Dear Diary

Chapter 2

In every school there is a heartthrob, Sophia could vouch for that, and Ridgeview High was no different. The name of the heartthrob in this particular school was Luke Woods, and the affect he had on the female population became very much apparent to Sophia as she sat at the back of the class for the first lesson of the day.

History was taught by a man who had slightly shaggy brown hair and eyes the shade of caramelised brown. His name was Mr Evans. He seemed to be Sophia's dad's age, a few inches shorter though, and appeared to be single. Probably soured early in his youth at some point. He was currently standing at the front of the class and barking out orders to the girls to move away from Luke with a threatening look on his face.

Sophia watched with a neutral gaze as the girls all glumly returned to their seats. Her eyes turned to the cause of their wistfulness. Luke had light brown hair with a few streaks of gold, deep blue eyes and a nice summer tan. He wasn't bad looking, one of the best she's seen actually. With a straight nose, strong jawline and athletic build, it was no wonder he caught the eye of so many girls. He also had a nice smile on his face which almost made him look innocent.

Sophia rolled her eyes and looked to the front of the class. As if teenage boys were ever innocent. She's travelled enough to know that they never are - especially the jocks.

"Alright, everyone. We have a new student with us today," Mr Evans looked over to her with a bored expression and the rest of the class followed his gaze. Whispers instantly flared. "Please, come to the front and introduce yourself."

Sophia stood and pushed her chair in before making her way to the front of the class, her boots hitting on the wooden floor with every stride. She turned to face the class with a blank expression.

"Hi, my name's Sophia," she greeted and walked back to her seat straight away, not bothering to wait for questions.

She didn't feel nervous, she's done it too many times to care anymore. She found it pointless even telling anyone her name. It's not like she's going to stay here that long anyway.

As she sat back down in her seat, she could still feel all the curious gazes focused on her. She heard Mr Evans clear his throat and ask for the students' attention once more. 

However, she still felt a pair of eyes trained on her. 

She looked up and saw Luke staring at her. As soon as they made eye contact Luke smiled at her in greeting, but she didn't return the gesture. Instead, she pulled books out of her bag to start taking notes, ignoring the feeling of his gaze on her face.

-

Sophia allowed her shoulders to relax slightly as she walked out the school building a few minutes after the final bell. Teenagers were being their usual rowdy selves and Sophia caught sight of a few seniors walking off to the fields, Luke being one of them. She frowned. Why would she take notice of him? Probably because he was the only person she knew by name.

She shrugged her shoulders and fixed her backpack as she walked to the exit of the school, dodging teenagers on her way. She stopped as she looked down either side of the street and noticed a small café a little distance from where she stood. Her spirit lifted and she started walking towards it.

She needed a place to do her homework as she waited for her father to fetch her at 5 o'clock. And, being any normal teenager (despite her good grades), she wanted to be at school for the least amount of time possible. Hopefully this café sold ice-cream.

A friendly chime signalled Sophia's arrival and she looked at the interior of the café. It was a quaint, little shop that had a homely feel to it. Its tables and chairs were made of a deep wood, while the walls were painted in a deep flesh colour. Golden lampshades hung overhead, giving the place a certain soothing and welcoming feel. A few people dotted the area and she realised they were all around her age, a few faces she recognized from school.

"Good afternoon. How may I help you?" a young woman with auburn hair in a tight bun greeted Sophia and she turned to look at the merchandise. Her mouth watered slightly when she saw the large variety of ice-cream options.

"One scoop of Blueberry Cheesecake and another of Berry Blast ice-cream, please," Sophia ordered and the woman smiled. She grabbed a bowl and scoop.

"I haven't seen you here before. You new?" Sophia saw her name-tag read Chloe.

"Yes," she responded and watched Chloe plop a big scoop into the bowl.

"Cool. Where you from?" she asked and Sophia internally sighed. She didn't like it when people pried into her life.

"Nowhere in particular," she replied and the woman nodded finally taking the hint and finished her order. 

Sophia took out her credit card and paid before taking her ice-cream and sitting in a booth in the far corner. She took off her jacket and placed it next to her then pulled out her homework and began working as she ate her treat.

Although it was all school kids in the café, it became apparent that Sophia was the only one willing to do homework on the first day of the school year. It wasn't like she loved doing it, but how else was she supposed to spend her time? She would rather sit like a loner over books than sit like a loner staring at other people talking happily with their friends.

Sophia's grip on her pen tightened as she wrote down answers. It wasn't like she liked being a loner. It's just that she found no point in befriending people only to leave them behind in a few months time. Her father's record of staying in one place was seven months. How could she possibly keep a friend like that?

The bell chimed again and Sophia glanced up momentarily to see guys in athletic clothes barrel into the diner, causing her to sigh. So much for a peaceful afternoon, she thought to herself. She looked at her watch. She blinked, not realising that she had been there an hour already. She packed away her history and took out her maths. Strangely enough Sophia found maths the easiest of all her subjects and began answering the questions effortlessly.

To her great disappointment, the loud group of teenagers just so happened to sit in the booth next to her own with only a padded wooden board to block them from view. The noise didn't soften resulting in Sophia fixing her earphones in an attempt to drown out their mindless chatter with music.

She didn't realise how the time went by until she looked at her watch and realised she only had a minute to pack and get to the parking lot.

"Shoot," she muttered and scrambled to get everything together. Her father hated it when someone was late. She tossed her jacket over her arm and collected her papers as she quickly stood up from her seat.

Unfortunately someone else did at that second too and she barged right into them, papers flying as they both tumbled to the ground.

"Oh, geez. I'm so sorry!" 

Sophia looked to see none other than Luke Woods sitting in front of her.

Of all the people ... 

"It's fine," she said and quickly began collecting her papers.

"Here, let me help you," he offered quickly. 

His offer startled Sophia. Popular boys never lifted a finger for anyone, they were normally the ones to laugh rather than help. But she didn't have time ponder over his unorthodox actions as she stood and tried to get some order with her papers. 

"Here," he said and passed her the ones he collected.

"Thanks," she said and placed them on top of the pile before rushing out of the café, ignoring all the stares on her back as she made her way towards her awaiting father.