I walked into the very modest reception, it was a chilly but fresh winter morning. The door closed a little too loudly and the brunette receptionist looked up at me, slightly startled. I glanced at the ground awkwardly and re-adjusted the position of my bag over my shoulder before clumsily edging forward to the desk.
"Can I help you?" She politely asked, moving her glasses to on top of her head, pushing aside a stack of paperwork.
"Um, yeah, hi. My name is Allie and I'm starting today." I half smiled, trying to seem friendly.
"Allie?" She had a confused expression. "Oh, Allison? Allison Darcy?"
I cringed at the use of my prissy full name, but nodded.
"Welcome to Sacred Heart School, I'm Mrs Mable, shall we look at your timetable?"
She was so welcoming, explaining that my lessons were in different buildings. She instantly reminded me of my mum, but I quickly shoved that thought away and resumed my attention to what she was telling me.
"I have your locker key here somewhere…" She rifled through a drawer and eventually held it at arms length. "Here! Let me help you take your books to your locker."
It was only then I noticed she had gone to trouble of getting all my various textbooks for my different lessons. I rushed to pick up the bigger half of the stack, trying to show I was grateful. She guided me through the corridors, occasionally pointing out important rooms. Since I made the effort to come particularly early there weren't many students about, although the few we did pass stared at me a little too long, reminding me I was the 'new girl.'
Along the left wall of the art corridor were a few rows of lockers, I noticed a couple of empty ones and Mrs Mable pointed out mine. We loaded mine up with my new books and I thanked her very much.
"Come find me at reception if you need anything, dear!" She smiled warmly once again. Caring and a little bit scatty, just like mum. I thanked her again and she walked back the way we had come.
The noise of her shoes trotting along the hard floors slowly faded and it all became quiet. I could hear students outside chatting and mucking around with friends, making the most of their time before school starts. I decided to pack my bag with all my books for the whole day, so I wouldn't be late to any lessons, and then locked my locker. I was left with a very heavy bag and the small silver locker key in my hand. I put my bag down, standing it up between my legs and undid the clasp of my necklace. I carefully threaded the key onto the necklace and it slid down into place next to the dainty locket that was already on the chain. Once it was done up again I tucked the locket and key under my top so only the chain was showing. There was still around twenty minutes until registration, which Mrs Mable had told me took place in the English classroom opposite my locker, so I decided to go into the Art classroom which was slightly further down the corridor.
I quietly knocked on the very plain wood door but there was no reply. I opened it a crack to peek through, when I saw it was empty I walked in completely. Since there were no signs saying otherwise I thought it was okay to come in and explore. It was a spacious room with one huge window along one wall. There were big work desks with wooden stools, and artwork was everywhere. On the far wall were 4 sinks with many pots of paintbrushes, and next to that were all sorts of materials. Paints, Pencils, Inks, all in different trays and boxes. I wasn't particularly academic, but I sure loved art. I think I'll be spending lots of time in here…
I spent a while just walking around, admiring all the work but it wasn't long until the first bell of the day rang. I grabbed by bag which I had abandoned by the door and swung it over my shoulder, running out of the classroom even though my form room wasn't very far away. As soon as I stepped out of the doorway I felt something heavy bash into my right side, knocking my bag off of my shoulder and spilling my books everywhere. I found myself on the ground wincing as I clasped my arm in pain.
"Crap!" I murmured as I made an effort to collect all my books into a pile.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" A voice spoke from right behind me. I turned around to see 2 big blue eyes staring right back at me. They belonged to boy around my age…he was of medium build, wearing a stripey t-shirt which clung to his subtle muscles perfectly. He had brown hair styled slightly across his forehead with an adorable cheeky smile. As we both stood up I noticed he was about 5 inches taller than me, he was probably about 5,8 since I'm quite short.
"Are you alright? I didn't see you there!" He laughed, that gorgeous grin showing again… It slowly disappeared as he began to look confused. Shit! Speak Allie!
"Ha, I get that a lot at my height!" I laughed nervously. Oh, really smooth. I looked at the ground awkwardly, internally facepalming. I crammed my books back into my bag.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," He looked concerned, worried that he'd offended me.
"I'm just joking!" I smiled. The corridor was beginning to clear. "I better go register, can't be late for my first day!" I turned around and hurried away, I didn't want to be rude but I really didn't want to be late.
Louis POV
I said goodbye to Harry as we passed his form room and carried on walking the short distance to mine. He was probably my closest friend, so it was annoying we were in different forms. Although, since passing my driving test I picked him up every day on the way to school, as we lived fairly close.
A couple of guys stopped to talk to me in the corridor, and then the bell went. As usual it was perfect timing for me to walk into the empty Art classroom, my form room. I turned into the room as a flash of honey blonde hair whipped me in the face.
It took me a while to realise I had knocked a poor girl to the floor! Ooops. She was fairly small and looked so fragile. I hope I hadn't hurt her. She looked so graceful as she scrambled to get her books. Her slightly wavy hair was fairly long, stopping above the small of her back. Stop being a douche and apologise.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" I crouched behind her, ready to help her. She turned to look over her shoulder, obviously not realising how close I was, and looked me straight in the eye. She was so beautiful.
She had delicate features; her big bright blue eyes looked a little startled, they were framed with fluttery eyelashes. Her nose was tiny, a very slight kick up at the end, and her rosy lips were slightly parted in surprise. She brought her long hair over one shoulder as she attempted to balance all her books in her arms. She was very beautiful. I noticed her small frame again when we both stood up; I was quite a bit taller than her. Even though loads of students were shuffling around the corridor, the silence between us was a bit awkward. I decided to apologise again.
"Are you alright? I didn't see you there!" I gave my best friendly smile. I hadn't seen her around before and didn't want her thinking I was mean or anything.
"Ha, I get that a lot at my height!" She's cute, I thought, distracted by her joke. Wait… I didn't mean to insult her.
"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," I quickly said.
"I'm just joking!" She gave a playful grin, flashing her perfect teeth. Oh God, I couldn't stop staring… how had I not noticed her before? "I better go register, can't be late for my first day!" She turned and walked away, quickly becoming hidden by the mass of people, many of which were bigger than her.
No wonder I didn't know her, she was new. I wasn't exactly a social, party person but I knew almost everyone in the school, if nothing else I'd like to think I'm friendly.
I looked around, bewildered and a little baffled at what had just happened, when I caught sight of a maths textbook at my feet. I picked it up, assuming it was hers. I looked in the front cover and read the name printed neatly in the top left corner:
"Allison Darcy." I quietly read to myself.
I carefully tucked it into my bag and entered my now busy form room, taking my usual seat next to James and Mike. I greeted them and joined in with their jokey conversation but I was semi distracted.
Allison Darcy, I thought… I need to return your book.
Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed Please feel free to review, positive or advice for my writing, or even ideas of where you want this story to go!
