Dawn

7

I stuck out my hand.

"Nice to meet you, Hayden," I said, my eyes narrow as he shook my hand sheepishly.

"If you could show him around the school, the technology block and the music centre, that would be good, thanks. Oh, and here's his schedule. Could you show him all his classrooms, please?"

I took the document from Mr. Green's hand and nodded politely, "Sure."

"Oh, and you can skip the morning lessons, here's a pass if anyone asks. But you must go to period three, okay? If you could show Hayden to his period three classroom as well, and maybe stick by him for the next few days, I'd really appreciate it."

"Okay."

"Right, I'll leave you in Dawn's capable hands, Hayden. See you two later," Mr. Green said, and left us alone.

"Dawn-"

"You could have at least told me, Hayden."

"I wanted it to be a surprise," was his excuse.

I rolled my eyes, "I would have liked to know."

"I'm sorry," he said.

I softened. "It doesn't matter, it's no big deal. Come on, I'll show you the music block first."

He smiled and followed me outside, to the music centre. I showed him around the small building, then the technology block, before leading him back to the main building. Strolling through the hallway, I pointed to my right. "Over there is the canteen. If you want, you can eat with me and my friends at Lunch. I'm warning you, though, we're a group of girls," I laughed.

He chuckled deeply, his chest rumbling. "That's alright with me," he winked.

Taking my time, I led him through the school, pointing out his classrooms and the different departments of the school. "If you ever get lost, go to the ground floor for the Languages and P.E. departments, the first floor for the Humanities and Science departments, and the second floor for the Maths, Art and English departments. In the technology block there is also the Business Studies department, and in the music block there is also the Drama department. Got it?"

He paused, then nodded slowly. "I think so," he said.

I pointed to my left, "That's the assembly hall. Your form room is on the top floor— it's next to mine in the Art corridor. I'll show you."

I took Hayden upstairs to the second floor and told him to be quiet as I hovered outside his form room; inside, a group of year seven students were being taught to use watercolours.

"When the first bell of the day rings, you need to be here for Registration. After Lunch, you come back here for Afternoon Registration. Understand?"

"Yup," he replied.

As I took him downstairs to the canteen again— since the bell signalling that it was Break was just about to ring— I looked at him sheepishly. "Don't expect me to introduce you to anyone outside of my friendship group. I'm not really the biggest socialite," I admitted.

He laughed, "Don't worry, I can make friends on my own. I'm not expecting you to know people in my year, either."

I nodded, "Okay...um, good."

The bell suddenly rang, and I ushered Hayden into the canteen as a herd of hungry students came racing down the hallway. "You want to eat something?" I asked him.

"Trust me, it's rare that I don't want to eat something," he grinned.

In a sudden spout of confidence, I grabbed his hand and pulled him over to the food, the dinner ladies staring at us with boredom.