Trance

Chapter 2

The first few periods went by smoothly as expected, that's probably because my mind was elsewhere. I couldn't stop thinking about Dwayne; something about that boy just hooked me. Maybe it was how his words managed to captivate me ever so effortlessly or how his eyes were a colour I'd never really seen anywhere else, or maybe it was-

"Is. Is. Is!" Drew shouted interrupting my thoughts.

"Yes Drew, I'm sitting right here. I can hear you." I snapped back, irritated.

"You've been staring out the window for half the lesson, so you can tell me what's on your mind or have me physically pry it out of you...I know all your ticklish spots" He said as he began to tickle my sides. I tried my best to resist, but I guess he knew me too well and like clockwork I started laughing.

"Mr. Grimes and Miss Copeland you're disrupting the class. If you don't mind, the rest of your classmates actually want to learn" Mr. Clark shouted across the room.

"Sorry Sir." Drew and I apologized simultaneously. He continued teaching. We sank into our seats in an effort to muffle our laughs. When we'd calmed down we sat up straight again. It had been a while since I'd laughed like that, surprisingly, it didn't take me till that moment on that day, to realize just how much I needed Andrew Grimes in my life.

"Oh, I really missed you Drew" I whispered to him.

"I missed you too Is. Now are you gonna tell me what's on your mind?" He asked, refusing to back down.

"Well...It's that new guy, Dwayne. I don't know, he's interesting. He's strangely kind and not just through words, I can see it in his eyes Drew. Oh his eyes, have you seen them? They're like a mix between a glassy gemstone emerald and the green that hovers just above the grass in the morning...” I trailed off when I noticed Drew was staring at me with a bizarre look on his face.

"Isla? Are you being serious? You just met the guy, you barely know who he is and you're acting all 'head over heels'." Drew said, with a hint of anger in his voice

"I was merely describing what I thought of him...Just forget I said anything" I said in a hushed tone.

"Don't worry, already forgotten" He said turning to face the front off the class where Mr. Clark was once again explaining the effects of World War 1. As intriguing as history was to Drew I could never quite grasp it all. How could people be so caught up in the past when there's enough in the present to keep us busy for a lifetime.

***

 The bell for lunch woke me from my trance.

"Finally! I'm starving!" Drew shouted as he followed the rest of the students to the cafeteria. I packed my books in my backpack and slowly followed the others. Once I reached the cafeteria, I grabbed a tray and joined onto the end of the line. I watched the person ahead of me struggle to choose what they wanted to eat, and I instantly knew that they were new. Newcomers could be spotted from a mile away.

"When in doubt go for what seems most familiar" I said with what I hoped was a friendly smile. When they turned to face me I realized it was Dwayne.

"Is it that obvious how helpless I am?" he said.

"Yeah, kind of" I answered with a giggle. "Don't worry though it's an attractive kinda helpless" I smiled at him. And for a second I thought I caught a glimpse of what may have been the beginnings of a blush in his cheeks, but in the blink of an eye it was gone, because once again, we were interrupted.

"Is! Hey!" Haley shouted as she rushed to stand next to me. Haley, one of the few people I had actually kept in contact with over the summer break was a childhood friend of mine. She was what one may call 'the girl next door', with her sapphire blue eyes, honey blonde hair, slender legs and perfect figure, it was all very intimidating. But I had known her long enough to understand the ins and outs of her mind. There's always more to the painting.