Enchanted

The First Good Part of Clearhaven High

The final memorable event of the day occurred after the school bell had rung. I was getting my things together, my movements fuelled by with barely suppressed desperation to escape the school's claustrophobic hallways. I was planning to hide in one of the town's crappy cafes somewhere so I could resume texting my friends.
I finished gathering my things and had started moving quickly through the thinning crowd of students, when someone walked into me from behind, causing me to stumble and trip, dropping a couple of books and nearly landing on my face, barely catching myself on the floor with my hands. My clumsiness elicited a few laughs from passers by. Whoever had tripped me had already disappeared among the rest of the students.
I muttered to myself and began collecting the books off the floor. I was surprised when I noticed someone kneeling down to help me. I was about to open my mouth and tell him that I didn't need his help and he could piss off; and then he looked up and smiled at me.
And I was struck momentarily speechless.
He had tousled, blonde hair, and long eyelashes lining brown eyes. He looked like some kind of cross between the high school basketball captain, and the sensitive, quiet artist who never spoke in class.
Smile, you idiot. I took a few long seconds trying to compose myself. The boy had taken me off guard, and despite myself, I did not know how to respond.
He held the books out to me. I forced a smile on my face and took them from him.
'Thanks,' I found myself saying. I hated how awkward I sounded.
'I'm Mordred, by the way,' he added.
'Okay,' I said, then, feeling slightly stupid, I added, 'And I'm Seraphina. Nice to meet you.'
'You're new here, aren't you?', he asked as he placed the last of my fallen books into a neat pile.
'Its my first day,' I explained automatically. He stood up and handed the books over to me. I took them gratefully.
'That must be hard,' he said, his voice sympathetic. 'You're not a local, right?'
'Yeah.' I laughed uncomfortably. 'Everyone notices, don't they?'
'It's not that obvious,' he said. 'We get some new students from time to time, but they're most often part of the exchange program. Foregin students from Asia, Europe, sometimes the Middle East. And they usually have families or relatives living over here, and most often, friends to fit in with, too.'
He shrugged. 'Look, don't stress yourself about it. People will forget you're new after a while. It's no big deal.'
I wasn't sure I believed him, but Mordred's words still offered me a touch of reassurance. Maybe it was because I could see that he actually meant them.
'I hope so', I replied. 'I think you're the first person who I haven't felt like an alien around.'
He laughed.
I busied myself stuffing some of the books into my bag. A few students turned to stare as they passed by.
What was I doing now?, I wondered. I suppressed a sigh, and did my best to ignore them.
'How was your first day here?', Modred was asking.
"It was okay,' I lied. 'It's a lot to get used to. And all the subjects are really different. And I miss my friends. Not a lot of people here are very friendly.'
'So not such a great first day.'
'Well, yeah,' I admitted, smiling a little. 'I guess not.'
'You get used to it,' he promised. 'And don't worry, making friends here isn't as hard as it looks.'
'I'll take your word for it,' I responded. I didn't think I sounded very convinced.
'Look,' Mordred said, 'if some of the subjects are hard, and you want an opportunity to socialise, I'm running a peer study group thing after school here on Wednesdays. Me and a few of my friends help out a lot of juniors doing tough subjects, or who are looking to get high marks. You can come along if you want. I could catch you up on some of the subjects you're not familiar with, give you an idea of what you need to do to finish the assessments. Or if I don't know the subject, one of my friends will.'
'Really?' His words were the first good thing I had heard all day. And not because I cared at all about passing or doing well in any of my subjects at this school. 'Yeah, I mean, that would be great!'
'Don't worry, it's not hard to find,' he explained. Just go to the library, we hang out in the lounge area upstairs. You can come around four to five if you're interested.'
"Four to five. Library. Wednesday nights. Got it.'
His smile made me want to blush. 'Looking forward to seeing you there, then.'
There was an awkward pause, then Mordred said, 'I should get going, anyway. Hey, it was nice meeting you, Seraphina.'
'You too, Mordred,' I replied. I liked the small thrill that passed through me when I said his name; I liked the way his name sounded when I said it.
'See you around,' he said, and then he turned, and started walking away.
I stood there for a few long moments staring after him. The crowd of people had thinned out, and the corridor was mostly empty.
My smile slowly faded as I turned and began walking, alone again. I tried to distract myself with thoughts about Mordred, imagining all the things I could do with him.
Of course, I was supposed to be trying to get out of here. I couldn't entertain serious thoughts about him.
But that didn't mean I couldn't drag Mordred along a bit for fun.