Circle Club

Two

Soon enough, music came to an end, and before Louis knew it, he was heading to his English class. Which was unfortunate for him, for he had overheard Harry groaning about it as they shuffled out of the music room. Louis had this uneasy feeling about Harry.

Louis knew he was trouble.

And definitely didn't want to get on his bad side.

"What are your next classes?" Liam asked as they walked back to their main hallway.

"English 5th period, geography 6th and Spark's study hall 7th," Louis answered, and Liam nodded.

"We have study hall together." Liam noted as he looked through all the locker numbers, stopping at 210. "Good luck," he commented as Louis continued to walk to his locker.

Thirty-one, thirty-three, twenty seven. Louis hastily opened the lock and opened the locker, making sure to pull out his English book. The last thing he wanted to do is make a complete fool of himself by bringing the wrong book. He had done that enough in his lifetime.

As quick as possible, Louis closed the lock around the locker handle and briskly walked to his English room. A sigh of relief escaped Louis' lips as he stepped into the room, officially not late.

"Are you Mr. Tomlinson?" An old, grouchy woman asked Louis, and he cringed slightly. Her voice was high pitched and sounded like it was being grated by sandpaper. However, Louis put on a sweet smile.

"Yes ma'am," Louis confirmed. The woman nodded and walked over to her desk, picking up a piece of paper.

"Ah, Lewis. Welcome to Eastbrook. My name is Ms. Welds. You can sit in the back in the middle of, um, Harry and Alanna." Louis raised a finger, going to correct her, but was cut off by the bell. Louis sighed and trudged back to his seat, to which Louis wasn't jumping of joy of sitting anywhere near Harry. If Liam hated him, which seemed impossible for his jolly attitude, then he must have done something. Something bad.

"Settle down class," Ms. Welds commands, even though there were only a few whispers to be heard. Ms. Welds, now satisfied with the silence, walks to the door and locks it according to safety rules.

"Is anyone not here today?" Ms. Welds asks, looking around. Louis had forgotten who had occupied the seat to his left, so he decided to keep quiet.

"Alanna." Louis turns to he Harry, who had previously answered Ms.Welds question. Harry looked right back at Louis, and Louis felt trapped under his stare. Louis turned away, and saw Harry smirk out of the corner of his eye. Harry always loved to intimidate others; to him it was like a spare hobby.

"Of course she is," Ms.Welds muttered, scribbling it down on an attendance sheet. "Okay. Please pull out your b-"

A knock on the door interrupted Ms.Welds mid speech, and she sighed annoyed. Ms.Welds paced to the door and opened it, revealing a girl.

Louis' eyes widened at the sight of this girl. She was beautiful. Long, shiny black hair with bright blue eyes. Simple blue jeans, tennis shoes and an old Old Navy sweatshirt had made its way onto her body. Most girls would never even think about wearing what she had on to school, but she couldn't care less. Definitely someone Louis had never seen before. She seemed different.

Ms.Welds rolled her eyes and opened the door further for the girl to come in. She walked in, standing in the front of the class. The girl nodded her head towards Ms.Welds. "Afternoon Gladys." Ms. Welds glared at her, but didn't say anything about the use of her first name. Must be used to it by now, Louis thought.

"You know Alanna, your....condition....doesn't allow you to be late to class. You have been going here to this school long enough to know where everything is, and to be on time," Ms.Welds scolded, crossing her wrinkled arms. Alanna let a soft, sarcastic chuckle escape her lips.

"Being blind isn't a condition," Alanna stated defiantly, holding her book in her crossed arms."It's only a setback on life. That's all. And no, I will never be able to correctly make it around the school without being late. It will be the last day of school and I still won't be able to arrive to class on time, with my luck." A small, amused smile made its was to Louis' lips. He already liked the girl.

Ms.Welds took a deep breath and let it all out in one long sigh. Ms.Welds the turned to Alanna, even though Alanna couldn't see her. "Then maybe it is time for homeschooling, Alanna," she said. "Any more tardies from me and it's after school detention." Alanna snorted.

"Homeschooling my ass!" Alanna spoke, carefully making her way down the isle of desks to her own in the back. "Gladys, my father is a drunk who gets home around one in the morning everyday, and my mum dropped out of school when she became a sophomore. So if you want me to receive an education from those two freak shows, I'll leave. But until then," Alanna says, finding her seat easily and sitting down. "You're stuck with me." Louis, with his mouth agape, looked at the shiny haired girl. Alanna held a proud smile on her lips, one she held quite often.

"You could hire someone," Ms.Welds suggested, ignoring the use of foul language. "Your parents don't have to be the ones to teach you."

"We're poor," Alanna deadpanned, crossing her arms in her seat. "I've had these same tennis shoes for about two years. Right, Reggie?"

Reggie nodded in the corner, "S'true."

Alanna then smiled and looked up to Ms.Welds, who sighed once again and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Fine. Don't be late tomorrow."

"Okay class, now that we are free of distractions," Ms.Welds spoke, clearly referring to Alanna,"we

"As I had been saying, open your books and please turn to pages 214 and 215. Read the two passages, answer the fifteen questions. I would prefer you to have them completed by the end of the period, if you can." Ms. Welds requested, writing the instructions on the whiteboard.

Louis did as he was told, opening his book to the correct spot to begin reading. Just as he began on the second paragraph, he heard a feminine groan to his right.

"Gladys, can I go to my locker to get my English book? I grabbed my geography book accidentally," Alanna asked, already arising to her feet, book in her arms. Louis looked and sure enough, her book had a picture of the Great Wall on the cover with Braille lettering on the top. Ms. Welds sighed.

"Go. Stop disrupting my class. And don't call me Gladys." Ms.Welds spoke, waving her towards the door.

"Oh, Gladys, you and I both know that I won't stop." And with that, Alanna left the room, with an angry teacher and a new, amused classmate behind her.