Eastwood Academy

Chapter 5: Meeting Gavin

 My heart is beating hard as I stop outside of room 451, checking again to ensure I have the right classroom. My first period is history, taught by Mr. Rogers. I managed to drag myself out of bed half an hour earlier than I wanted to give myself extra time to find my first class. Thank god I did because I got lost twice and had to ask a couple of scared-looking freshmen for directions.

I pull open the door and walk into the classroom, relieved to see I'm not the only one who arrived early. A handful of students are already seated, including a girl on my floor, one of Carly's many friends. I think her name is Alicia. I give her a tentative wave, which she returns with a smile. Feeling calmer, I look around to see that our names are on our desks, presumably because we have assigned seats.

I scan the room until I spot mine, and then make my back to my desk. Seated next to me is a slender boy with blue eyes and dark brown shaggy hair, which is falling into his eyes. He's tall enough that he has to stretch his legs out from under his desk. Otherwise, he'd be cramped. He's cute. Really cute. Not as good looking as River or Tyler, but definitely easy on the eyes. He smiles at me as I slide into my seat next to him. People here are definitely friendlier than I was anticipating.

"Hi, I'm Gavin," my neighbor introduces himself. "I'm sorry I don't remember your name. Have we had class together before?"

"I'm Brooklyn," I tell him. "I just transferred, that's why I don't look familiar."

"Oh, okay, that makes sense. How's your first day going?" Gavin asks.

"Pretty good so far," I answer. This is the kind of standard small talk that I usually try to avoid because it makes me nervous, but on this occasion, I'm grateful for it. I'm about to ask Gavin if he's ever been in a class taught by Mr. Rogers, and if so, is he a good teacher? But before I can verbalize the question, River walks in the door. I try not to watch him as he moves. However, I can't help but stare at his graceful stride as he crosses the room and sits down. Right next to me. I stare ahead and fight the urge to fidget. As he sits down, Gavin looks up in recognition.

"Hey Gavin," River greets him casually.

"Hey River, did you have a good summer?" Gavin asks. Something in his demeanor shifts when he speaks to River. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I feel a dynamic has just come into play that I am missing out on. Unfortunately, I don't have Jessica sitting next to me to explain. I make a mental note to ask her if Gavin has ever outwardly expressed resentment towards River. Gavin's voice doesn't have the warm quality to it that was there when he introduced himself to me.

"Yeah, nothing special. Tyler's throwing a kickback at his place this weekend," River tells Gavin. I try not to bristle at the fact that they are talking over me like I don't exist.

"A kickback? So you mean a total rager then?" Gavin asks, with just the right amount of sarcasm mixed with friendliness to hide whatever less than warm feelings he has towards River, if I'm reading the situation right.

"Yeah something like that," River replies, an easy smile on his face.

"Not wasting any time getting back to it, is he," Gavin comments, and his demeanor becomes noticeably warmer. Okay, maybe I read that wrong, and Gavin has no hard feelings toward River.

"Nope," River says and then full on grins. His smile is as gorgeous as the rest of him, but I can't help noticing that it doesn't touch his eyes. "Are you planning on going?"

"Yeah, Hayley was telling me she wants to swing by and check it out."

"Tyler Jordan?" I ask. I know the answer to this question already, thanks to my conversation with Jessica last night.