Chapter 2

Mr Philip was a very tall man, with a small mole by his nose. He had brown hair, and I could see that he was uncomfortable with his haircut, which had his hair hanging down from his head to his face, obstructing his sight. He kept flipping the hair back but it refuses to oblige.

He was our math teacher, and we started with simple algebra, which I was familiar with, till we got to the complicated ones. I shook my head in confusion as I tried to understand what he was explaining.

And then he noticed me.

"Hey you," he said. I looked around to be sure I wasn't the one he was calling, but damn right it was me.

"Me?" I asked.

"Yeah, you the cute guy." He confirmed, folding his arms over his broad chest as the whole class giggled. "You're new here right?" He asked.

"Yes I am." I answered.

"What's your name?" He enquired.

"Daniel sir, Daniel Robinson."

"Splendid. But why sit at the far end of the classroom?"

"Uh, this is the only vacant seat I saw-"

"Nonsense." He interrupted, looking for a better seat to put me.

"Adam Walker!" He called. "Stand and move to handsome Daniel's seat." He said, smiling. Why did I have to be addressed as handsome? If I am then, fine, but don't call me it.

I figured Adam was a rough looking dude sitting at the front row next to...Wow! What a beauty! She was blonde, had large blue eyes with protruding full lips. I had never seen an angel...

"Daniel, are you alright?" Mr Philip asked, staring at me with his small eyes.

I immediately came back to my senses.

"Oh y-yes sir, I'm fine." Was I really staring for that long?

"Adam will be switching seats with you and from now on, this is where you'll be sitting." He said, pointing to the seat Adam was on.

I didn't like front seats but I was at least happy that I would be sitting close to the pretty girl - whatever her name was.

"Alright sir." I packed my things and moved to the front where Adam was looking deep into my eyes with anger. Standing in front of him was when I realised he was twice my size. But still, I didn't understand why he looked so mad at me. I wasn't the one that asked for a change of seat, was I? So why get mad at me?

"You...think you're so handsome eh? I'll get you for this. I swear." He blustered, with Mr Philip backing the class.

But I really didn't care. He looked too dumb to do anything.

I sat, and the pretty girl was staring at me. Wow! She looked like an angel, if not prettier. And those eyes...that was when I realised that on her face was a look of fury. Wait, she's mad at me too? Gosh! Whatever did I do to these people?

Just then a crazy theory popped in my head.

She must be Adam's girlfriend.

Jeez. I'd better watch myself.

★★★

Months passed and I, because I was some kind of introvert, made no friends. Though most girls still blushed when I smiled at them, but the only person I really wanted to be friends with was the pretty girl I was sitting next to - Emily Watson. Because somehow, I felt kind of attracted to her.

One morning, after I got dropped by the school bus, I sighted her, the prettiest girl in my grade.

I decided to man up and speak to her. Those two months I'd spent in this school without talking to her should be enough.

She was standing at her locker, searching for only - god - knows - what.

I summoned courage and went over to her.

Gosh, she smelled really nice.

"Hi." I said, flashing my killer smile as I got to her.

"Uhn uhn." She said, still rampaging her locker. She didn't even turn to look at me.

"Uhm, I'm Daniel."

"Yeah okay." She said, still not looking at me.

"Aren't you even gonna look at me?"

"Look," She said, facing me now. "I understand that you're new and wanna make new friends, but the fact that we're in the same grade doesn't mean you're free to talk to me how you wanna, and when you wanna. So just mind your business and please, don't ever talk to me again." She said.

Looking behind her, I saw that Adam was approaching.

"Uhm, I-i'm sorry. I didn't - "

Adam was already here. Not that I was scared, but I realised that all eyes in the hallway was staring at me and Emily, and I didn't want any drama.

Like, at all.

"Hey bitch, what do you want with her?" He asked, throwing a proprietorial arm across Emily's shoulder.

And now people had gathered around us, expecting a fight between the 'rough bully' and the 'handsome newcomer'. I didn't say anything, I just turned to go and immediately felt an arm drag me back.

I hated the feel of his hand on me so I jerked, pushing Adam's hand away.

He was getting angry, he clenched his fists and was about to say something when Emily stopped him.

"Let's go please." She said to him.

"You got lucky this time, but next t-"

trrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

The bell went off, meaning it was time for the first period. I felt seriously relieved. But when they turned to go, I noticed Emily shove Adam's arm from her shoulder, and Adam looked back at me with disgust.

For some reason I figured Emily wasn't too happy with the relationship.

But it was none of my business. She didn't want to be friends then fine.

I went over to my locker, retrieved my history book and headed for history class.

★★★

After the incident with Emily and Adam, I tried as much as possible to stay away from them. But it seemed the harder I tried, the more often I bumped into them.

I really liked Emily, and still wanted to be friends with her, but I didn't see how that was possible with Adam around.

During my fifth month of going to school at Brain Builders College, I befriended Brian, sitting at my right, with Emily at my left. Brian introduced me to his group of friends. They were called The Science Nerds probably because they knew a lot about science.

Anyways, I always sat with them during lunch and as they talked science using scientific terms and all, I always felt left out because I didn't really know much. Like, who cares about what degrees the sun is?

One Friday, after getting to school, I decided to go to the library to study. Exam was near and I hadn't understood much in class. I never did, reading on my own was my jam.

As I walked on, I noticed a blonde girl following me. She looked a bit like Emily, but seemed a little older.

Why was she following me?

As I got to the Library, I picked a book on chemistry and settled down to read as the girl walked in. She picked a book from one of the shelves and looked in my direction. I quickly looked away. She was really pretty like Emily but had a shit ton of makeup on. I tried to concentrate on my book.

She came over to me and sat very close to me, flipping the pages of the book she was pretending to read. Yes, it was that obvious, no one reads a page in 3.2 seconds.

"Hi Daniel." She said all of a sudden, clearing her throat after.

"Wh - how did you know my name?" I asked.

"Emily like, totally told me." She replied.

Okay, who now?

"Emily? Are you her twin or what?"

"No. I'm her elder sister, Rose." She answered, twirling a thick strand of her hair in her finger.

"Oh, and she told you my name?" I asked.

"Not the only thing she told me about you but, yeah." She said. "Okay, so there's like, something she wants you to know, Daniel."

What could it possibly be? I decided to play it cool.

"Okay, but why can't she tell me herself?"

"Dunno. Maybe she's shy. Anyways..."

I hoped it was what I was thinking. I crossed my fingers.

Rose lowered her voice.

"...well, Emily asked me to tell you that she likes you, a whole lot. And as much as she wants, she can't be with you. She really really likes you. She even tells me she dreams about you and her getting married. Weird right? Anyways, she wants to know if you like her too." Rose said.

I couldn't believe my ears. The prettiest I've ever seen likes me. And she wants to know if I like her back! Should I...?

"Daniel!" I heard someone yell my name.

"Oh, uh... What?"

"You like, totally didn't answer my question." She frowned.

"What question?" I asked, to be sure all of this was real.

She sighed.

"Emily told me to ask you if you like her back."

"Uh... I -I..."

"Should I tell her yes or no?"

"Yes. Tell her yes." I said without even thinking. I mean what was there to think about?

Rose smiled. And left. Confirming my doubts of her even reading the book at all.