Those Three Little Words

Chapter One: Zander

 

My eyes darted from one end of the classroom to the other.My heart skipped a beat as the teacher announced my name to the entire class.The teacher-our homeroom teacher,Miss Stewart turned to me, a smile flitting on her face. I gulped. It was time I introduced myself to the class. Everyone’s gaze were fixed on me as I looked at them, my fingers trembling. I wasn’t good with interacting with a person, talk about a whole class.

 

“I-erh-I am Heather G-Grace,”I spoke in a soft voice, my head hung down. I bet no one could hear me but a voice came from the back of the room which made me raise my head. My gaze landed on a guy,his hair itself was a hazel brown , each thread falling perfectly, weaving together into curls that framed his tanned face. When I met his penetrating deep blue eyes, I was speechless. His eyes were so gorgeous. I quickly averted my gaze to  his arm, his strong forearm disappearing into the sleeve of his hoodie, pushed up to below his elbow to free his hands. He smiled and waved at me, making my stomach do a major back flip.

 

“Heather, you may take a sit beside Zander,” Miss Stewart gestured to an open seat beside that pretty boy. I swallowed. That’s my seat? Oh sweet jesus his name was Zander. When I glanced at him, he was running his fingers through his hair and his cheeks were flushed. I slowly made my way there, butterflies going crazy in my stomach. When I sat down and opened my bag, all I saw were my packed lunch and a teddy bear. Holy macaroons. Hunter-my younger brother must have played a prank on me knowing it was my first day at school. I cursed under my breath, zipping my bag up. I sighed. Noticing my discomfort, Zander tapped my shoulder which scared the hell out of me. I jerked around, almost falling out of my seat and asked, “Y-yeah?”

 

He stifled a laugh and said in a tone which made my heart flutter, “You okay?”

 

I tightened my grip on my bag and managed to nod my head slightly. He raised his brows and gave me a haha-if-you-say-so smile. I bit my lower lip to stop myself from smiling too. His smile, so contagious.. Just then Miss Stewart walked towards me and stopped at my seat. She asked if I had my textbooks with me and I,now embarrassed, shook my head. Zander used the back of his hand to cover his mouth, as if to stop himself from laughing. I froze. I could feel the heat rising into my cheeks. Miss Stewart smiled and told me to share textbooks with Zander for the day. I stared at her, my eyes widening with shock. A day? With Zander? I glanced at him, realising that he was looking at me with his electric blue eyes. His lips were tucked into a heart-warming smile. I moved my table to join his and sat beside him reluctantly. I felt like I might melt there and then, being so close to him, just oh my god. Zander set his doggy-eared textbook in the middle of our desks.I stared at it, trying my best to ignore his presence. My fingers entwined with each other. I was supposed to be jotting down notes but I just couldn't bring myself to. I took a glimpse at him and realised how attentive he was.He paused for a moment, tapping his pen quietly on the desk before he began scribbling down notes.His fingers were long but strong looking, his fingernails pink and smooth, with half moons near the cuticles.

Zander leaned closer to me, so close that I could feel his breath. I held my breath and closed my eyes slowly. Then, he whispered something in my ears, “You really should be writing down notes, you know.”  For that moment I thought I was really going faint but he just ended up reminding me to write my notes. I took out my favourite ball pen and my notepad and stared blankly at the whiteboard. I knew I was supposed to write down notes but nothing came to my mind. I just sat there, my mind blank. Each second was passing ridiculously slowly. I hoped lunch time would arrive sooner but it seemed to be ages. The silence between us was killing me. I decided I should take the initiative to start a chat. Just as I was clearing my throat, the bell rang. YAS. It was finally lunch break. I made my way down to the cafeteria by myself as many students were laughing and chatting in their own tiny group. I sighed as I sat down and ate my packed lunch alone. I was deep in thoughts, thinking about Zander when someone sat down in front of me. I raised my head and looked up and was surprised to see Zander. I choked on my mac and cheese and hurriedly gulped down water from my bottle. He laughed. His voice was...sexy. I furrowed my brows and muttered under my breath, clearly embarrassed, “D-don’t appear in front o-of people like that,”