i. NEW BEGINNINGS
☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟAS OPHELIA PULLED INTO THE SCHOOL CAR PARK, she noticed a truck she had never seen before parked in the spot she usually took. Sighing, she found another space and hopped out of the car, sauntering over to the new (well, old — but new to her) truck curiously and seeing its owner still sat in the driver's seat, nose deep in what appeared to be a map of the school.
She knew it was Chief Swan's daughter, and thought it best to introduce herself and make a good impression.
The girl stepped out nervously, startled when she saw Ophelia stood directly outside her car door.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you," Ophelia stepped back a little, giving her space, "Just wanted to introduce myself, seeing as you're new and I know how scary it is on your first day... I'm Ophelia Douglas."
"Nice to meet you. I'm, uh, Bella Swan."
"I know," Ophelia smiled, her grin faltering when she realised how weird that sounded, "In a town as small as this, word about newbies gets around easy. You're gonna he stared at a lot, just a warning."
Bella pouted, "Really? I guess being the Chief's daughter probably doesn't help."
"Definitely. Sorry to break it to you," she giggled.
"It's okay." the girl shrugged shyly.
"Anyway, what do you have first? I can show you to your class if you want, save you wandering like a lost puppy?"
"I think— Biology. But that would... uh... that would be nice."
—
Ophelia found Bella's classroom easily, waving her goodbye with a piece of paper with her phone number on it, "Text me at lunch, I'll come and meet you and introduce you to my friends."
Bella nodded awkwardly, grateful for the attentive way Ophelia was ensuring she was comfortable at Forks High School.
With that, Ophelia was on her way to her own first class of the day — History.
She sauntered into the classroom, books in hand, and took her usual seat beside the ever-quiet Jasper Hale. She was curious about him, and always had been.
His eyes always trained away from her as though she was the most repulsive sight, his body shifted as far from her as was possible. She pondered often what it was that made him so desperate to be away from her, but nevertheless she was too nervous to speak to him anyway, so perhaps it was for the best.
Jasper was gorgeous — his entire family were — so to say that even bubbly, outgoing Ophelia was nervous around him would be an understatement.
Her friends teased that he often seemed to stare in her direction during lunch, but she was adamant that this was purely their means of mocking her evident crush on the blonde boy.
She didn't believe that there was any way Jasper, or any of his family for that matter, would spare even a momentary glance towards her without a specific reason.
"Good morning, class," the teacher began, face stern as he turned to the board and pointed to the words "AMERICAN CIVIL WAR" in bold scrawl, "I'm sure you can all tell what today's class will be about."
Ophelia heard Jasper swallow thickly beside her as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. She'd exposed the skin of her neck, but was more conscious he could see her face properly now, unaware of the impact of the prior fact.
She smiled up at the teacher, interested in what he would have to say. Ophelia always been interested in the events of the civil war — well, in history in general.
"Can anybody tell me the timespan of the Civil War?"
She raised her hand confidently, blushing when she saw that she was the only person in the room who did so.
"Yes, Miss. Douglas?"
"1861-1865, sir."
"Well done, Ophelia! Can you tell me what the first battle in the war was?"
"The Battle of Fort Sumter, sir."
"Correct again!"
He began spouting off information, and despite Ophelia's interest in the subject she couldn't help but be distracted by the way she could feel Jasper's eyes burning into the side of her head.
She turned to meet his gaze, startling him into trying to form the words to make it seem as though he intended to talk to her, not just gawk.
"You, uh, you know a lot about the Civil War, then?"
Of course, he was talking to her about fucking school stuff.
"I guess...a bit," she licked her lips putting down her pen and turning a little to face him, "My family are big into history so I sort of do a lot of reading up on stuff, I suppose."
"Me too," he half-laughed, "Startlingly knowledgable about the civil war."
"It's nice not being the only history nerd in the class, now I know I'm not," Ophelia laughed heartily, surprising herself with how comfortably she woke, "How come you don't answer questions in class, then?"
Jasper glanced up at the teacher again to feign that he was paying close attention, before resting his chin on his palm and looking back into Ophelia's eyes, "In case you've not realised, darlin'," Ophelia couldn't help but note the shivers down her spine at the term of endearment, and neither could Jasper who bit back a smirk, "I find it kind of difficult talking to people."
Ophelia shrugged in agreement, "Well you're doing pretty well right now talking to me, I'd say."
"You have no idea."
"Mr. Hale, Miss Douglas? Since you're so enamoured with eachother," this remark earned a wolf-whistle from a boy at the back of the class, "Care to share your riveting conversation with the class?"
Ophelia blushed crimson, looking down.
"Sorry sir," Jasper's southern drawl practically melted Ophelia's insides, "Ophelia was just reminding me of the dates to write in my notes."
The teacher simply nodded and rolled his eyes, turning on his heels back to write on the blackboard. Jasper was quiet and studious typically, as was Ophelia, so he didn't bother pressing the fact they were talking through his class.
"Sorry for gettin' you in trouble, darlin'," Jasper licked his lips, looking down with a blush as Ophelia admired the twinkle in his eyes.
"You don't need to apologise," the blonde girl smiled, absentmindedly copying down the words the teacher was writing on the board despite remaining entranced by the boy beside her, "It's nice actually talking to you."
She worried these words would sound strange, but the anxious feeling bubbling in her stomach seemed to immediately vanish as he flashed his warm smile and copied her actions, scrawling down notes too.
The smile didn't leave Jasper's face, nor did the grin plastered on Ophelia's.
Perhaps, she hoped, they could be friends.
She was certain he'd never feel the butterflies she experienced when they were near eachother, but all the same she hoped that this wouldn't be the last conversation they properly shared.
"I'm glad, Ophelia. It's nice talkin' to you too."
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AUTHOR'S NOTE !
↳ thanks for reading! so sorry
for starting this then just totally
disappearing for a while... luckily
i prewrote a lot so can get straight
back in the swing of things!
hope you enjoyed the first official
chapter of sunlight!
—lou. x
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───