Risking Amor

Risking Amor: Chapter 1

     "Umm, Hi. My name is Stella Brookes, and I moved here from Georgia." I said. The whole class stared at me with bored eyes, here we go again with the introductions. This was my fifth school in two years, but it was my first boarding school. My parents probably dropped me off here because they felt bad that I had to keep making stupid introductions. Or maybe they just didn't want to haul me around everywhere.

     "That's wonderful to hear! Is Georgia a nice place to live, Stella?" the teacher asked. I couldn't help but notice that she seemed very cheerful.

     "Well, ma'am, where I came from, it wasn't much." The classroom filled with chuckles and giggles, but I didn't think my comment was funny. It was true; my town had many people, many sites to see, but I didn't have any friends to enjoy it with, so I mostly kept to myself. There truly was nothing much to the town.

     The teacher, Mrs. Rollins, smiled warmly, "All right dear, well, we all welcome you to Burchell Academy." I smiled and sat back down in my chair. The other students turned their attention back at the teacher.

     "Class, I have an assignment I'm going to give you," she squealed with joy, "I want you all to write a essay," quiet groans and sighs filled the classroom. I couldn't blame them, it was the first day back from winter break, and we were already getting an essay. "Now, now, this one is a fun essay! One that you all can relate to. The theme of it is: 'Young Love'. You may write anything about this topic, your experiences, your thoughts and opinions, whatever you want, but it must be about young love."

     Young Love? How could I write about young love? I didn't have much experience with love, in fact, I had no experience at all. Unless, you count my third grade crush Ethan King. I confessed my feelings for him one day at recess, and he threw a soccer ball at my head.

     A boy infront of me raised his hand, "Mrs. Rollins, what if we have no experience with love." Everyone looked his way and sneered at him. Some laughed and one girl even questioned how he couldn't have found love at his age.

     "Actually," I interrupted, "I was wondering the same thing." The room got silent and, again, all eyes turned to me. I instantly regretted saying anything. "I mean, you know, if it hasn't happened..." I tried to cover up, but I probably had already said too much.

     Mrs. Rollins smiled, "Well, if you have had no experience with love, Gregory, then why not interpret that into your essay? 'Love stinks: not everyone can obtain it.'" she said as she spread her hands out into the air, making gestures as though she was reading the headline of an invisible newspaper.

     Gregory nodded and slumped down into his chair. "Thank you," he whispered. I looked around at a couple of the girls sitting beside me. They were all whispering, probably about their boyfriends. Then I looked around at some of the guys who were high-fiving each other. They must have been referring to their girlfriends. Then there was poor Gregory who was sitting their awkwardly standing out.

     I guess I stood out as well because I recieved a couple of glances. I looked up curiously, but returned to my book when I saw a note placed on my desk. I looked up at the teacher to see if the coast was clear before I took the note and opened it.

New girl,

Sit with us at lunch?

Someone needs to show you

Burchell, why not do it the

right way?

Garret, Brandon, Chase, and Ryan.

     I looked up and saw four boys grinning my way and high-fiving each other. I smiled slightly and shook my head, returning to my book. I was just the new girl, but I was already getting attention. I was just trying to figure out if it was the right kind of attention.