the boxer // lrh au

forty three ; record store

disclaimer: i have absolutely no idea how the australia schooling system works and i tried to ask a friend but i got confused so enjoy this. just know that bella will be in her last year of school after this semester.

-

the screeching sound of the first-period bell made me want to gouge my eyes out. i showed up to school maybe four minutes before i had to, sleeping in for as long as i possibly could. michael was in none of my classes today and i was utterly devastated that i would not be seeing my best friend during class.

to avoid being late, i begin walking to my first-period class- calculus. now, i was not terrible at math, but my teacher most definitely was. he didn't know how to teach the class, his answer keys to reviews and homework material almost always had errors on them and the people who actually understood the class were the try-hard underclassmen who were somehow always smarter than me no matter how hard i tried.

sounds like high school.

drudgingly sitting down, i look around the room and scan the room for familiar faces. coming back from break always meant schedule changes, so i was bound to see new people in my class. sadly, none of the people included michael clifford as mikey had texted me his new schedule first thing this morning. thankfully,we still had physics together, the one class that would genuinely be the bane of my existence.

the one person in the classroom that i could actually stand was my friend sydney. sydney and i didn't talk much, however, she always complained about how boring this class was with me and shared her snacks with me so i automatically considered her my friend- however whether she considers me one is still yet to be confirmed. she was also the only other person who didn't see me as tyler's younger sister, which was uncommon as that was what everyone else saw me as.

"hey bella," sydney says, sitting down in the seat next to mine. the classroom was arranged so the desks were in pairs of twos and i was happy that sydney could sit down before someone i didn't know did.

"hi sydney, how was your break?" i asked, curious. sydney was always traveling with her boyfriend, james. they had been dating for a few years now and i just know that the two are bound to get married. sometimes high school sweethearts were really a thing.

"it was amazing! me and james went to new york. it was beautiful. i swear one day i'll be living there." she sighs in content and i see the spark in her eyes speaking about the city.

going to new york city was one of my dreams. everyone speaks about the city like it was a mythical place, but i knew i wasn't going to go anytime soon.

a girl can only dream.

"how was yours?" sydney reciprocates her interest in my break. "i heard some stuff about you and that one australian boxer- luke hemmings?"

i cringe at her words. did word really travel that fast? i knew luke had quite a following on social media, but i didn't think people at my school would care.

her words also brought me to think about my date with luke yesterday.

considering i didn't have much experience to go off of, i still thought that the date was pretty perfect.

luke and i talked for what felt like hours. he made coffee for us and we sat around after eating and learned more about each other. many wouldn't consider this a date, but i did. then again, luke could take me to landfill and i would be excited.

"uh, yeah we're..." i pause to think about what luke and i were. "we're friends?"

my answer came out in a questioning manner and i mentally facepalm at my unsure answer.