Onsra(Bittersweet Love)

..

Over the voices of everyone else, I could distinctly hear Elena. "We carry our backpacks with us to every class. So don't worry about the lockers." I turned to see her smiling brightly at me. "I'll see you later," she added. Elena then went down the hallway to the right, her dark brown hair swaying and Janet right beside her.

I silently cursed at myself for forgetting to check my schedule to see where what number my first period class would be. I knew for a fact it was history with Ms. Crenshaw. I continued walking down the main hallway, being pushed slightly by other students. It was pretty crowded and I felt myself getting sweaty and nervous all over again. I resorted to asking a random student where the room was. Even the idea of talking to someone new made me tense up. I hated that feeling.

I stopped a random girl, one who wore thick glasses that hid her pretty eyes. She seemed like the nerdy, nice, obedient type. Since she wasn't exactly very intimidating, I decided on her to ask for directions.

"Um, excuse me," I called out towards the girl. She spun quickly towards me. "Yeah?" She answered back, equally as kind. With her gentle voice, she wasn't the least bit intimidating. "Do you know where Ms. Crenshaw's classroom is?" I asked. The girl looked at me for a bit longer than normal. Her green eyes dilated for a quick second, as if scared. Her features then schooled into a brilliant smile. "I'm sorry, I just thought you were going to say something mean," she said happily. I was completely taken back. "What? Why would I do that?" I said, slightly shocked. "You're so pretty and I guess I just assumed you were a mean girl," the girl said softly, looking down at her worn-out sneakers. I felt glad, sad, and confused all at the same time. I didn't really find myself attractive. I hate to admit it, but my self-esteem is fairly low.

Most of all, I am not a mean girl. This girl must've been bullied or something like that to be so scared. I felt almost obligated to make her feel better. "Well thank you for calling me pretty but I would never say anything rude to you. There's nothing about you that's worth insulting."

I knew immediately that I had said the right thing. Her entire face lit up. "I'm Colleen," she said joyfully. She took my hand lightly and shook it. It was kind of a weird thing for a high-school girl to do but I just shook her hand back. "Flora," I stated back. I couldn't bring myself to think of Colleen as anything other than kind.

The hallways were pretty cleared up except for a few students. I was going to be late if I didn't head to my class quickly. "We should really get to class soon," I reminded Colleen. Her eyes widened. "Oh! My class is right next to Ms. Crenshaw's. I wouldn't be talking too much if the classes were so far away," she said while grinning happily.

Colleen pointed her pale thumb towards a room a few feet away from us. "There's Ms. Crenshaw, and over there is Mr. Day." She then turned to walk the short distance to her class.

I walked over the Ms. Crenshaw's classroom. Thankfully, the door was open. I wouldn't have to make a scene by having to open the door with everyone going silent.

The classroom was average-sized and looked pretty new. There was a whiteboard with expo markers, several inspirational quote posters, and each desk was in a group of four desks in order to make a square table. It looked like a comfortable, inviting classroom.

After scanning everyone's faces, I actually saw one person I recognized. Janet. She was sitting at a desk alone. I thought I saw her walking the opposite direction with Elena before.