First Sight

Two

I feel a tap on my shoulder when I exit the English classroom. I turn around and I'm greeted with the widest, fakest smile I've ever seen. She's a little shorter than me and wears a black skirt, a lavender sweater, and black ankle boots. She's holding all her books in her arms, for the aesthetic obviously. "Hey!" she says a little too excitedly. Her voice is high, but somehow still soft. "You're new here right?"

"Yeah," I say.

"I overheard you talking to Grant. It's Sean, right?"

I nod. I already don't like her.

The girl shoots her perfectly-manicured hand towards me. "I'm Samantha," she says as she shakes my hand. "As the student body vice president, I have vowed to get to know everyone." She lets go of my hand, flips her long, blonde hair over her shoulder, and smiles at me. "Well it was nice meeting you!" she says, and struts away.

I roll my eyes, watching her sway with every step, just so her hair can move gracefully behind her. As the student body vice president, you'd think she'd ask if I knew where my classes are. Because I certainly don't.

At lunch, I grab my food and sit down at the end of a table, away from everyone. Right as a take a bite of my sandwich, Samantha, a heavily-muscular boy, and a dark-skinned girl sit down across from me. I just stare at them.

"Hey, Sean!" Samantha says. "Mind if we sit here?"

I just shrug. I mean they were already sitting, what was I supposed to do, tell them to screw off?

Samantha points to the boy, and then the girl. "This is my boyfriend Trent, and this is the student body president, Mira."

I nod and don't say anything. I just wanna eat my damn sandwich.

Trent decides now will be a great time to speak up and announce that he is, in fact, the quarterback of the football team, and Samantha gushes over him. Mira and I make eye contact and she rolls her eyes.

"Sorry we're bothering you," Mira says, "but our advisor told us to make sure you feel welcome. Is there anything I can do to make you feel more at home?"

I shrug. "The last school I went to was a charter school, so things are a little different here."

Mira hums. "I understand that. I know what it's like to be the new kid. I moved here sometime last year. Still not sure how I got enough votes to be the SBO president but here we are." She smiles. "But really. You can always come to me for anything. Okay?"

I smile back. "Okay."

"Great. Well, we'll leave you alone now. It was great talking to you Sean, and if you ever need anything, you can most likely find me or the other student body officers in the SBO room, room 103. At least one of us is always there. Have a good lunch." Mira gets up, and motions at the two to leave with her. When they don't pay attention, she smacks Trent's arm and motions violently at them. They get up, walk to another table, and start talking with them. I notice Grant is eating at that table.

Why do I notice that?

I feel a tugging at my heart, and I know exactly what that feeling is. But I can't identify why I feel it. And I don't want to know why I do.

I can't like Grant. Not in that way. I just can't.