Hello, Goodbye

01: Saxon

She stared at the floor the whole time, her straight black hair long and hiding her face. She only looked up when she heard her name, and only briefly did she look up. “Grace Mataki, welcome.” The teacher seemed slightly surprised to see the girl being very shy. As she looked up for that brief moment, Saxon stared at her.

She caught his eye before looking down again. Her eyes were small, Asian-like and cute. She had perfectly straight hair which was parted in the middle. And she was imperfect, in the best way possible. She wasn’t as thin as the cheerleaders who sat snickering behind her. She had small hands and small feet and she was short compared to Saxon.

“Saxon Fields.” He raised his hand slightly, focusing on the teacher again and taking his gaze away from the girl. “Andrew Frago.”  The thin, scrawny boy beside him – the one he calls best friend – raises his hand and turns to Saxon.

“Sax, look at her, oh gosh.” He smiles a little. Saxon smirks at him. “No, no, no, Saxon Fields,” he whisper-yells, shaking his head rapidly a million-and-one times. “No, look, she looks nice and all but look at the way James looks at her. Like she’s an innocent little fish swimming in the ocean and he’s, I don’t know, a polar bear!”

“So peer pressure is stopping you from chasing your love?” he teases gently. A fire seems to blaze in Andrew’s hazel eyes. He raises his arm up onto his table and points at Saxon. His arms are so thin, his fingers so long.

“You –”

“Can shut your mouth, Mr Fields. I am trying to teach a class.” Andrew makes a face at Saxon when their teacher’s back is turned. He stifles a laugh. A moment later, however, after telling his homeroom students their notices, he allows them to freely chat.

“Wow, yeah, I’ll shut up for literally two seconds,” Andrew mutters under his breath. Saxon glances over at the girl. She has her head buried in a book, earphones in, world out. He understands this but, obviously, James and his friends do not. James’ girlfriend, a cheerleader named Eliza, beckons him over subtly. Though, not as such. It grabs the attention of everyone but Grace. She doesn’t even flinch, doesn’t even look up.

“Andrew, we have to do something,” Saxon says quickly and quietly. The boy looks towards James and his rugby-playing friends who could probably kill him with one swift movement.

“Um, no. I’m sure that that Grace girl will be alright, yeah?” He looks worried that they will break him if he goes over there. But Saxon wonders if all he ever worries about is his popularity level. Which, currently, is about at the five mark. Like, five percent. He is five percent popular because he is scrawny and weak and cannot kick any type of ball whatsoever. Saxon would know.

“Fine.” He folds his arms over his shoulder and winces when she is tapped on the shoulder. James’ finger against her shoulder looks gigantic. She’s so small, she looks so fragile. Not super small, mainly just short; she still has baby fat lingering in her waist and cheeks. She looks up, takes out her earphones individually.

He can almost imagine the music coming out of them. Sweet and innocent, just like her. She folds the corner of her book and shuts it slowly. Her calmness is intriguing but scary. James looks impatient. The teacher doesn’t care what they do anymore. Not until the first lesson bell goes and they all have to leave.

“So, you’re Grace.” Eliza looks like she is hanging from James’ big, muscled arm. “I would say that we’ve heard a lot about you, but really, we haven’t!” She’s using that tone. That super fake sweet tone she uses with every new girl.

He sees the cheerleaders behind Grace, still quietly sniggering as though the whole scene didn’t happen with them. Grace seems to momentarily glance at the girls behind her. And she sort of shrugs at Eliza, who tilts her head to the corner.