L I L Y
As I opened the class room door, I felt my face pale and my anxiety level sky rocket. Every single person was now staring at my terrified pale face.
Calm down Lily you've got this.
I took a deep breathe and focused my gaze on the face of a man who looked to be in his early thirties, dressed in a pale blue shirt, black dress trousers and a pair of fancy pointed shoes on his large feet.
Teacher.
I smiled at him slightly, my nerves probably showing all over my face. He cleared his throat and gestured for me to come in. I slowly made my way into the classroom closing the door behind me.
"Hello there, I'm Mr Mathews. Are you new?"
Okay deep breath, don't stutter, you've got this!
"H-hi, y-yeah I'm Lily Adams."
Baby steps.
He studied me for a moment, his brown eyes softening at my stuttering. Then, he smiled. Another genuine smile and it's not even been half an hour, I like this.
"Welcome Lily. Please take the seat between Maya and Atlas. Guys raise your hands please."
I mumbled a small 'thank you' to Mr. Matthews before turning to face the kids in the class.
I noticed a boy and a girl each holding one arm in the air. The boy, who I assume must be Atlas, has blonde fluffy hair, pale skin and dark blue eyes, he's looking at me with a small smile.
Another smile!
The girl, who must be Maya, has beautiful long brown hair, tanned skin and big green doe-like eyes. Maya isn't giving me a small smile like Atlas, no, she's full on grinning at me. I don't know if I should be happy or maybe nervous?
Lets find out.
I slowly make my way towards the available seat in between the two of them and sit down. Just as my bottom makes contact with the thick plastic, Maya fully turns to me and out stretches her left hand.
Hand shake?
I cautiously enclose my small right hand around Maya's left, she squeezes it tightly, wiggling our arms up and down before she begins to speak.
"Hey! I'm Maya and that's Atlas." She says, pointing over to Atlas, who greets me with a 'hi' and a small wave. "How's your first day going so far?"
"H-hi, I'm Lily. It's o-okay, I'm a bit nervous though." Ugh, please stop stuttering. They won't hurt you Lily.
"Understandable." She nods lightly. "No need to be nervous though. You've got Atlas and I now. You can meet the rest of our friends at lunch too! Can I see your schedule?"
I look at Maya in shock, then turn to Atlas, have I just made friends? Really, so quickly? Surely not. Answer her Lily! I quickly get my schedule from my bag and turn back to Maya. I hand her my schedule and take a deep breath.
"A-are you both sure? W-will your other friends be o-okay with me sitting with you guys?"
Atlas responds before Maya this time.
"Yeah of course!" He says with a toothy grin. "We need another girl in our group to even the numbers out. Honestly Lily don't worry, they won't mind."
"T-thanks, Atlas."
He's about to respond but before he gets the chance Maya let's out a small squeal? I turn to her to make sure she's okay, as my eyes lock fo hers, she looks at me with a giant grin on her face. What's going on?
"Oh my god! We have all the same classes! And some of our other friends are in most of your classes too, so you'll get to meet a few of them before lunch! The three of us have biology with Emilio next, then art with Bella. At lunch you'll only need to be introduced to Luke."
I give Maya a genuine smile.
I've never gave anyone a genuine smile.
The rest of the English lesson, Maya, Atlas and I get to know each other a bit better whilst working on our group task.
Maya tells me how she has an older sister called Mia, who's a couple of grades above us. Whilst Atlas has an older brother named Elliot, who's a senior.
I tell them about Jack and how he's a few grades above us as well.
They ask more questions, more so about where I moved from and what my old school was like. I hesitantly tell them that this is the first time I've ever attended school, which elates a gasp from them both.
To cover up why this is my first time in an actual school, I just tell my friends I've been home schooled as my parents didn't think school was safe. Not that being with them is any more safe, but my new friends don't need to know that. Thankfully, they don't ask too many questions about me being home schooled.
The bell rang signalling English was now over and it's time for biology. I'm glad I have Maya and Atlas, they've eased some of my anxiety not all of it, but at least I can breathe without feeling as though my lungs are burning.
As we walk along the corridors toward Biology, Maya is currently telling me about Emilio and what he's like. I'm really excited to meet him. Yep excited, not nervous, if he's like Atlas and Maya there's no need for me to worry.
Emilio is apparently the joker of the group, he loves to play pranks on everyone, he's a hugger so I've to be prepared, Emilio being a hugger actually makes me happier, I've never had a hug.
I would really like a hug.
As we continue our way along the tiled floor of the long white hallway, rows upon rows of light blue lockers at either side of us, I notice the stares.
Everyone is still staring at me, I can feel my breathing pick up, my palms start to sweat, I'm losing my grip on reality.
Cmon Lily, breathe, inhale, exhale, breathe.
I feel an arm around my shoulder and look to up at the owner of said arm. Atlas smiles down at me dimples and all, the arm around my shoulder never moving, if anything his grip tightens as he pulls me into his side and starts to whisper soothing words in my ear.
"Ignore them Lily, you've got this, you're fine."
How did he know?
Atlas continues with the soothing words until my breathing starts getting back to normal. He gently rubs his palms down the sides of my arms. Don't flinch. It takes everything in me not to flinch from his touch. Not because I'm scared, no. I feel something, but not scared. I can't understand my emotions when fear is all I've ever felt. My arms are still badly bruised from two days ago when we moved here, hence why I'm trying not to flinch.
Atlas turns to me again and looks me in the eyes. I can't make out the emotion he's looking at me with. It's not anger? It's not disgust? It's not hatred? Is it... could it be, concern? Maybe I'm just imagining it. I understand Atlas and Maya said they're my friends now and that I can join their friend group, but surely they wouldn't care about me so soon.
Would they?
"You good now, Lily? Just ignore them. We never get new students, so your brother is probably getting the same amount of attention. Plus you've got a really familiar face. I know that sounds stupid, but you do. Maybe we've met before?"
I look up at Atlas, a familiar face? What the heck does that even mean? I study him for a moment I can't tell him I've never any kids my age before so I just nod.
"Y-yeah, I'm good now, s-sorry. Maybe, but I-I just moved here so I don't know h-how we could have met before?"
He looks at me again, about to open his mouth but before he can say anything, Maya jumps in and cuts him off. He mocks hurt by putting a hand over his heart and gapes at her. I giggle and Maya winks at him in return then turns her attention back to me.
"Maybe you have a doppelgänger, I've heard lots of people have them, like in vampire diaries. OH MY GOD! Maybe you're like Elena? This is so cool!" Vampire what? Elena who? I'm so lost... "Are you team Damon or team Stefan? I love Stef-" she's cut off of
her rambling by Atlas.
"I've heard I look like a young Leonardo DiCaprio. Maybe he's my doppelgänger."
Maya snorts at Atlas' apparent doppelgänger and rubs his shoulders with a huge pout on her lips, her big doe eyes go wide in mock comfort.
"Aw honey! Dream on, you could never be that pretty."
She lays her head on his shoulder, continuing to gaze at him with her huge doe eyes feigning innocence. Atlas looks at her in disbelief and then turns his gaze to me with a pleading look.
Oh no.
"I'm as pretty as Leonardo DiCaprio, right Lils? Screw it, I'm prettier, aren't I?"
Lils, I've never had a nickname that I like.
He stares at me with that same pleading look, but I have no idea who this Leonardo guy even is. I look up at Atlas studying him for a moment and shrug.
He is pretty.
"Y-you're pretty Atlas, but I d-don't know who the guy is your talking about. I'm new here remember."
Atlas' cheeks flush with a small dusting of pink at my compliment, before he looks at me with even more disbelief than how he looked at Maya.
I turn to Maya and even she is gazing at me with the same expression, except her mouth is opening and shutting like a goldfish. Did I do something wrong? This lasts for about three seconds before Maya almost shouts her next question at me.
"HOW CAN YOU NOT KNOW WHO LEONARDO DICAPRIO IS!? WHAT THE F-"
Atlas buts in at this moment, probably to stop Maya from swearing, or to save me from her shouting. I'm not to sure which one but either way, I'm grateful. He turns to me and giggles.
"He's an actor Lils, not someone at this school."
Oooops, I've never watched tv. Maybe I'd like to?
"Oh, I don't really w-watch tv, I prefer to read." Not 100% true, I'm not allowed to watch TV, but I do love reading.
They gape at me and start telling me all about this Leonardo guy as we make it to the door of our Biology class.
We walk inside and greet the teacher just as the bell rings, he lets me sit with Maya and Atlas at the back of the class. Emilio apparently sits here to, he's not here yet but I'm so excited to make another friend.
The door opens and students start to pour in, thankfully they only give me a quick glance before they take their seats. A boy walks towards the table I'm sitting at with Atlas and Maya, he quickly attaches them both in a hug and now I'm certain this boy is Emilio, as he's apparently a hugger.
He turns to me with a big goofy grin and opens his arms, in less than a second I'm pulled in to a comforting embrace. I flinch at the gesture but happily return it.
My first hug.
Emilio pulled back, his grin faltering ever-so-slightly as he studies my face. You wouldn't notice it unless you were looking for something off like I was. Before I can even blink or question the strangeness, the overly cheery smile is back.
Weird.
"Hey! I'm Emilio, you can call me Em or Milo or whatever you want. You're Lily right? Atlas text me about our new friend during first period." Then he squeals, yes squeals. "You are so cute!"
I feel my cheeks flush. He already knows about me?
I really like Emilio.
"Hi, y-yeah, uh..." I don't know what to say. "You give g-good hugs."
I didn't stutter to much, baby steps.
His grin — if possible — gets even wider as he hugs me again. I feel strangely safe.
"Oh my God! I love you. I've decided you're gonna be my new girl best friend."
I beam at him. Best friend.
I like the sound of that.
We all chat for a bit until the teacher starts the lesson. He hands out work sheets and states that we've to do the work in pairs. Luckily I'm paired with Emilio, whilst Atlas is paired with Maya.
We complete our work with about fifteen minutes to spare, in those minutes I find out so much about Emilio. His favourite colour is blue, his favourite food is pizza, his lucky number is seven, and he has an older brother, Enzo, who also goes to this school.
"Oh, and I'm gay." Emilio said at the end of his long list of things I need to know.
I blink. "What's a gay?"
Emilio's laugh is so loud that the teacher scolds him for disrupting others. It takes some time, but eventually he manages to regain his compute enough to apologise to our biology teacher.
After his apologies, Emilio wipes the amused tears from his cheeks and turns to me.
"Buckle up, little lady," he wraps his arm around my shoulder with a beaming smile. "We have a lot to discuss."
—
"You get it?" Emilio asked, after taking ten whole minutes to explain.
"I think so," I nod, hiding my hot cheeks with my palms. "So... you like boys and not girls?" I double check. He threw a whole lot of answers throughout his ten minute explanation that I think my brain has grown tired.
"Yup!" Emilio smiled, though he seemed a little nervous by the way he drummed his fingers against the desk.
I don't understand his unease. Any book or fairytale I've ever read has been a boy and a girl, or a prince and a princess, never two boys or two princes'.
Maybe I just need some up to date books.
"That's cool." I return his smile, hoping that even though I don't understand his anxiousness, I'll be able to somehow soothe it.
It seems to do the trick, Emilio's shoulders relax and his new smile comes across as a little less forced than the last.
"Cool," he beams, throwing his arm back over my shoulders. "So," he glances at the clock. "We have at least three minutes to kill. Tell me something about you?"
And, for the next three minutes, that's exactly what I do.
I really like school so far.
***
Do you like Lily's new friends?
Who's your favourite so far - Maya , Atlas or Emilio?
Team Stefan or team Damon?
Edited.