Rosebush | ᴀ ʜɪɢʜsᴄʜᴏᴏʟ ʀᴏᴍᴀɴᴄᴇ

𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫

Bell rings and it's the first day of school. Obviously Ash, who was quite popular was already heading to class. She was a top scorer that had straight A's. Today was the start of her last year of high school, and she wanted it to be her best.

You might think a girl that's good in her studies probably doesn't do anything else, but you are definitely mistaken. When it comes to Ash, she was a perfect person. Her academics were unbelievable, her sports were top tier, and she was a popular gamer with amazing social skills. Ash was the literal example of 'perfect' and her beauty was undeniable.

When she sat in her seat, a new girl walked in to class. Ash felt it, her instincts knew, this girl could beat her in something. Ash knew that this was a competitor, the way the girl held a file and notebook in one hand, and the other choosing a playlist from her phone. As her silky brown hair flowed, and her brown skin glimmered under the classroom light. Ash didn't know whether or not to love or hate this girl. But soon enough, the answer was clear.

People gathered around the girl's table, nobody at Ash's. Ash was jealous, she knew this meant rivarly, her insticts told her to hate. Ash scrolled on her phone for music to distract herself, but she can't help but eye the girl with a look of jealousy. She could hear the excited chattering everyone had around the girl, she wanted that attention.

Ash sat in her seat silently, as time passes. The teacher walks in and Ash puts down her phone. "Good morning everyone. Welcome to Horizon International Secondary School. I believe all of you are well aware that you are in Grade 11, also known as your final year in high school. I am Mr. Wilson, your homeroom teacher. Please put your phones away. Thank you." Mr. Wilson said.

Ash kept her phone away into her pocket, glaring at the girl, who's writing down something in a pink and black glitter notebook. This was just like Ash, writing her hearts away for the memories of the first day at school. That looked like her diary, and Ash was craving to read it. She didn't know why, and she didn't know how, she just knew she wanted to read it.

Mr. Wilson approached the girl, a wide smile on his face. "Hello, welcome. Mind doing a self introduction to the class?" He asked, as kind as ever. The girl stood up with a smile, her eyes glistening. "Hello everyone. I'm Silvanna and I'm 16 years old this year. My hobbies are gaming, writing and singing. One fun fact about me... Well, I actually do boxing. But it's really nice to meet you all!" Silvanna said.

Ash rolled her eyes nonchalantly. Silvanna felt challenged for such a matter, she wasn't getting the spotlight anymore. "That's great, thank you! Now I'd expect you all to make Silvanna feel welcome. Since it's homeroom, you can take out your laptops and continue working on your pending work." Mr. Wilson said, his smile wrinkling the bottom of his eyes.

Mr. Wilson is quite an old guy, friendly and always smiling, but strict in studies. He always wore the classic pair of pants, leather shoes, white button up, and finishing it off with his Rolex watch. Typical. Ash knew Mr. Wilson ever since she was in 9th grade, after the incident. Mr. Wilson was a great teacher to Ash.

Silvanna didn't bring her laptop to class, so she opened up her file, which was sky blue in color. Ash sat just a seat to the left away from Silvanna, and the aesthetic journalling stickers in Silvanna's file caught her eye. Silvanna noticed and gave a slight smile to Ash, she couldn't help but smile back. Despite rivarly, her kind nature took over her, only to have her carrying the sour regret afterwards.

Ash's seatmate, Cassie, pulled out her laptop and started working on designing the posters for the upcoming school "Jazzy January" event. Ash followed along, working on the agenda for the event.

One thing about Horizon is how they constantly support their students based on their different interests. Homeroom is a time for students to expand their interests, plan out their goals, catch on to pending work and mostly socialise with their peers.

Alongside the three core subjects, the six optional classes and the monthly workshops - which you can choose, Horizon offers two external classes for students. According to the school principal, Dorothy Hyzer, Horizon is all about offering freedom to students to express themselves.

Ash's external classes were boxing and media, whereas Cassie's were volleyball and media. Since both of them are in media, they started discussing about the plans for Jazzy January. The school's media club organises most events, so they get to socialise and expand their friend group with people outside of school.

Classic high school, they have musical bands. Horizon doesn't only have one musical band though, it has different genres to expand different exposures for students. Ash's best friend, Cole, was in the school's jazz band, and she absolutely loved his taste in music.

As Ash and Cassie chatted away on their laptops, Silvanna was chatting with her new seatmate Jude whilst journalling. All in their own world, weren't they?

But Ash couldn't help it, she eyed Silvanna with envy, sometimes breaking from the conversation. Cassie noticed, but pushed it away, maybe that's how things work.

Silvanna seemed unbothered, but she felt it. The smile Ash gave her just now was so fake, so forced. She knew the sour regret she felt after that smile, knowing what Ash felt. She realised Ash staring at her once in a while, letting her mind drift away, thinking about what to do next. Silvanna felt it was way too early to ask about it, so she looked away, continuing to chat with Jude.

Well, as fate decides, Silvanna and Ash locked eyes for a few seconds before looking away. That feeling that shocked through their bodies, what was that feeling exactly?