This Is Where We Start

<-Jacob->

Why is this my life?
I run down the sidewalk to the school. My second day and I'm going to be late! Not the best way to present myself.
I speed walk to English, thinking I'm going to be so late, but I realize I'm actually five minutes early. Thank the Lord!
I walk into the classroom to find that I'm the first one. As the minutes tick by, people start to fill in. I start to wonder where Lily could be. She seems to be one of those people who doesn't come late to class.
Just as it seems that class will start without her, she walks through the door. Her flannel shirt and skinny jeans fit close to her body and I can see at least three boys turn around to look at her.
But, something seems off about her; something that was different yesterday. I can see that's she's wearing a gray beanie, but it's more than that.
She takes her seat next to me and catches me looking.
"What're you looking at?" she hisses. Sighing, Lily pulls off her hat and I gasp.
She's cut her hair.
The long, flowing waves she had yesterday are almost gone, replaced by a short, boyish pixie cut.
"What're you staring at?"
She's starting to give me her look of fury and hatred. Her eyes have a glint in them and I know that I should just look away and leave it alone, but her haircut makes her look more...beautiful, somehow.
"Why'd you do it?" I ask.
"Because it was time for a change," she whispers. Judging by her expression, there's a hidden meaning behind her explanation.
Mr. Williams claps his hands. When all of the kids are silent (or as silent as they can be), he announces, "For the next few weeks, you'll be working on a project in pairs." A few of the students exchange glances and smiles, but Mr. Williams scowls. "Pairs that'll assigned by me. Each pair will select a poem by a famous poet and create your own poem based on the theme of the original poem. Your own created poem must be at least two pages long and double spaced. Remember, this project will only get full credit if both of you contribute. The poem you select is your decision, but the created poem must have the same theme as the original. Everybody got it?" We all nod. It's a fairly simple project. "Okay."
He scans the room and his gaze stops on Lily who's silently murmuring under her breath. "Ms. Edwards. You'll be with..." Something in my face changed, maybe a down turned edge of my mouth or crinkles around my eyes, because when he looks at me, he immediately calls out, "Mr. Noland."
Her defeated groan results in a few chuckles from around the room and her face falls into her hands.
Oh, boy. This's going to be one experience I, and probably Lily, won't soon forget.