The University of the South

The New girl (1 of 3)

"Have fun honey! Make some friends!"

I cringe at what my mom says before dropping me off from school.

Ugh, I hated being the new girl.

I should probably be used to it now since we've moved lots of times.

So this was where I was staying now huh.

I took in my surroundings and sighed, shaking my head.

I walked up into the building and instantly felt eyes on me.

I wasn't being dramatic. I knew the world didn't revolve around me.

They were literally whispering.

Well I wouldn't call it whispering if I literally heard what they said loud and clear.

Suddenly I see this tall girl walk up to me.

Her hair is golden and she seems to exude power.

She doesn't look like someone I'd wanna mess with.

The thought of being threatened by her suddenly fades as she stops in front of me and smiles.

"Hi, welcome to our school! I'm Penelope, the student body president and I'll be showing you around!" She says with a smile.

I could instantly feel the leadership radiate from her. I could tell why they voted her as president I guess.

She warmly smiles down at me as she waits for a response.

"Umm, yeah. I just moved last week. I'm Nora." I say with a smile and she nods.

"Nora the new girl. Has a good ring to it. Quickly, follow me. I'll show you around." Penelope says with a smile and I return her smile.

I walk by her side as I hear the sound of her heels click against the floor.

There were literally couples making out at the corners and I cringe at them.

That was allowed here? Weird.

"Don't mind them. Everyone at this school is practically in love. It's crazy." She says and I chuckle at that.

That is pretty crazy.

"'You in love?" I ask her and she suddenly stops, turning to look at me, her smile drops.

After an instant, her smile is back again and she laughs as she shakes her head.

"Nah. The president life is too hectic. I don't have the time. But hey, maybe you would find your special guy...or girl. Whatever, I don't mind." She says with a laugh at the end.

Weird.

I eye a guy pressing another kid into a locker. He seemed angry and was about to punch his face.

Why wasn't anyone doing anything?

"Fucking say it one more time, I dare you." The guy says and the kid shakes his head in fear.

Penelope walks over and sighs, rolling her eyes.

"Will you excuse me for a moment?" She says and I nod.

"Garrett. This is your third fight this week. You know the drill." Penelope suddenly speaks up and Garrett lets go of the boy and the boy runs away.

Garrett smirks back at her and she rolls her eyes as he walks up to her.

"Sorry it won't happen again...babycakes." He says and she glares back at him.

She huffs and walks away from him and towards me.

"Let's go." She says and I follow her.

I hear Garrett chuckle as we leave and sigh.

That was also weird.

She shows me around and we stop at a certain room.

"As seen on your schedule, this is where your first class is. Chemistry." She says and I nod.

I walk into the classroom and thank her as I watch her walk away.

"Ahh, our new student has finally arrived. Nora Michaels. Welcome!" I hear our teacher say and I smile back at him.

"You can take the seat at the back. We're just getting started on partners." Our teacher says and I nod.

I look towards the back of the room and inwardly gasp as I see the person I am supposed to be seated next to.

Woah.

He's actually hot.

His hair is in dark brown curls and his physique was impressive as well.

His eyes suddenly dart to mine and I almost melt at the spot.

His eyes were beautiful.

They were this pale light green color that I had never seen before.

He holds my stare and I snap out of my trance as I walk over to him.

"Hi." I say and he simply nods back at me.

He doesn't say anything back though and I sigh.

So much for making friends.

Maybe he was the quiet type.

The class goes on and I watch him from the corner of my eye.

Is he really not going to say anything?

"I'm Eleonor, well Nora. People call me Nora." I tell him and he stares back at me with a blank expression on his face.

"Holden." He suddenly says and I nod.

The class went on and Holden kept ignoring me. I mean, I don't blame him. We barely knew each other and he was probably the shy quiet type.

I respected that, I had trouble socializing at times.

I watched the clock as it finally ticked to the final minute and I sighed in relief.

Finally, I can move onto the next class.

The bell chimed and everyone quickly got up to transfer rooms.

"Hold up a minute class, I've forgotten to assign the first project of the year. This will only take a minute." He says and everyone else groans, taking their seats again.

I watch as Holden sits back next to me and I smile softly at him.

I watched as he quickly stretched his arms over his head and his biceps flexed.

Damn he's hot.

"A pair project! You will all be partnered with the person beside you." He says and my eyes widen.

Pair project? How cliché.

I feel Holden look at me and as I give him a smile, raising my hand to his for a handshake.

"I guess we're partners." I tell him, trying to be friendly.

He stares back at my hand and sighs, quickly getting up and walking out the room.

I hadn't noticed that our teacher had finished explaining.

Wait a minute.

Did he just leave me hanging?