The Purple Beanie

Closer and Closer

Bree had no idea how all of these kids could be so dumb. Practically nobody knew even the basics of math, and everyone was asking around for help. Bree didn't think she was an expert at math or anything, but at least she knew the basics. These classmates, however, obviously didn't.

Suddenly, the red-haired girl she'd seen earlier in the hallways (the one who'd almost knocked off her beanie) walked up to her.

"Hi, I'm Danielle. What's your name?" The red-haired girl asked.

She looks pretty friendly, Bree thought.

"Hi, I'm Bree," she replied. "I haven't seen you around. Are you new?"

Danielle blushed. "Yeah, I just moved here in the summer. I hope I'm not too much of a bother."

Bree looked confused. "Why would you be?"

"Oh, because I almost knocked off your hat this morning. Sorry about that," Danielle replied sheepishly.

"Oh, that," Bree recalled. "It's fine. And if you need anything, feel free to ask me. I've been here since last year."

"Thanks!" Danielle grinned and headed back to her seat.

After Math class, Bree had English. English was her favorite subject, Social Studies being next. She had a particularly good grasp on Socials in school, while she enjoyed English the most. Bree's genre of short story writing was mystery and horror, similar to her taste in books.

Bree headed to her locker to get her English books. On the way, she bumped into Alex Bailey. Bree didn't recognize her at first, though.

"Sorry," Alex quickly said before Bree could say anything.

As Alex hurriedly passed by, Bree turned to look at her. Bree had always been good at observing people, and she could catch things that other people usually didn't notice.

Bree reached her locker, exchanged her books, and headed into the English classroom. It was convenient because it was next to her locker.

She was just about to head in when she realized that she had forgotten her pencil case in her locker.

Oh, CRUD, she thought, slapping her palm onto her forehead.

She quickly headed back to her locker, but the bell rang loudly, signaling the beginning of class. The hallways were deserted.

Oh no, Bree thought, panicking a little. Like Skipper had said, she was kind of all about good first impressions. She quickly opened her locker, grabbed her pencil case, shut her locker, and ran to the English classroom. Despite being, like, a minute late, Bree was late nevertheless.

Bree tried to remain calm and under control as she entered the classroom. Every single head looked up at her, but she ignored her classmates and turned to the English teacher instead.

"Sorry I'm late," she said as calmly as she could manage.

"What's your name?" the teacher asked. Her name was Ms. York, and she looked pretty nice.

"Bree Campbell," Bree answered. Ms. York marked her name as "Late" on the attendance sheet.

"Bree, thank you for arriving quickly, but since you were late today, you will be my Teacher Assistant for the year," Ms. York said.

Bree's shoulders sank internally, but her expression never faltered. "Yes, Ms. York," she said politely. Just great. She had officially been given the famous Teacher Assistant role for the rest of the year.

"You may have a seat there," Ms. York gestured to a seat in the front of the classroom.

Bree took a seat and looked straight forward like nothing had happened. It wasn't that much of a deal, anyway. In fact, she didn't even mind being the Teacher Assistant.

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Conner arrived in the English classroom fairly early.

"Hello, I'm Conner," he said to the English teacher, whose name he noticed was Ms. York.

"Hello, Conner. Thank you for being early. You may have a seat there," Ms. York assigned him a seat in the middle row of the classroom.

Conner trudged over and talked heartily with some of his friends while they waited for the class to start. Soon, everyone filed in, except there was one empty seat in the front row of the classroom. The bell rang a few minutes after.

Ms. York did attendance and was about to start the class when someone walked into the classroom.

Conner immediately lost all connection with his brain and body. He didn't know what was happening to him.

Standing at the front of the classroom was a girl unlike anyone he had ever seen. Conner had no idea why he was so attracted to a girl. It wasn't like she was wearing something extraordinary, or that she looked like a princess or anything, but Conner's mind instantly felt like he had drunk five energy drinks when he looked at her. He could feel his cheeks and neck burning red, and what was worse was that he didn't know why.

The girl had blonde hair with a streak of pink and blue in her bangs, which she wore in a ponytail, and cool brown eyes. She wore a purple beanie and bracelets and wristbands by the dozen. She was wearing a purple jacket, a white v-neck t-shirt, and dark skinny jeans paired with black and white high-top Converse sneakers. Her outfit was not very different from other people's, yet Conner had no idea why he was so immediately drawn to her.

"Sorry I'm late," Conner could hear the girl saying. Her voice was so . . . smooth. And calm.

"What's your name?" Ms. York asked the girl.

"Bree," the girl answered.

Bree, Conner thought, his heart racing. Bree . . . Campbell?

"Bree, thank you for arriving quickly, but since you were late today, you will be my Teacher Assistant for the year," Ms. York said.

Conner could see that Bree's expression never faltered. "Yes, Ms. York," she said politely.

Conner marveled at Bree's politeness and calmness. Normal kids usually weren't like that.

Wait, why am I suddenly thinking so much about a girl? He thought, confused.

"You may have a seat there," Ms. York gestured to a seat in the front of the classroom.

Bree took a seat and looked straight forward like nothing had happened. Conner admired her unusually nonchalant nature. It was so cool. She was so cool.

Oh my gosh, she's so cool she's so cool she's the coolest person I've ever met! Conner was unaware that he had had his eyes on Bree for the whole time since she had stepped into the classroom.

But Bree didn't know that. Nor did anybody else.

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* Credit to TwelveTurquoise12 for creating the characters: Danielle Rowland and Fred Hayford from False Obsession Turned Real! *