The secret in my heart

Chapter #4

Walking down the hallway with Nate, he explains in great detail, where all the classrooms and offices are located. Even though it's my first time being here, it all seems so weirdly familiar.
Trying to shake that uncomfortable feeling away, I decide to ask Nate some questions.

"How long have you been studying here?" I look at him curiously.

"I've been here since I was seven, making it my eight year here." he responds.

"I see. How about the student council then, how long have you been a part of it?" I continue.

"It's my first year, actually. Since I'm now a high-schooler, I got the opportunity to apply for a position." Nate says, smiling widely.

"Good to hear, I'm glad to meet another ambitious person, just like me." I smirk, while he chuckles quietly.

As I stare at him, I hear footsteps quickly approaching us, from a far.
I look ahead and see a black haired boy that looks very similar to Nate, running in our direction. He stops right in front of us, and looks up with a worried look on his face.

"Jim? What happened? Are you okay?" Nate asks fearfully.

"Jacob is calling an emergency meeting in his office, and he's calling us all to come quickly!" Jim answers in one breath.

"Alright, I'm coming! Clara, you can come and wait for me outside." Nate says.

"Sure, no problem." I agree.

The three of us walk towards the meeting and when we arrive Nate and Jim enter the office, while I sit outside on a couch in the hallway, to wait for them. *I am very curious as to why this meeting was called so suddenly. What happened?* As I sit and look around, a painting catches my eye. I feel like I've seen this painting before, but I'm not sure where. I get up to take a closer look and see a young man with his dog depicted on it. The dog itself also looks familiar to me, I try to notice any specific details, but at that moment, I hear someone leaving the office. I see it's Nate and Jim along with another boy I don't know. The new boy stares at me in a very strange way, so I try my best to look away.

"Clara, this is Jacob, our student council president. Jacob, this is Clara she just transferred here recently." Nate says, introducing us to each other.

"Hey, nice to meet you." I mumble, forcing a slight smile.

"Hello, welcome to our school! It's nice meeting you too!" Jacob responds, with an unreadable facial expression.

"I'm Jim by the way, as you already know. I'm sorry I didn't introduce myself earlier." he says, fixing his hair, nervously.

"No problem. You were in a hurry, I could tell." I say, assuring him.

"Would you like to meet the others as well? They're still inside, let's go!" Jacob says, almost dragging me in the office, before I could say anything.

Inside I see three more guys talking. Two of them are sitting on a small couch, and the third one is sitting on an armchair, across from them. *That's Steven, if memory serves me right.* At one point, they all see us walk in and Steven abruptly stands up from his seat.

"Let me introduce you, this is Clara, she's a new student. Clara, these are Simon, Henry and Steven." Jacob says comprehensively.

"Hello everyone!" I say, waving at them.

"Oh my God! Hi there! This is the first time a girl steps in here, how exciting!" Simon exclaims, while clapping his hands.

"That's right, welcome to our school, by the way." says Henry, in a calm matter, unlike Simon.

"Thank you, guys!" I respond, to them.

"And speaking of me, Clara and I already know each other. Am I right?" Steven chuckles, crossing his arms.

"You are, hello to you too." I mumble, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

"Oh, is that the girl you told us about? I see now." Henry looks at Steven, smiling.

*I wonder what he's said about me. Hopefully good things only, even though we barely know each other.*

"Guys we have to get back to class, our break is over. Let's go." Jim says and we all leave the room.

After the conversations I had today with various students, I was left with many questions in my head? What happened at the meeting? Why was Jacob acting so strange and the same applies to Stephen? What did they talk about me? And most of all, the thing that puzzled me the most, where have I seen this painting before? I hope I find answers soon.