The Promise of Tomorrow - 2

"Hey, you’re the new girl, right? I’m Adam Hollister. Here, you can sit by me." That was when I realized that the space next to the window beside him was empty. Grateful, I slipped into it and smiled up at him.

"Thanks. I’m Ella Goldman. And yes, I am the new girl," I said all this with a friendly smile, because I read somewhere that smiles are the most powerful conversational skill you could have. It’s true. He smiled right back.

"When did you move here?" He asked friendlily, and twenty pairs of eyes swiveled to stare at me again. I looked down.

"Um - about a month ago, maybe."

"And how’re you liking it?" he said, and I noticed how his eyes crinkled up beautifully when he smiled.

"It’s wonderful. So sunny and bright…makes you forget you’re in England somewhere." I replied, mulling over his crinkly eyes. They were exactly like my fathers, but bluer…

"Good. I’m glad to hear you’re enjoying it. And if you ever need somebody to show you around…I’d be glad to help."

I looked up at him, pleased but surprised.
"Thanks. I might take you up on that."

With my words, the bus rolled to a stop. I looked outside. The school. It was big, but a nice, picturesque big. Like a cluster of whitewashed houses all put together, in a symmetrical pattern. At the front, instead of a car park like my old school had, there was a giant, stretching field cluttered with beach coloured picnic benches. Several students were already sprawled out on the cropped grass.

"What do you think?" a male voice asked. It took me a second to realise that Adam was talking to me again.

"Oh - beautiful. So different to the city schools…" I was off in my own world already, imagining myself with a group of friends, lounging on the benches and nibbling lunch, stealing each other’s pens to finish off late homework…

And then with Adam and his bunch of friends, giggling and being the girly girl I hated and never allowed myself to become. Shuddering, I stood and slipped into the aisle again.

The hooded guy was right behind me. He didn’t say a word, but for some reason, I was painfully aware of his presence right there, touching my back. I could feel the heat from his chest warming me through my leather jacket, and sighed a quiet sigh. I so wanted to see his face. He was intriguing, secretive; a puzzle that my inquisitive mind so wanted to solve. Or at least, wanted to see.

We stepped off the bus and I turned around. He was there, and looking at me. With the most breathtakingly hazel eyes I had ever encountered in my whole life. My eyes were a nice color, I had thought; they were a rare, really light brown. They were nothing compared to his.

I realized I was staring, and tore my eyes away. Adam put his hand lightly beneath my elbow and began steering me to the entrance. I waited for a bit, and then glanced back. He was still there, in a bright patch of sunlight, pulling his hooded jumper off and shoving it into his bag. He plugged his music back in straight away, and began to advance towards us without looking away from the Mp3 player he was holding.

Blaze, I think his name was. Blaze. What an exquisite name.

I raised my eyes from his hands to his face. I think I might have gasped, or taken in a sharp intake of air, or something. Blaze was beautiful. He had sharp, defined features, all angles and planes and cheekbones. His hair was cut short, sort of crisp, and his skin was lightly tanned.
He raised a hand and ran it through his hair as he squinted up at the sun, and I saw dimples. Dimples. It was obvious that I was already lost.

"Ella, this is Jess, Emma, Jennifer, Tom, Jack, Sol, Kyle, Annie and Amy. Everyone, this is Ella."

Adam was introducing me to his friends, getting us to shake hands and such. I did so, with a big smile, and thankfully this group of girls seemed a lot friendlier than the other.

I talked with all of them, and then the first bell rang, signalling the start of the day. With Adam’s help, I found my registration class quickly and took my assigned seat in the back corner just as the later bell rang. Every seat in the class was filled – every seat except for the one next to mine.

‘What rotten luck’ I remember thinking as I set my book back down beneath my table and turned to look out of the window. I had wanted to make friends today, and somebody that sat at my table would be the prime way to meet. Plus, you have lots of lessons with the people in your registration class, so it would have been nice to have found a friend from the group.

I turned my head and scanned the people in my class. They were all in little cliques, chatting and examining their nails and flicking their long, blond shiny hair about. Even the guys. There seemed to be a lot of long blonde shiny hair here.

Sighing, I turned back to the much more interesting view of the front lawns. They stretched out, uninterrupted, for a long time, and were almost the size of a football field. The school was placed, rather picturesquely, in the middle of Hills Valley, which was a collection of gently sloping green hills. They were perfect, right down to the neatly trimmed grass and small flower beds scattered in various patterns around campus.

Five minutes into my day dreaming about me in a white cotton dress dancing over the hills with a basket on my arm and a bonnet in my hair, the door to our room slammed open again.

I didn’t turn to check who it was. I was too busy imagining a Sir Lancelot galloping out of the trees that made up the forest edging Hills Valley and scooping me up onto his white horse. But everybody else looked. I knew this because there was a sudden hushed quiet in the room, and I could hear the distinct sound of female sighing and bustling to get hair right.

Curious, I turned. It was Blaze, of course. His tall, lean build made him seem as if he took up the whole doorway. He stepped in, and then quietly closed the door behind him. His facial expression was impassive.

"I’m sorry for the interruption, Dr Baker. I got caught up with a teacher." He apologized politely. I noted that his voice was deep and husky, and he had a really strong London accent. Smiling, I turned back to the window.

He probably has a girlfriend, I remember thinking. All the better. No chance of me falling for him then. It’s better this way.

But when he sat in the seat next to mine without saying hello to any of the pretty girls that he passed on his way, I began to doubt that. Maybe he was a woman hater or something. It would explain the animosity he displayed in the bus. But no, I couldn’t believe that someone so beautiful could be a woman hater.

I gave it a few minutes before I pulled my eyes from the window and looked at him. He was staring straight ahead, his earphones in. He looked utterly delectable. Arranging my features into a friendly little smile, I stuck my hand out.

"Hey. I’m Ella Goldman. I’m new to the school," I introduced myself. Blaze looked at my hand for a moment, then up at my face. His burning hazel eyes looked even nicer now; a wonderful, emerald green with tiny flecks of gold in them.

I was worried he wouldn’t shake my hand, or reply, and would just snub me the way he did on the bus. But he didn’t. He looked at me for a second, and then took my hand.