IT SEEMED as if the earth had suddenly swallowed me. Weeks have gone by and Belle had been offered the position of school president. Did they forget what she'd done to make me feel like a total loser? I mean, anyone can get the position, and I'm not jealous. It's just: why her?
The teachers and principal chose Belle because she asked and no one else expressed an interest in the role. I know I backed out of becoming school captain, but there was still a part of me that desired the position so much.
"You okay?" Hamzah inquires as he leans on my table, moving his wheelchair closer to mine. The back of the chair was facing his chest when he sat opposite it.
I give him a slight smile and nod. I knew he understood it was fake. He furrows his brow and gives a troubled smile. "Liar." He whispered before returning to his desk behind me. He was probably aware of the Belle situation, which continued to weigh on me.
"Alright, can everyone find their partners for this task?" the teacher asks as she distributes white sheets of paper. I turn over to Hamzah, who sits behind me, and he smiles and extends his hand. I rolled my eyes and slapped my hand in his. He quickly drags me on the wheelchair I was sitting in, and I am slid over to his desk.
I almost let out a yelp from his fast movements. "Oh my gosh, Hamzah" I said and held on to his arm tightly. Hamzah reads aloud from the page while putting his arm around my shoulder. "Write about your partner using big, descriptive words." "Easy." He continues and extracts a pencil for both of us.
"Observe one another, get to know each other, what colour is their hair, what colour are their eyes?" The teacher adds, and Hamzah turns to face me fully at this point. I give him a little space by pushing back my chair.
"Oh, miss?" His gaze remains fixed on my face as he raises his hand. "Yes, Hamzah?" Miss Berry queries. "What if everything is the same for us?" Hamzah laughs. That caught my attention as well. Tan skin, brown hair, brown curls, and brown eyes. How would that work??
"Oh, I see." The lady says and she looks to both of us almost like she was observing.
"You could do birth marks, beauty marks, and piercings!" She says and we both nod in agreement.
I glance at Hamzah, who continues to gaze at me. His eyes are droopy, if that makes sense, and they always appear sleepy, even though he isn't. This is what I notice when I look around his face. I see the beauty mark on top of his upper lip; perhaps that describes him well.
"Hey, what's the purpose of this?" A pupil queries. "You could say this is just a little icebreaker." Miss Berry answers.
Upon closer inspection of his facial structure, I can see that he obviously takes better care of his curls than I do. Very glossy. I wish mine were always that way. The boy's eyes follow my face as I watch; he's still too preoccupied to speak and seems at ease. At last, he finishes and sets the paper down on the desk. I eventually finish writing in my sheet's box. I return the pencil to its case and set my sheet down next to his.
・❥・
"Want me to drop you home?" A voice appears from behind me, seemingly out of nowhere. I grab my bag and rummage through my books, stuffing them inside. I was about to walk home.
"Yes, thank you," I replied, shutting my locker and clicking the combination lock. I threw my bag over my shoulder.
I go behind Hamzah down the busy school hallway. He rushes past a couple who are rudely blocking his path while kissing. I could tell he was furious because he instantly extended his hand from behind for me to grab.
