Chapter 5 - The Boy in the Back Row

Vera's POV

"Yes, I am."

I replied before I even thought about the words I said.

"Welcome." She said, still with that warm smile on her face.

She stepped aside to give me enough space to enter.

I walked into the office.

"Off you go to class, Liam." I heard her say the words behind me.

I didn't look back. But somehow, I already knew he had left without saying anything.

The office was clean and simple. A big bookshelf stood at one corner of the office, packed with files and books that were neatly arranged. A framed certificate hung on the wall behind the desk. Everything had its place and they looked proper.

My eyes stopped on the small nameplate sitting on the desk.

Mirabel Cole, Principal.

So she was the one in charge.

"Have a seat."

She sat down behind her desk while I sat in one of the two chairs across from her.

"May I ask how you already know my name?" I asked curiously.

She smiled gently. "Oh, Mr. Hayworth called ahead. He told me you would be starting today."

Of course he did.

That was how things worked in rich people's world. Fast and already sorted before you even arrived.

She started typing on her already opened laptop, as she started asking me questions.

"Your full name?"

"Vera Morgan."

"Guardian's name?"

"Alyssa Morgan."

"Science class or Arts?"

"Science."

She nodded and kept typing. The clicking sound of the keyboard filled the quiet room.

My phone chimed inside my pocket. I reached for it. But before I could unlock the screen, she spoke again.

"Vera Morgan. Year Eleven."

She looked up from the screen. A small smile spread across her face.

"You are now officially a student of Hayworth Academy."

She held out a paper toward me. "Your timetable for the term."

A small smile brushed my face before I could stop it.

"Oh,thank you."

"You are welcome."

She stood up.

"Let me walk you to your class."

I quickly got up and followed.

The moment we stepped into the hallway, the bell rang. The start of the first class of the day.

As we walked down the hallway, most students had obviously left for classes while some walked past in clean and pressed uniforms. Teachers moved between classrooms carrying books and tablets. The whole place felt calm but alive at the same time.

It looked like a world I didn't quite belong in yet.

Nothing like my old school.

Through the glass walls, I could see a fountain standing in the middle of a courtyard. Well cut green lawns stretched around it and bright flowers grew along the edges.

I caught myself smiling.

‘Maybe I'm actually going to like it here.’

We kept walking down the long hallway. Voices drifted out from the classrooms. Teachers explaining. Students giving answers. The sounds made the school feel warm and full.

Eventually, Principal Cole stopped in front of one of the doors.

She pushed it open and walked in. I followed behind her.

"The IUPAC name for..."

The teacher stopped talking at the middle of his sentence and every single head in the room turned toward the door.

"Sorry for interrupting, Mr. Brooks."

She apologized and then faced the class.

"You have a new student today."

The reaction came fast.

Whispers broke out in the whole classroom. Students leaned toward each other, some stared openly while others pointed in that careful, trying-to-be-sneaky way.

And then I heard it.

"Liam brought her to school today."

The girl closest to me was barely bothering to keep her voice down.

"He did?"

"Maybe they're together."

"I've never seen him drive just anyone to school."

My eyebrow raised up.

‘Seriously?’

The principal's voice cut through the noise.

"Decorum!"

The room went quiet. Then she turned to me.

"You may introduce yourself."

I nodded and opened my mouth.

"My name is Ve…"

The rest of the words died in my throat. My breath caught and my eyes went wide.

‘No way.’

Andrea.

He was sitting in the very last row. Right by the window. His eyes found mine at the same exact moment mine found his. The shock on his face was the same shock I felt in my whole body.

For a second, everything around me disappeared. The classroom, the students,the teacher.

All I could see was him.

Andrea. The boy who had ended things with me, who had walked away from what we had without ever giving me a real reason why. The boy I thought I would never have to see again as he transferred schools.

"Go ahead."

The principal's voice pulled me back.

I cleared my throat, then tried to put my face back together.

"My name is Vera Morgan."

I moved my eyes away from Andrea.

"It's nice to be part of this class."

"Good." The principal gave a small nod. "Be nice to Vera everyone."

Then she looked back at me.

"You may take a seat."

I scanned the room, every seat was full.

Except one.

Just one empty seat, sitting directly in front of Andrea.

I stared at it, then up at the ceiling and back at the seat.

"Shit." The word slipped out and I couldn't take it back.

A few students laughed. I ignored them all.

I lifted my chin and walked toward the empty seat. I dropped my bag on the desk, pulled out the chair and sat down.

The boy sitting next to me immediately hit me with a huge smile. The kind of smile that told me he was going to talk a lot.

‘Wonderful. Just great.’

"You may continue, Mr. Brooks."

Then the principal walked out. The teacher fixed his glasses properly on his face and picked up his marker.

"Now, back to the lesson. The IUPAC name of CaCO3 is Calcium trioxocarbonate…"

My mood became down immediately.

‘Chemistry.’

Out of all possible subjects.

I slowly sank lower in my seat.

The teacher's voice turned into background noise. Words floated around the room. Formulas, compounds, long chemical names.

And none of them stuck because my attention kept drifting.

Not to the lesson but to the person sitting behind me.

Andrea.

I could feel his eyes on my face every few moments even though he was sitting behind me.

It was really annoying.

A few weeks ago, this would have destroyed my whole day. I would have spent hours crying quietly. Going over every little thing and asking myself what I had done wrong. Asking myself why I wasn't enough for him.

But now?

Now it felt different.

The pain was still there somewhere but it was buried deep and faded. Like an old scar that had gradually healed over but left its mark.

The anger, though. That was still very much alive.

Because he never gave me a reason. He just ended things. Like what we had between us meant absolutely nothing.

I held my pen tighter while my lips pressed together.

Why is he here?

The question wouldn't leave me alone.

Out of every school in the city. Why transfer here? Why this one?

I took in a long breath and released it in one beat.

"How awkward can this get?"

The boy beside me glanced over.

"You talking to me?"

"No."

"Oh."

He turned back around. Thank goodness for that.

I rested my chin in my palm and let my eyes drift toward the window looking at nothing in particular but the inside of my head was clouded with thoughts of a person I have new interest in.

The face filling my thoughts wasn't Andrea's.

It was Liam's.

His green eyes, hiis irritating attitude,his stupidly handsome face, his deep voice and the way something in him had nearly cracked wide open when I mentioned Sasha.

I frowned at my notebook.

'Why am I thinking about Liam right now?'

The guy could be annoying even without trying.

But still...

A small smile started to form on my lips.

The bell saved me before I could think about it any longer.

DING!

The sound rang out through the whole room.

Mr. Brooks gathered his things while students immediately relaxed. Then another teacher walked in for English.

The next lesson moved much faster. At least English was something I actually liked.

Soon enough

Another DING!

It was the lunch bell.

The sweetest sound I had heard all morning.

"Thank goodness."

I started packing my books right away. One notebook then another and my pen. Everything disappeared into my bag as fast as my hands could move.

Students were already getting up. Voices filled the room as chairs scraped across the floor.

I stood up ready to leave. Ready to put as much distance between myself and the back row as possible.

I slung my bag over my shoulder and took one step.

"Vera."

I stopped moving.

The voice came from just behind me. I didn't need to turn around to know who it was.

I looked back.

Andrea was standing beside his desk.