clock which sat silently upon my bedside table. It read: 8:51. I sighed and used all the energy I could muster to rise from my bed. Wait. I checked the clock again. 8:51?! In 9 minutes I was meant to be seated in my English classroom, not-so-eagerly awaiting another mind-numblingly boring lesson on Homer's Odyssey. Ugh, why didn't my alarm go off?!

Instead embodying my usual zombie-like demeanour, I raced around the house, throwing on an old pair of shorts and a tight tank top and applying an impressively neat coat of eyeliner to my eyes, followed by some mascara. I raced down stairs, not bothering to pack my bag (I'd decided to just utilise whatever was already in there for the day) and grabbed an apple on my way out of the house.

---

As I'd suspected, Mr. Roberts was not impressed when I arrived 10 minutes late to his class.

'I'm so sorry I'm late!' I almost shouted as I burst through the door of the classroom. Mr. Roberts and the rest of the class fell silent as I realised that along with my sense of timing, I'd abandoned my manners and interrupted the class.

'Ugh, I'm sor - ' I began but was quickly interrupted.

'Miss Lawrence,' Mr Roberts shot me a disgruntled look before continuing in his trademark monotone voice. 'In what universe is it acceptable to be late to a class, and then to burst through the doors and interrupt said class?'

'In this one?' I tried to shed some light on the situation and smiled desperately. The class before us laughed.

'Wrong answer, Jennifer,' Mr. Roberts replied angrily. 'Sit.'

'Wrong answer, Jennifer,' I mimicked Mr. Roberts under my breath as I walked to my seat and a few of the surrounding students laughed.

'What's so funny back there?' Mr. Roberts demanded angrily.

I plastered my most innocent expression on my face. 'Oh, nothing Sir. Can we please get back to learning about Odysseus? I don't think I've ever read anything so interesting!' I said sarcastically. Several students giggled quietly.

Instead of spending ages deciding whether I was being honest or sarcastic, Mr. Roberts rolled his eyes and resumed teaching. 'Now, back to our character observations of Odysseus...' Mr. Roberts continued his lesson and I slumped back into my seat, preparing myself for the most painfully boring 45 minutes of my life.

I spent the class either drawing, or looking around, and doing absolutely everything within my power to avoid listening to Mr. Roberts drone on about Homer and his stupid Odyssey. During the unproductive lesson, I couldn't help but let my eyes rest for a little longer than usual on a boy named Josh, who sat in a seat that was two rows ahead of me, and one to the right. He was the most popular boy in school and was often spotted with a new girlfriend every week. But he was sweet, friendly and kind, despite his apparent promiscuity.

Today, Josh was resting his head on one of his hands while the other was busy texting someone. He was using his football jacket and his faux-interested facial expression to conceal his phone. From the front of the classroom, it would have been pretty obvious that Josh wasn't paying attention, but of course Mr. Roberts was too busy explaining something about Odysseus. I'd never had to sit through such a tedious class in my life - even Mr. Roberts looked bored.

While I was gazing subconsciously at Josh's perfect profile and his masculine jaw, he turned to look in my direction and smiled his kind, inviting smile. Wait what? Did Josh just smile at me?