Obsessed

Prologue

The classroom was silent that brisk November morning as clouds blanketed the sky. Typical for suburban Texas. Atypically, not a single drop of rain would present itself. Weather such as this never encouraged depression, rather, quiet. Quiet in comparison to the rest of the world. One place of quiet in particular was the aforementioned classroom - AP English to specify. The only audible sound to open ears was the 25 various rubbing of graphite pencils on paper as students concentrated on their essay. The teacher, 26 years of age, always formally dressed in a suit and tie, was sat behind his desk, reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. First name, Brendon.

Nothing could break these students' focus. Not a cough, not the clacking keys of a keyboard, not the classroom door opening to Principal Smith. The third event, however, breaking the teachers'. He glanced up from his book to meet the Principal's grin, who mouthed the words, "New Student" followed by the reveal of a young girl holding her backpack by one strap, giving a small smile as she walked into the classroom. Intrigued, the teacher set his book aside and stood, returning the gesture.

"Hi," he greeted and offered his hand. "I'm Mr. Urie."

"Hello." she shook it gladly. "I'm Eleanor, the new transfer student." She wore a light gray zip hoodie, ocean blue jeans, and black and white Vans high tops. Her hair was short, dark brown.

"Pleasure to meet you."

"Same to you." She looked out to the diligent audience, still undoubtedly attentive to their work. "Should I be writing or..."

"No, no, don't worry about it, I'll catch you up later. Sit over there." He pointed to an empty desk.

Eleanor nodded and headed there. "Thanks."

Mr. Urie retreated to his desk, resuming where he left off. Although, it was difficult to concentrate as he looked up numerous times to the 16 - year old, who observed and took in every square inch of her new environment. It bewildered him as to why her family wanted to move to bleak, uneventful Austin, Texas, but he had other thoughts on his mind. He wanted to learn about her. And more.

"Take a break from writing, everyone."

The class stopped abruptly.

"I just want to inform you all of our new students. Would you like to come up, tell us a little bit about you?"

Eleanor gave a slightly embarrassed grin. Nonetheless, she stood and walked to the front of the classroom, as the center of attention.

"Hi." She smiled. "My name is Eleanor Armstrong. My family and I just moved here from New York a few days ago. I'm 16 years old and English just happens to be my favorite subject."

The man's eyebrows raised in joyfulness.

"I look forward to personally getting to know you guys. Hopefully, we can be friends."

He scanned her body from head to toe, beaming.

She shrugged a shoulder. "That's it." And returned to her seat.