East Chapel Academy

Marcus

This must be the new girl.

She had to be. I would know if I had seen her before.

Her long braids fell to her waist. Her brown skin was radiant even under the fluorescent lights of the chemistry lab. Unlike the other girls, her skirt fell below her knees, and she wore the standard shiny black dress shoes. The uniform usually makes girls look a bit frumpy and matronly, but it looked cute on her.

Whitney never followed the dress code, she kept her skirt short and her heels high.

"Uh, is this Mr. Cooper's class?" she asked, stepping into the classroom.

Clearing my throat, I answered, "Yes—yes, it is."

With a quiet thank you, she went and sat at the table in front of me.

"I should talk to her," I thought to myself. But when I went to open my mouth no words came out. I had plenty of things that I could have said.

Hi, what's your name?

Are you new here?

I know I don't know you, but will you marry me?

God, why am I so nervous? I just have to say hi—I'm sure she's not going to bite me. I don't know if I would stop her if she tried.

As I opened my mouth to introduce myself, the bell rang loudly throughout the halls interrupting me.

Shit.

Maybe after class.

Mr. Cooper walked into class with a huge grin plastered on his narrow face. He always has a smile on his face after talking to Mrs. Miles. I'm convinced he's in love with her.

"Good morning, class," he greeted us. His eyes fell on the new girl sitting in the front row. With an enthusiastic wave, he gestured for her to come to his desk.

Slipping off her stool, she went over to introduce herself taking her backpack with her.

"I heard her dad's a basketball player," someone whispered behind me.

"Well, I heard she transferred from a school in New York."

Where do they hear these things?

"Marcus, can you come up here, please?" Mr. Cooper asked, putting an end to my eavesdropping.

"Yes, sir." Quickly, I made my way upfront. She was even prettier up close and shorter than I thought. I did my best not to stare as Mr. Cooper introduced us, I'm not sure how successful I was.

"Marcus, this is Nia. Nia, this is Marcus."

She gave me a small smile, and I gave her a slight nod in return. I feared she would try to shake my hand, they were both very sweaty at the moment. I don't know what's wrong with me, I've never been this nervous around a girl before. Granted, I've never had to be, Whitney was my first and only girlfriend.

"Marcus, I want you to be Nia's lab partner since your partner is visiting his mother in New York this semester," he said. "Is that okay with you?"

Thank you, God.

"That's fine with me, Mr. Cooper," I said keeping my cool.

"Is that okay with you, Nia?"

Nodding, she said, "That's fine."

"Great," Mr. Cooper smiled. "Marcus if you can share your notes with Nia. Nia, you can use today to gauge where we are if you have any questions feel free to ask me or Marcus."