3

I stared around the room, trying to find the teacher so that I could take a seat anywhere and leave the spotlight. The walls were covered in sketches, posters, and paintings- making the room seem less intimidating.

“Did you need anything?” A guy dressed in light blue jeans and a black shirt asked.

“I think I’m in this class,” I replied slowly, making it sound more like a question.

He smiled and I noticed that some of the students had gone back to their work.

“I’m Mr. Andrews. If you are in the right class, I’m your Art teacher,” he informed me.

“Well, your name’s in my schedule, so yeah…” I let the sentence carry on.

Some of the students chuckled at my words.

“Since it is your first class, and I’m going to assume your new here, you have to go through the embarrassing process of introducing yourself.”

I smiled at his words. Now that I had a few moments to give him a quick once over, his youth hit me in the face. He didn’t look past twenty-five, which was probably the reason I was starting to get comfortable with standing in front of the class.

I waved at everyone and noticed for the first time that Jared was in the class and had been looking at me, trying to get my attention.

“Hey everyone, I’m Cassidy.” I was surprised when some people actually waved or said ‘hey’ back.

I now had the attention of the whole class, yet I had no idea what to say.

“Well this is awkward,” I said after a few moments of standing there. My words got some people to laugh.

“Say something about yourself. What do you think of our little town?” The teacher asked encouragingly.

“It’s very green,” I replied and again some people chuckled.

“It’s nice. I used to live in the city and its way different than what I was used to. I like it though,” I replied.

“That’s good. Anyone have any questions for Cassidy?” The teacher asked, looking around the room.

One of Jared’s friends raised his hand, and I could see the teasing smile on his lips.

“Why were you late?” He asked with a snicker.

“It was a combination of waking up late, getting lost, and almost getting run over, literally,” I replied, giving Jared a playful glare.

“I’m guessing it was one of those guys in the table that ran you over?” Mr. Andrew’s asked with a smile, nodding toward Jared and his friends.

Jared was sitting down with two other guys. Thanks to my enhanced hearing, I knew they were talking about me. I had to laugh when Jared called ‘dibs’ on me, telling his the other two friends that I was still ‘allowed to have guy friends even when we began dating’.

Mr. Andrews gave me three sheets of white paper and two black pencils, which he repeatedly pointed out, were specifically for sketching. Sketching was the objective of the six weeks period.

Mr. Andrews seemed like an organized teacher, despite how messy his desk was.

After he gave me a list of items I needed to buy, one which was a sketch book, I started looking around the class for a seat.

“Cass! Over here!” Jared called out.

While I was talking to Mr. Andrews, the guy that was sitting down next to Jared, moved to the chair opposite of him. Jared seemed like a nice guy. I was only worried about the interest he was showing in me. Even though I admitted he was good looking, I wasn’t interested in a relationship.

Due to the secret of my nature, my parents had almost made it their job to keep me from dating.

I headed over to their table either way, and smiled as I pulled out the chair and sat down.

“How was registering?” Jared asked.

“Exactly as I thought it’d be. Boring,” I replied.

“Don’t worry, you’re here now. I told you I’d make your day better,” Jared said, smirking at me.

One of his friends coughed and cleared his throat.

“Right, Cass, this is Nick and that’s Tyler,” Jared introduced.

The guys waved at me and smiled.

“So, how’s it been so far?” Nick asked.

“Well, apart from waking up late, getting lost, getting knocked down by a guy, and receiving a boring orientation- it’s been fine.”

The guys laughed and Jared grinned like a maniac. I was aware my words weren’t too funny, but I at least appreciated their interest.

“Hey, I said I was sorry. What do I have to do for you to forgive me?”

“Hmm…” I pretended to be thoughtful, even grabbing my chin for added effect.

“How about I buy you lunch and we call it even?”

“Okay, if I can pick whatever I want and dessert is included,” I bargained, looking at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What kind of person would I be if I didn’t get you any dessert?” Jared asked, pretending to be offended.

I playfully slapped his shoulder and just laughed at him.

Throughout the period, I got little work done and mainly talked to the guys.

Nick was really funny and made a lot of jokes, while Tyler was quiet most of the time, only laughing when something was just too funny. Both Tyler and Nick were as attractive as Jared. I was starting to wonder if the school had something with recruiting good looking guys.

The lunch bell rang and we headed to the cafeteria. On the way to lunch, Jared introduced me to some of his friends.

Overall, I was feeling welcomed in the school, at least to the one class I’d been to. When we entered the cafeteria, I noticed it was the typical setting. The people were different, but the cliques were the same.

On the way to the lunch line, Jared started making conversation. He told me a few things about my classes, and even shared that he was in the soccer team.

The soccer comment brought more conversations about teams, and practices, and coaches. I couldn’t help but notice that while my former high school was big on football, this one seemed to be big on soccer.

“So what are you getting?” Jared asked.

He was piling his tray with food. I looked at him in amusement, wondering if he could really eat all the food he was stacking on his plate.

“I want two slices of pizza and some of that cheese cake,” I said, pointing at the delicious looking cheese cake that was in the desserts section. I got a Dr. Pepper and we headed to pay.

The table that Jared dragged us to was full with guys. I was going to be the only girl at the table and that made me slightly nervous.

“It’ll be cool, trust me,” Jared said when he caught on to my hesitation.

He wrapped his arm around my shoulders and sat me down on one of the chairs. I was glad when he took a seat next to me. Nick and Tyler were in the table too, but I didn’t know the other three guys.

“You already know Nick and Tyler and that’s Drew, Jackson, and David. Drew and Jackson are brothers. Guys, this is Cassidy. She’s new here.”

All the guys offered friendly smiles, and Jackson and David even shook my hand. After introducing themselves, the guys picked up with the conversation they had before Jared and me interrupted them.

The distraction allowed me to make a break for the bathroom. My hands were covered in gray from the Art pencils.

“I’ll be right back. I’m gonna wash my hands.”

Jared looked at me strangely and I showed him my hands, which were covered in shiny gray from the lead. Nick and Jared started laughing at me.

“Cass, you didn’t even draw anything. How the hell did you get lead on your hands?” Jared asked. I joined in their laugh, knowing I’d been fooling around the entire Art period.

“I kept messing with the pencils,” I replied with the shrug, before getting up and making my way out of the cafeteria.

There was another guy at the table when I got back. He was sitting next to Tyler, in the seat right in front of mine. As I got closer, he looked up at me and our eyes locked.