High Hopes (A YUNGBLUD love story)

Chapter 3: The Canteen.

It's been a week since I started here, I've been enjoying it for the most part. A lot of the teachers have been really friendly, one in particular that has seemed to taken me under her wing, Miss Garcia.

I had just sat down to eat my lunch when she came up behind me. "Hey, mind if I take a seat?" She asked. I smiled and offered her the chair opposite. We sat in silence for a few minutes until I realised I was giving death glares to a table across the lunch room. "Still having problems with him?" She laughed. I chuckled a long with her and rolled my eyes, leaning back in my chair.

"He's just impossible. Look at him, he has no respect whatsoever." I told her, realising how old and stubborn it made me sound. "Little shit." I muttered under my breath, I knew I could be myself around her, around a lot of the teachers in fact, we all seemed to have the same opinion of certain students.

At that moment, Dominic was sitting on the table, throwing food at one of his friends, 4 seats away. He had quite a large social circle, makes sense since he's so loud and obnoxious. "I know what you mean." She told me. "I taught him for Music last year. He's a good kid really. Very talented!" She told me. I scoffed at the thought. "Talented! Sure!" I replied sarcastically.

"Im serious, I know he's annoying and he can seriously disrupt a lesson but he knows his way around a guitar! His voice is pretty good too." She told me. "Anyway, I better go. I have a weeks worth of marking to do." She rolled her eyes. We said goodbye and she left. I sat alone, scrolling through my phone while also slyly observing him. I found him annoying, so very annoying. But something about him intrigued me.

No more than ten minutes later, all his friends got up to leave, he told them he was going to stay behind for a bit. He said goodbye to his ten or so friends and they left. I sat on my phone, whilst looking at him every so often. He was staring down at his fingernails, scratching nail polish off his thumbnail. In a way, I felt sorry for him. You could tell that deep down it was all an act, the popular guy, the guy liked by everyone but also somehow tried too hard.

There was something about his look that intrigued me too, he seemed to express his moods through his outfits. Whenever he's acting confident and like he's the king of the world, he'll turn up to school wearing crop tops, makeup, fishnets, anything to make him stand out. But other days, like today; he was wearing a plain black t shirt, black jogging bottoms and a black zip up hoodie, with the hood pulled over his head.

I looked up from my phone again to see him pull a notebook out of his bag, it wasn't a school book, just a plain A5 notebook. He pulled a pen from his pocket and began writing something down, occasionally scribbling parts out. I wondered what he was writing, kids like him don't do homework at home, let alone on their lunch break.

He almost looked sad, frustrated, sitting there alone. I was too busy staring to realise when I came back to planet Earth he was looking right back at me. He gave me a half smile, and stood up from his table. He began walking over to me, swinging his backpack over his shoulder. , I smiled at him and offered him a seat at my table. "No thanks, Miss, I've got to go. Look I just wanted to apologise for the way I behave sometimes. I know you must be fed up of me already but... But please don't give up on me yet. I'm trying to be better, I swear." He told me. I gave him a warm smile and told him to sit down, offering him the seat opposite me.

"Dominic, I was speaking to an old teacher of yours; she said you've got some real talent. If there's anything I can help you with, any extra lessons that you need if you're struggling to concentrate. Please don't hesitate to ask. I'm not just here to teach, I'm here to listen, to be a friend, a therapist, anything you like. I care." I told him, going maybe overly mushy with the sentiment. "Thank you, Miss Allison." He told me, smiling. "It's Mrs." I told him. He seemed determined to find out if I was married or not.

Maybe there was more to him, maybe he's got this big act in front of his friends. He might be a good kid after all.