I woke up in the morning and looked out the window. It was raining, and looked like it was going to storm. I loved storms. The way that the thunder rumbled and made the very earth vibrate amazed me everytime. I lay back down on my bed slowly, remembering last night. Mum and Dad were getting a divorce, and for some reason I was angry at Dad. Why couldnt he have stayed? Mum, Lilly and I werent that bad. Were we? Was he really not happy to be around us? Or did he have another woman waiting somewhere for him? I didn't linger on these questions. They were only making me feel worse so instead I focused on the positive things about today. I was seeing James. The thought made my tummy flutter with butterflies. It was storming and this made me feel slightly better too. Other than that there wasn't much more to look forward to. School and I had double maths today. Ugh.
I sighed softly and hopped out of bed, looking at the time as I went past to my wardrobe. It was only 5.00 in the morning! I groaned loudly and dragged my feet as I slowly took out my school uniform. I went to Agnes Girls School, one of the many private girls schools in the area. James went to Richardson Boys School, which was only across the road from my school. I slipped on my uniform and went downstairs, and saw that no one was up yet.
I skipped breakfast and walked outside in the freezing rain, deciding to catch the early bus to school. I dragged my feet down to the bus stop, not bothering with an umbrella and sat down heavily. I closed my eyes and hummed a song to myself. My bus probably wasn't coming for another 20 minutes, so I decided to hum another song I'd just been listening to. Coincidentally, it was Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne, and it made me think of James.
Hey, hey you, you I don't like your girlfriend
No way, no way I think you need a new one
Hey, hey you, you I could be your girlfriend
"I've always liked that song," said a voice nearby.
My eyes snapped open and looked up to see James smiling down at me. I groaned and shut my eyes tightl as I hid my head in my hands. That is so embarrassing! I thought to myself, why did I close my eyes? Then I would've at least seen him coming! He chuckled lightly and I looked up to him, my cheeks burning. He was soaking wet from the rain, just like me, and had light drops of rain rolling down his cheekbones. Whereas me? I probably looked like a drowned rat with my hair stuck to my back from the water.
"Pretend you didn't see that" I said while laughing. He chuckeled with me and looked at me curiously.
"Sure, but why are you so embarrassed?" The look in his eyes made me think that he knew what or more specifically who I was singing about. I shook my head and smiled slightly. "I just don't sing that much," I lied smoothly. He looked a little dissapointed which confused me a bit, but soon he looked concerned.
"What happened last night anyway? Are you okay? You said you would tell me," he reminded me. I sighed heavily, and looked away biting my lip slightly. Should I tell him? Would he be able to keep a secret? But something in my head - or more my heart if I'm going to be cheesy and pathetic - told me to trust him, so I literally poured my heart out telling him about the divorce. The whole way through he just nodded and didn't interrupt me, which I was thankful for. In the end there were tears pricking my eyes, just about ready to spill over.
James gave me a sympathetic look and hugged me, holding me tightly against his chest. It felt like he was the only thing keeping me together and the tears spilled over a bit. I bit my lip and tried not to cry. I never cry in front of people so why start now?
"Shhhh. Hey, it's going to be ok. I promise." he whispered. I nodded my head lightly, breathing in his scent. I pulled away, blushing harder than ever as he looked at me closely. I smiled at him, thankful that he was here for me and knowing that I could trust him. He smiled back at me.
"Come on, the bus is going to be here soon, you catch the 66 right?" he asked looking around the corner. I nodded and we both picked up our bags and stood up slowly. The rain was still pouring down hard on the tin roof of the bus shelter, and sure enough, the bus turned around the corner. I breathed a sigh of relief, happy that we were getting out of the freezing cold rain and the wind. My teeth were chattering, and James noticed.
"Oh my gosh your freezing!" he said just as the bus pulled up. He pulled his jumper out of his bag and handed it to me. I gave him a big smile, "thanks," I said quietly, a bit embarrassed about before. He chuckled lightly, "Don't mention it," he said as we climbed on the bus. We sat next to each other, me leaning on his shoulder slightly as we drove to school.
~~~~
Half an hour later we arrived at school and I was still leaning on James' shoulder. I straightened up awkwardly and we both stood up, grabbing our school bags from under our seats. I was blushing again, because I only just realised how much I was leaning on him. We thanked the bus driver and jumped off. James being the gentleman he is, let me hop off first. My school was across the road and we walked together before he stopped at the gate of his school.
"You coming diving?" he asked,
"Yeah," came my genius reply. There was a moment of awkwardness, and I finally built up the guts to say something. "Well um, thanks... a lot, for being there for me, I umm really appreciated it." I said, smiling. He beamed back at me, " No problem, I'm always here for you if you need to talk ok? You know that right?" I nodded and started to take off his jumper. "No, no, you can keep it for today!" he said, "You could just give it back to me this arfternoon, ok?" I smiled widely, "Ok, well I'll seeya soon," I said. I turned around and started walking, looking back over my shoulder as I crossed the street. He was watching me with a huge grin on his face, and I smiled back and waved. He waved back at me, and walked into school.
After I had crossed the street, I saw my group of friends sitting on a bench at the entrance of the school. Agnes Girls' School was fairly big. It had an old but elegant look about it, with cream coloured building used for classrooms, and perfectly trimmed trees and bushes placed everywhere. There were also lots of flower beds around the classrooms, and at the very front, was a sign that said 'Agnes Girls' School' with beautiful white lillies growing under it. Whute lillies were our signature, so our uniforms were also white. In fact, our uniforms were quite pretty, a white blouse with a light pink lillie stitched in, and a short above the knee skirt, that had white and light pink stripes on it. Our bags were a cream shoulder bag, and our hats were wide brimmed and straw, (also white) with the pink lillie in the front. Overall, we were casually refered to as the 'Agnes Angels.'
My little group of 5, was seated just in front of the sign, and as soon as they saw me, their eyes widened in suprise and their mouths hung open. I looked at my uniform to see if there was a stain, but no, not a stain in sight. I looked back up making a 'what?' expression to see them all sprinting over to me. I rolled my eyes, and braced myself. In my group there was me, Rose, Sammy, Holly and Skye. When they finally reached me, they launched into an onslaught of questions at me, so many I couldn't figure out what they were saying. I caught the words: wearing, jumper and boy. Suddenly I looked down and realised I was still wearing James's jumper. I blushed and looked down guiltily as Sammy calmed everyone down.
"What we were trying to say is, WHY THE HELL DO U HAVE A RICHARDSON BOYS' SCHOOL JUMPER ON!?" she yelled.
I flinched back, deciding whether to tell them the truth. I knew there wasn't anybody they would tell, but surely the gossip would somehow spread thjrough the whole grade, and what if then it transferred over to Richardsons?! Then James would hear about it and he would be so embarrassed! I decided to tell them half of the truth.
"Guys, guys calm down! I was soaked in water from the rain a guy on my bus gave me his jumper? No big deal ok?" I said.
They all shutup and looked slightly dissappointed but accepted this knew piece of information without question. The bell rang then and we all walked up to our first class, maths. This is going to be a long day but I can't wait to see James!
