Falling For Florence

In which worlds collide

Winnie,
It was the first day back. "I'm so not ready for this," I muttered to myself, but who was? The corridors were filled with people meeting their friends, chatting about summer, and then there was me, alone again. I was used to it by now, but that didn't make it any easier. At least this year I was in a new registration class, a mixed group of Year 10s and 11s. Maybe this was the year I'd actually make some friends.

I walked down toward the math block, the familiar nervousness creeping up as I approached my new reg class for the first time. But who was I kidding? I was never ready.

As I walked in, Mr. Spring greeted me with a "Good morning," then glanced down at the seating plan. I hated seating plans. If it were up to me, they'd be banned. He pointed to a girl across the room. "You'll be sitting next to Florence," he said, and I turned to see the sweetest-looking girl I'd ever laid eyes on.

"She's only a year younger than you, maybe you could be friends."

I kind of just nodded, half-listening, half-distracted by the girl in question. I didn't know why, but something about her made my heart beat a little faster. I shook it off quickly and sat down.

"Hi, I'm Winnie!" I said, trying to sound casual, but my voice cracked at the end.

I wanted to disappear. If there was a hole in the ground that could just swallow me up, I would have jumped in. But to my surprise, she just laughed, not in a mean way, but like it was no big deal. She didn't make fun of me. Did I just make a friend?

I found myself staring at her as she spoke, even though she didn't seem to notice. My chest started to pound in a way I hadn't expected.

What was happening?

Florence,

The first day back at school was always the worst. No matter how much I tried to convince myself it was just like any other day, it never felt that way. I'd spent the whole summer trying to escape the routine, and now I was sucked right back in it. The hallways buzzed with noise, but I couldn't focus on any of it, not the chatter, not the laughter, not even the pressure of finding my place again.

That's when I saw this girl.

She was walking alone, headphones in and zoned out, it reminded me of myself last year before I met my friends, she was tall, with brown hair and these stunning green eyes, her face was filled with freckles. Something about her stood out in a way I couldn't explain. It wasn't just her smile, or the way she carried herself with such ease, it was something deeper, way deeper. It felt like I'd known her for years, even though we hadn't even met.

I shook my head, trying to shake off the thought. She probably hadn't even noticed me, and if she had, I was just another face in the crowd. But I couldn't stop looking.

I started walking to reg after dropping my friends off, all of my friends were in different form classes to me, I was a bit bummed out to say the least. But I mean, fresh start hey?

I walked into my class to see a ton of unfamiliar faces, it sort of overwhelmed me. I went to speak to my teacher, I later found out his name was Mr Spring. He told me to go sit in the corner, and said I'd be sat next to a girl named Winnie in year 11.
Winnie, that's a cute name.

I felt a bit nervous, what if she was one of the homophobic year 11 that everyone in my year adored. Then that girl from the hallway walked in, my heart skipped a beat, maybe we could be friends. She was talking to the teacher for a good 5 minutes before he pointed at me, to be honest I was a bit lost, and didn't know who or what to look at, so I just smiled