Love me like you do #Wattys2019

Chapter 1:

Hiii!!! I am extremely excited to publish the first part of my new book. Please leave comments below and let me know how you feel.

Change is inevitable. Change is constant. - Benjamin Disraeli 

I twisted and turned the whole night through, repeatedly turning my pillow over for the cooler side and burying my head under my blankets. Today was going to go well, or so, I hoped. "Today" because it was 2:35am and I had difficulty falling asleep. I was determined for a positive change in my sleeping patterns (that are non-existent by the way). The feeling is normal when you start at a new school and even though this would be the fifth time I changed schools, this feeling never failed to show up.

I just lay awake starring into the dark, fathoming my thoughts into shapeless constellations. I then shut my eyes and lay extremely still because apparently laying still for 15 minutes should make you fall asleep. It seems that I had just closed my eyes when my alarm went off and I had to get up. This is bad, very bad, I thought to myself.

I got up and went to brush my teeth and while doing so, I was analysing my face in the mirror which was something I tried to avoid at all costs. I caught sight of the long scar running all the way down my jawline till the corner of my mouth and looked away. After a quick 10-minute shower, I changed into a pair of black jeans and a grey hoodie with some black sneakers to pair with it. My long, wavy, mousy brown hair resembled a bird's nest, so I tiresomely brushed out all the knots that for some reason kept appearing and did a quick half pony and let the rest of my hair loose.

You'd think I'd have dressed better since I was trying to make a good impression, but this was good enough for me. I could not digest food this early in the morning so instead I took a bottle of water, grabbed an apple and my backpack and left the house quietly. The new school was a 10-minute walk from my new home and the walk was pretty calming after last night. The trees lining the sidewalk were all beginning to turn a crimson and pretty soon the road would be carpeted by the leaves. I admired the scenery and allowed it to drown out my thoughts.

I reached the school yard, the big blue gates and the walls surrounding the school made it seem hostile. There were lovely stone benches decorating the grounds and an enormous willow tree at the far end of the yard. There were a few students walking around already. The junior girls all giggling and fangirling over something they were showing each other on their phones. The skater boys just sorta whizzing by in a world of their own. I took notice of all the different groups meeting up after a long summer break, discussing how unproductive and un-fulfilling their summers were.

I looked around for the administrative offices and found that it was the building on the left. I stepped inside and went straight to the receptionist. "Hi, I'm the new student, I was told to come here and fetch my roster?" I asked more than stated. She greeted me with a friendly smile, "sure, your name is?" "Alhena Hale" I tentatively. "Is that your full name?" she asked. "Yes." I said without skipping a beat, I shifted my gaze to the rest of the busy office. "Are you sure because all that is coming up is an Alhena Charlie Hale?" she narrowed her eyes up at me. "Uhh, yeah that's me." I murmured.

She rolled her eyes and sifted through a stack of papers before giving me a few. "Okay I need you to complete this form and bring it back to me before the end of today, this over here is your roster and you will receive your textbooks from your teachers, just show them this note, also your locker is 205 and I trust you know where to go." I took it and thanked her before heading out towards the classes whilst scrutinizing my timetable.

According to this, I had homeroom for the first 15 minutes, then English, followed by math, Physics and History. I walked to 12C, my homeroom which didn't take me that long to find. There were signs everywhere in this place, which I was so thankful for because knowing me, I'd probably get lost and get abducted by aliens which doesn't seem like such a bad idea right now because my stomach was doing mini flip-flops. I have no idea why I'm feeling so anxious about this, "it's just the same as every other school", I told myself. The class door was open, and I stepped inside unnoticed. It seemed that everyone was already here.

The teacher, a tall and thin balding man was trying to calm down the class so I just stood awkwardly to one side of him and tried to get his attention and as he waved the class to a silence he turned around and knocked my face with the back of his hand. "ouch!" I rubbed my faced as he apologized profusely. "Miss Hale?" he asked me after I told him I'm fine. I nodded and handed him the note. "I have been expecting you, I'm Mr Lambert, I am your class coordinator and I'll be teaching you Physics", he said in a thick British accent. Oh, they were expecting me, that's odd I thought. He handed me a textbook and to my surprise turned to the rest of the class and spoke, "This is Miss Hale and she will be joining us this year; would you like to tell us something about yourself?" he asked.

All eyes on me now, I stammered and shifted my glance across the. "Uhh, my name is Alhena, and I...My voice was now cracking, and my cheeks were flushed. I heard some snickers and a spit ball came flying at me, I dodged it and it hit Mr Lambert square in the face. His face turned red, "Mr Parker, if you continue with your disgusting antics this year you will find yourself in the same class again as your friends move on!" he bawled! I wanted to laugh but maintained my composition "I'm sorry, you can take a seat at the back" he gestured. This Parker dude seemed like the typical class clown.

I walked to the back of the class and sat down, ignoring the weird stares and the dirty looks I was receiving. I was used to this. After taking register it was time to go to English and as I got up someone held their hand out to me. A guy with French cropped blonde hair and a set of pearly whites, I didn't know what to do so I just said hey without taking his hand and he put it back (yes, I'm very awkward like that). "Hi, I'm Sam, it's nice having someone new around here, mind if I see your roster?" 

So that's for the first chapter, hope you guys like it.