Afraid • l.h

Chapter 3 • "Why don't you like me?"

Tilly's POV

I woke up with a text from Rosie telling me to meet her at the coffee house just outside of school.

My morning routine now began. Breakfast, shower, get dressed, make up and then pack (or shove) everything i need for school into a bag and leave for the bus.

I was running late because I spent a bit to long in the shower and so I jogged quickly to the bus stop. Luckily I was just in time and got on the bus to start my 30 minute journey.

Once i arrived at the bus stop not far from the school I could see Rosie standing a outside the coffee house with a bunch of other people who I'm assuming are her friends as I didn't recognise any of them from a far and they were definitely different people to those who she was with yesterday.

"Hey Tilly." she said and handed me a coffee.

"This is Calum, Michael, Grace and Luke" She introduced them one by one.

"Hey, nice to meet you" I said and continued to drink my coffee as we walked to school.

We all made our way to English class, turns out that me and Grace were in the same one. I didn't particularly like English but I wasn't bad at it. I took my seat at the back of the class next to Grace.

"Okay class today we are annotating a page of Pride and Prejudice with the person sitting next to you." Said our teacher, Miss Jackson.

"Have you ever heard of this book before?" Grace spoke. "It's my favourite"

"I've heard of it, I've never read it though." I said being honest.

"Okay, let me tell you a bit about it" She began. "Elizabeth Bennet lives with her mother, father and sisters in the English countryside. As the eldest, she faces lots of pressure from her parents to marry. When the Elizabeth is introduced to Mr. Darcy, sparks fly. Although there is obvious chemistry between the two, Darcy's overly reserved nature puts the emerging relationship at risk."

After she had explained the whole entire book to me in as much detail as possible we only had 10 minutes left and so we just sat and talked to get to know each other more. Me and Grace were surprisingly very similar other than she enjoy reading which I do not. Everything about this new chapter of life was falling into place so well.

Before I knew it we headed to the field because for lunch as it was a sunny September day.

I had got to know them all a bit more now and we had become better friends and I even think I'm part of the group more. Except the tall blonde boy, I think his name was Luke, he didn't talk much.

The guys went and played football so Rosie, Grace and I sat and watched from a distance on a hill.

"So Tilly, how do you like it at the University of California?" Grace asked.

"Its good so far, I mean it's a lot better than my old school."

"Wow it must have been bad. This place is nothing compared to some other local schools." she laughed "I'm glad Rosie brought you to hang out with us." She kindly said.

"Awe thank you." I replied and continue watching the boys played football because I hadn't brought any lunch with me and had nothing else to do.

"Oh by the way..." Rosie started breaking my stare. "I forgot to tell you that Grace is dating Calum."

"She also forgot to tell you she is dating Ashton, who's the drummer of the guys band but he isn't at school anymore, he's a little older." Grace added.

So Grace is going out with Calum and Rosie is going out with Ashton who is the drummer of Calum, Ashton, Luke and Michaels band. Luke is suspicious, Michael is extremely nice, I don't know a lot about Calum and I'm yet to meet Ashton.

That's a lot to take in.

"Is something bothering you?" Rosie asks.

"No I was just thinking." I say as I see the guys walking over to us.

"Come on lets get to class." Grace says as we walk off the field.

Everyone goes the opposite way except Luke and I.

An awkward silence is between us as we walk in the same direction but four feet apart.

"What class do you have next?" I ask hoping to break the awkward silence.

"Maths." He quickly replies.

This makes me question his attitude. Is he shy? Have I said something? Why is he being like this?

"Why don't you like me?" I ask him from out of the blue.

"What makes you think that?" He says in a harsh tone.

I regret asking now.

"Well you... you never mind..." I decide to forget about it, it doesn't matter and what difference would it make?

We head up to maths and into our classroom. Small and very hot. Great.

Luke takes his seat in the middle while I wait for everyone else to sit down.

"There you go there are two options." My teacher smiles at me.

I either sit next to a guy with short brown hair and blue eyes or a blonde girl who is actually quite pretty. I end up choosing the guy with short brown hair and blue eyes.

My seat was the opposite side of the classroom to Luke who was the only person I know. Well I didn't really know him well because he didn't talk much. I couldn't work out if that was a good thing or not.

Maths was a strong subject of mine and so I generally understood most of the work.

It was soon over and I headed out of the classroom knowing I had to make it to the bus stop in time. I didn't end up waiting for Luke and not did I think he wanted me too.

I saw Rosie on the way but she looked in a rush so I just waved to her.

I've gotten used to the bus ride now and it's not that bad. Listening to music makes it seems a whole lot quicker.

As I amble up my road and I get close to my house I simply stop and admire how beautiful it is.

The smell of steak and chips hits me as I walk through the front door and am enticed into the kitchen. Yum.

"Hey mum. When is dinner?" I asked politely.

"About 5 minutes" mum replies.

I quickly run upstairs to put all my things away and then head back down for dinner.

"Hey mum?"

"Yes honey?"

"You were right, I can make new friends and they are really nice, I only hope we stay friends for a long time."

"That's great! I'm happy you have found new friends, it wasn't that hard was it?"

"No it wasn't." I smile and laugh to myself knowing she was always right.

"You're such a good cook mum."

"Thank you."

I put my plate and cutlery in the dishwasher and head upstairs saying goodnight to my mum before she began working again.

All my homework is done within an hour of being upstairs and so I put on my favourite Disney film, The Lion King and it's not long after the film finishes before I fall asleep.

It's either the long few days I've had or the time zone difference that is messing with my sleep pattern but it's not enjoyable.

**
Thanks for reading💙

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