One Moment

~ Chapter 1 ~

Class speeches. My nightmare. I mean, who actually likes them? Can the teachers choose a topic that is actually interesting, or is that too much to ask? I think so. Looking down at my cue cards, I can feel my palms sweating. I hear applause and look up, realising my friend Kathrine has just finished her speech. Crap. That means it’s my turn. “Jamie,” my teacher, Mrs Jones, calls out. Getting out of my seat, I slowly walk up to the front of the class. Not concentrating on where I’m walking, I trip over a foot sticking out of the rows of chairs. Laughter erupts from the class and my face turns a bright red colour. Picking myself up off the ground I continue walking. Reaching the front of the room, I turn around to face the class. Taking a deep breathe I begin. “For my …” I started, but was interrupted by a soft knock on the door. The whole class turned to look at the intruder. “Come in,” Mrs Jones said. In walked a boy. He had brown hair and dark eyes. He was wearing a faded Hurley tee and dark wash denim jeans. All the girls seemed to draw in there breathes and half of them smiled flirtingly at him. I sent him a friendly smile, thankful for the interruption.

He returned the smile, staring at me. Feeling self-conscious I looked down at my clothes. This morning I hadn’t really paid much attention to what I put on. A white infinity top and black high waisted shorts consisted of what I was wearing. Sensing I was uncomfortable, the boy sent me a reassuring smile. I blushed, and looked down at my shoes. Looking back up, I saw the new boy talking to Mrs Jones. She was using hand gestures, like usual. After about 5 minutes of hushed talking, Mrs Jones walked up to the front of the class, signalling me to go sit down. Confused but relieved, I retook my seat, smiling at Katherine who was sitting across the room. “Okay class,” said Mrs Jones, the new boy standing beside her looking shy. “This is Keith.” Keith, I repeated in my head. I smiled to myself. He had a cute name.

“He will be joining our class for the rest of the year. He has just transferred from Florida and I hope you all make him feel welcome.” By then most of the kids had tuned out. We had all heard this speech plenty of times. Make him feel welcome, be nice. Blah, blah, blah. “Jamie?” I heard someone say my name. “Can Keith sit next to you?” Mrs Jones asked. “Oh yeah, sorry,” I stammered. Smiling, Keith walked over to my desk and plonked his books on the table.

“Hey,” he said.