Autumn

2

Last Autumn

I slid into my seat in the middle of the row and took my notebook and pen out of my bag. Desks were filling up all around me as the bell rang for first period.

"Good morning, everyone. Hope you all had a nice, long summer. I know I didn't," the teacher said as he walked in. The rest of the class found their seats and began rummaging through their bags to get ready for the class. As the teacher ran down the roster calling out names, voices filled the air to answer with 'here'. I was thankful to start a new school on the first day of senior year. No one really cared who was new so there was no need to make a big deal out it.

The teacher began going over the curriculum for the school year and informed us of major tests we were going to have to prepare for throughout the semester. Just as he was finishing up his sentence the guy in front of me turned and smiled.

"Hey, do you have an extra pen I can borrow? Mine just ran out of ink and I let my friend Asher borrow my backup.".

"Sure," I said. I gave him the one I was using and got a new one out of my bag. When I looked back up he raised his eyebrows.

"Wow. Usually when I ask someone they usually say 'get your own' and the flip me off.". I just smiled and shook my head.

"It's not that big of a deal, really.". He thanked me and went to face forward again but turned back around toward me.

"What's your name?"

"I'm Anna," I said with a grin. He smiled back.

"Noah. It's nice to meet you, Anna.".

The way he said it was so formal I almost forgot what it was like to talk to someone in high school that didn't sound like they'd skipped English class for the last seventeen years.

"It's nice to meet you too, Noah.". I could feel my nerves creeping up in my chest. Talking to new people wasn't exactly my forte. I tried to stick with something light, "So, how long have you been going here?"

He shrugged, "It's actually my first year. We just moved here from Maine. My mom got a job offer and my dad has family here so I guess they just figured it'd be a good thing.".

"That sounds cool. I've never been to Maine before.".

"Yeah, there wasn't much around where I grew up, but when it's where you're born and raised you get used to it. You make all of your friends and you know all of the best spots to eat or to hang out, you know?"

I nodded my head sympathetically, not knowing what else to say or do. I started playing with the new pen I'd gotten and pursed my lips to the side. He looked at me like he was expecting me to say something but I just looked at the board the teacher was writing on and continued to write my notes.

"So...," I heard Noah say. I looked at him and went to open my mouth to ask him what he wanted but the teacher beat me to it.

"Mr. Weston is there something you would like to share with us?"

Noah turned around and said, "No, sir.". The teacher nodded and raised an eyebrow at the two of us before looking down at his computer again and went back to writing the next bullet point. Noah stayed facing forward the rest of the class and a large part of me was glad to not have to converse anymore, but there was the small part of me that kind of liked talking to him and I wanted to know more.

The next couple of classes passed in a blur and I could barely remember what we went over as I dragged myself to lunch. Sitting at a table that was kind of occupied, I kept to myself as I listened in on the conversations of the people around me. I made myself look busy by pulling out one of my homework assignments and began working on it, trying to fight down the urge to hide by my locker and finish out the period there.