Inked Armor (Punk Niall)

Chapter 1

I quietly sat down in my seat before pulling out my history notebook and a pencil to write with, preparing for Mr. Bolden’s daily lecture that always ended up with him having an argument with the class about different opinions. Really, what this meant was that I had free time to do whatever I wanted until the bell rang.

Slowly, people began to pour in as I waited in my seat at the middle-back of the auditorium –we have class in there because the number of students was too large to fit in a regular classroom- and soon the rest of the students were sitting in their seats and Mr. Bolden was ready to begin class. I hadn’t had a chance to look up because I was shuffling through papers and old assignments, but when I finally did I saw a blonde boy standing next to the teacher with tattoos and studded ears.

“Good morning, everyone!” Mr. Bolden greeted with a smile on his face, the rest of the students groaned a variety of answers, but I could tell they were all wondering the same thing I was; who was the lad standing next to him?                                                               

“This,” he turned to face the boy and put his arm around his shoulder “Is your new classmate. Care to introduce yourself, mate?” Mr. Bolden asked in the friendly tone that he always wore.

I turned my attention to the blonde boy, curious to hear what his name was.

“I’m Niall Horan. I just moved here from Mullingar, Ireland.” He spoke in a thick Irish accent that caught my attention;- you don’t hear a lot of those in a place like Wolverhampton- earning a few whispers from girls around me as they gossiped about the new ‘super-fit bad boy with a super-fit Irish accent’. I rolled my eyes at their girlish attitude, but I had to agree with them. He was definitely something I hadn’t seen a lot around here, and to be honest, his exoticness was a little intimidating.

“It’s a pleasure to have you here, Niall. Why don’t you go have a seat…” Mr. Bolden trailed off as he looked around the room for an occupied spot; I immediately knew it would be with me since I always sat by myself toward the back. I’m not anti-social; I just like to work by myself and with no distractions. Well, and I didn’t have many friends to sit by, but I was fine with that.

Mr. Bolden caught my gaze. “Ah yes, Hadley. You wouldn’t mind if Mr. Horan joined you in the back, would you?” he asked coolly. I shook my head and smiled kindly, feeling a bit lucky to have the fit new kid sit next to me but also eager to see him so up close.

Niall began to climb down the stairs and make his way toward me. As he was coming closer I began to notice his features more distinctly; like how the base color of his hair was actually brunette and only the top was blonde, the two black studs in his ear, the single snakebite that penetrated his bottom lip, and the scattered tattoos that colored his skin becoming more prominent the closer he came. But it wasn’t until he was right above me, a smirk on his face that only read danger, that I noticed the twin ocean-blue eyes blinking back at me.

They were the most gorgeous color I had ever seen, their intimidating icy blue being the only kind I had ever come across. I couldn’t compare them to anything else as fascinating, so I just sat there staring at them in wonder, analyzing their vague beauty. I couldn’t help but think of the story behind those eyes, what they had seen or what they had done, and it intrigued me to think of the possibilities.

His stare was dark, but I could see the light hidden behind them.

“Hi.” I greeted warmly and extended my hand out to him “I’m Hadley.” My eyes never left his and I tried to look as cheerful as I could be on Monday morning.

“Nice to meet ya.” He smirked again, his eyes trailing down my body as he settled into the seat next to me, too close for my liking to be honest.