He Will Be Loved

prologue

I'm late.

I don't know what is wrong with me. People usually treat the beginning of the school year as a fresh beginning, yet here I am.

On the first day of senior year, and pretty much every other first days in high school, I'm late.

I don't even have a reason to be late. My mom woke me up at four in the morning and I was done with my morning routine by five.

But then again, I am a high schooler. I ignored my mom's pleas and went back to bed. Even though I was supposed to be at school by eight, I woke up half an hour after that with unruly hair and make-up on my pillow.

She laughed at me as I hurriedly redid my make-up and hair and ironed my clothes. Today, I chose a simple yet chic outfit to make a decent first impression for the freshmen.

Now I'm in front of my second subject classroom thinking of how to make an unnoticeable appearance. Since I have been here for a couple of years already, I have memorized the classrooms. It has been easy to locate since our schedule was given to us upon enrollment.

Taking a deep breath, I knock on the back door and gently open it. Most of the students inside are rambunctious. Some are asleep on their desks, while the others have their bodies sprawled on the ground.

The teacher is not here yet. I let out the breath I was holding as I look for a vacant chair that I can sit on.

"It's the first day of senior year and you're late?" A deep voice rings my ears.

I face the speaker whom is a young boy, around seventeen or eighteen, with brown, wavy hair and chocolate eyes. His pink lips form into a small, teasing smile as he looks at me with amusement.

By now, I should have already known every face of our batch, but since there are two star sections, which is composed of the brightest students of the grade level, they are pretty much isolated. I know only a few people from there, so judging by my lack of knowledge about his existence, he had been there for quite a long time.

I laugh silently. "Well, as the saying goes: Better late than never."

He joins my laughter. "I was late, too, but at least I was able to attend first subject."

"Say, what section are you from?"

His smile fades for a moment. "Second."

I notice that this is a sore topic for him one way or another, so I think of a new one. "What happened in first subject?"

"Nothing important. Mr. Hughes only made a few of us introduce ourselves and announced what we have to buy for his subject in this semester." His smile is back on his face again, which eases my nerves.

After I borrow and copy his notes on the list of things to buy, I run out of things to say. We fell into an awkward silence and did not talk anymore for the rest of the hour.

The teacher turns out to be absent today so forty-five minutes into the class, our grade level supervisor visited our room to dismiss us early.

"Margaux!"

I turn around, spotting one of my batchmates whom I don't exactly consider a friend. About what I am to her, however, I will never know.

"Hey," I offer a small smile, casually leaning on the lockers.

"I missed you. You became even more beautiful now," she envelops me into a hug which I awkwardly return as I thank her.

As we part, I make a quick excuse to end the chat and walk to third subject which is in another building.