And Who Are You? e.d.

"And Who Are You?" -1

I enter the large but not ginormous school in front of me, only to be greeted with plenty of shuffling students walking in the corridors. I walk to the left, making sure to dodge any student that's walking in my path. I quickly find the office and I hesitantly open the door, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear in the process.

I walk up to the counter to a lady who seems very busy. She's got a cell phone in her hand, she's on the school phone, and she's typing on the computer all at the same time. I stand there for awhile until she notices me.

"Oh!" She puts down the cell phone, hangs up the phone and pushes the keyboard out of the way. "Hi there, you must be the new student!" She sticks out her hand as an offering to my "new acceptance" of this school.

I slowly take her hand and shake it briefly before returning it to my side.

"Your name is... Ahhh, Zoë. Zoë Shannon Richardson. I like the two dots over the E, makes it a special letter. Makes it dramatic." She winks at me.

I give her a half smile and look down, tucking a piece of my hair behind my ear.

"Not much of a talker, are ya?" She giggles.

"No ma'am," I say quietly.

She gives me a sympathetic smile and hands me a few pieces of paper.

"Here's your schedule. As you are new to the school, I'll give you directions to your first class. Take a right from here, go straight until you see the broken locker, then take a left at that hallway and then your room will be three doors down on the right."

I nod my head and begin to walk out the door before her voice stops me again.

"Zoë, you have a lovely voice. Don't be afraid to use it."

I smile at her and walk out the door. I keep my head hanging low so no one is drawn to me, and my books clutched tightly to my chest. I follow the secretary's instructions and arrive at a door with only one person in the classroom. I walk in and pick a desk at the very right of the classroom, next to the wall but still in front. I might be shy but I still want to get good grades and pay attention.

After a few minutes of me examining the room, the bell rings. I shuffle a little in my seat, weary of all the kids about to walk into the room. I pull out a notebook from my backpack and start to doodle.

"You could not be any luckier!" I hear from beside me.

I quickly look up and to the side. I give her a quizzical look.

"You chose the only empty desk in the classroom. Go you."

I give her a quick smile and then look back down at my notebook.

"My name is Peyton." She says with a smile.

I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear and smile. "I'm Zoë."

She nods toward my notebook, "I can see that! You spell it so different."

"My parents are different." I almost shut myself up, this is the most I've talked to anyone for weeks. But this girl seems really nice, and her presence just makes me like her.

The rest of the class files in, and I meet some more of Peyton's friends, Lexi and Sydney, of which I like also. The tardy bell rings, but yet there's still no teacher.

"Oh, Mr. Ray? He's usually always a few minutes late." Peyton says, probably taking notice to the look on my face.

Just as promised, a few minutes later a middle-aged man hurriedly walks into the room, splashing some coffee on the floor in the process.

"Ah, alright class. Anyone missing?" He puts his glasses lower on his nose and looks through the top at the classroom.

"The Dolan's. Of course." I look over to where he's looking and see that two spots right next to each other are empty.

"Ah!" He says while looking through some papers on his desk. "We have a new student!"

Oh no.

He goes over to the board and writes "Zoey Richardson" on it.

He looks over the classroom and then spots me. I shift in my seat, uncomfortable with all eyes on me. I hear murmurs, especially a loud one saying "Woah, she's gorgeous." At my old school I would have smiled and thanked them right away but I've changed since then.

"Can you come up here, Zoë?"

I slowly get out of my chair and walk to the front of the classroom.

Peyton raises her hand. "Mr. Ray, you spelled her name wrong."

He looks over the paper on his desk, "but it says here-"

Peyton stands up and rewrites my name on the board. I give her a half smile, thanking her. She smiles back.

"Okay Zoë, in my classroom all new students must say where they came from, and 5 facts about themselves."

I look down at the floor and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. "I, uh, came from Juneau, Alaska," I say quietly. I hear someone from the back of the room say 'what'd she say?' and then someone repeats it to him.

I begin to talk again but am interrupted by the door opening.

"Ah, Grayson and Ethan, glad you're finally joining us."

"Teach, you're late every single day. Don't get on us for being a few minutes late." One of them says.

I take the opportunity to walk quickly back to my seat. I look up as I sit down and feel a pair of eyes on me. A few rows down, one of the twins has his eyes on me. I quickly look back down at my notebook and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear.

The rest of class goes on, taking notes over WWII and concentration camps. The bell finally rings and Peyton waits for me at the door. "What class do you have next?"

I look down at my paper, "Uh, speech." Oh dear God.

"Opposite way of me, I'll see you at lunch though okay?"

"Okay." I smile. I take a sharp turn out of the classroom.

"Oh shit!" I mutter as I collide into someone, making all the books I was holding drop to the floor.

I quickly bend over to pick up the books and I quietly say obscenities to myself.

I notice another pair of hands picking up the books too, so I look up and meet a gorgeous pair of green-brown eyes that I had seen in the classroom, staring at me.

He hands me the books the have just fallen and I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear while I look toward the ground.

"And who are you?" He says to me in an intimidating voice.

"I- uh-" I stutter before I quickly turn around and walk away as fast as possible.