Panic Room

Part one; the third

Ok! I am so sorry that this has taken so long for everyone who has read this so far (btw, I appreciate you guys SO much) but I am finally getting to formatting. Ugh, I hate this, but it's gotta get done so...

Enjoy the chapter!

Thursday; 1998; Luna; St John's school; 08:45 am

Luna hurried into school, head down and clutching her books tightly to her body. She wasn't looking where she was going, and walked right into a tall, solid figure. Her books spilled out of her hands and she ducked down to retrieve them. The person that she had walked into also bent to help Luna pick up her books and gathered up about half. She looked up to take them and looked up into the face of a boy. 

He looked about a year older than she and had long, sandy blond hair that hung in his eyes. He had long, muscular arms and brilliant white teeth. She stood up, book's back in her arms and, and opened her mouth to apologise and thank him at the same time, but no words came out. Instead, she made a small sound like a mouse being trodden on, but the boy seemed to get the idea. He smiled at her and brushed his hair out of his eyes, revealing bright blue, flecked with little splashes of green. 

He stopped smiling and said "No problem," in a deep, monotone that made Luna's stomach writhe and twist. She made the squeaking sound again and hurried off, her face bright red. When she had turned several corners and was sure that he couldn't hear her, she sank down the wall and let out a long sigh. The feeling in her stomach redoubled and she let go of the books, and covered her mouth with her hands. She let out a giggle and closed her eyes tightly, shivering with excitement. Luna was overcome with a feeling that she had never felt before. At the sight of the boy, she had been flooded by a wave of affection! 

She had never felt affection for another person besides her family, let alone a boy. She stood up and tried to pull herself together by gathering up her books and stuffing them inside her bag, then walking briskly down the corridor and into her first class of the day.It was maths, by far Luna's best subject and by far the dullest. She had long ago completed the ninth grade work that was set for the year, and spent most classes reading a book or idly doodling on the corner of her workbook. She sat through the incredibly dull class, but today, she had other things to do besides draw or read. Today she was thinking about the boy. 

She wondered what his name was and thought that it must be something really nice that would suit him. She couldn't think of anything so she just thought of him as 'the sandy haired boy' 'If only I had actually talked!' She thought despairing, 'maybe I could have found out his real name'. She thought that there was no way that somebody as handsome as he would ever like someone like her, but if people could change water into wine or return a blind man's sight, she thought it possible that fate could spin it web to make a boy like her. 

Luna stopped thinking, only when she heard her name being called. The teacher was calling her and by the sharp tone in her voice, she reckoned that her name had been called several times and she had been too deep in her own thoughts to realise it. The teacher was yelling her name and brandishing a marker at the white board and an unfinished equation.

"Luna? Luna! Luna can you hear me? I asked you whether you could come here and finish this sum? LUNA?" She bellowed the last word and Luna jumped in her seat, almost toppling her desk. She walked to the front and took the pen from her teacher with fumbling fingers. She moved to the board, raised the marker to it, and began to write. The sum read-

(10) (3x+ x) = (5) (10)

10 5 2

Luna studied the sum for a few seconds before writing

(10) (3x+ x) = (5) (10)

10 5 2

3x + 2x = 25

underneath it. She turned around and gave the pen back to the teacher and walked back to her desk on trembling legs.

"Well done Luna!" She said "Do you see what Luna has done here," she asked the rest of the class, smiling. "Oi!" She yelled, snapping her fingers "Wake up!" The class snapped out of their stupor and looked around the classroom, some muttering agreements and some apologising. The teacher beamed at Luna and scowled at everyone else. "Shame on all of you." She hissed, "This is a maths class, not your bedroom! Wake up!" 

The class looked at Luna's maths problem and some of them gave her scathing looks, muttering darkly under their breath. She had experienced this before and therefore didn't let it faze her. Instead, she turned her thoughts back to the boy. The muttering faded away, as did her concentration, and the class turned back to the front and fell back into their torpor as the teacher droned on and on. After maths, came English, which was Luna's favourite subject by far. She was an aspiring book writer after all. Then came French, Luna's least favourite subject, and she let out a small groan as the eccentric teacher glided into the room, high heels clicking and her many shawls and scarves fluttering behind her.

"Bonjour, my leetle French protegees" She said in a thick, fake French accent.

"Bonjour miss." The class chorused dully. The French teacher, Madam le Bour, was extremely over the top and wore bangles all over her arms which jangled as she walked. Luna only endured through her classes, because she needed to get full marks on her school report, and she thought that attending all of her classes might be a good way to achieve that. Luna forced herself through the class, repeating words back to Madam le Bour whenever she spoke and thinking about the sandy haired boy. She hadn't been able to get him out of her head all day and was so distracted, that she was still mumbling words in French, when she realised that the entire class had already stood up and was slowly filing out of the room. 

She stood up and hastily stuffed her things into her bag, hurrying out of the door and into the lunch room. She walked over to where lunch was being served and was happily walking away, holding her macaroni and cheese, when she tripped over something. She sprawled on the floor, lunch and glasses flying, and looked around. There, sniggering nastily behind her, was Clair. She and her friends were all staring at Luna and laughing behind their hands. Luna felt a hot flush creep up her neck and hastily picked up her glasses and her now empty lunch tray, and walked over to an empty table, head hanging. She was just thinking of getting an early start to her next class, when she heard a voice behind her.

"Luna? Are you ok?" Luna jumped and snapped around to stare into the face of the sandy haired boy that she had run into earlier. Luna felt her face grow hot and mumbled something and he sat down. She swallowed hard and forced herself to speak.

"U...u...um y...yes. She stammered finally and looked down so that he couldn't see her reddening ears.

"Are you sure?" He asked unbelievingly, and Luna heard uncertainty in his voice. "Are you absolutely sure that you're fine, because those girls were being really horrible to you!" He reached forward and brushed some mac n cheese off Luna's jumper. She looked up and their eyes locked for a second, before she looked away, embarrassed.

"Hey, Luna?" The boy said, lifting her chin with his hand and forcing her to look at him. She saw that the boy was smiling sweetly, like she was an old friend.

"How do you know my name?" She asked quietly and for the first time, she saw a frown cross his brow.

"Um, doesn't matter." He said looking shiftily down at his food tray before standing up and hurrying out of the doors, letting them slam shut behind him.