Corbyn Besson
➵
I stepped out of my car, letting the door shut behind me. My eyes were on the building stretched out in front of me, the shrubs and grass out front kept up nicely for the first day of school.
After taking a deep breath, I followed a group of students through a set of double doors that I assumed was the front entrance.
Transferring to a new school my senior year was not ideal, but in reality, it didn't bother me that much. My mom's job moved us- her, my two younger brothers, and myself- all over the country, often. We were rarely in the same area for over a year, so I had never truly settled down anywhere. I made friends, but not lifelong ones. When I left town, it was difficult to keep in touch.
Dodging a boy who looked young enough to be a freshman, shoving his way through the crowd, I made my way to my first class: AP Calculus.
Even though I was alright with being a sort of outcast, one to hide in the shadows, I held on to the hope that I would meet someone I could share my last year of high school with. Someone to talk to, hang out with.
We'll see, I thought to myself as I slid into one of the desks in the back of the math classroom, right as the bell signaling the beginning of the school day rang dully overhead.
***
I tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear as I walked into the Advanced Biology classroom.
Despite my hopes, I hadn't met anyone that I had clicked with instantly. It was the last period of the day, but I was not discouraged. I had not doubt I would find people to hang out with eventually, it was just an unnecessary comfort I liked to have.
Similar to how I had done throughout the rest of the day, I sat near the back of the classroom.
The bell rang, class began. The teacher, Ms. Fraser, introduced herself and walked through the itinerary for the first semester.
After about half an hour, she passed out a lab worksheet that was to be completed with a partner. Since it was Advanced Bio, the class was expected to understand the basics already, the reasoning behind starting work on the first day.
Ms. Fraser walked down the aisles slowly, talking to her students more than she was actually passing papers out. I liked her right away, seeing that she was concerned about the lives of those around her, not only about giving them work.
As she reached the back of the room, her eyes flicked from me to the boy who was sitting nearby.
"Corbyn, right?" she asked him, moving the stack of papers cradled in her arm around to glance at her roll sheet.
"Yes, ma'am," he said.
"How about you and- (y/n), is it?- (y/n) work together. Is that alright?"
"Yeah, that's fine," he said as she handed him a paper. There was no hint of irritation or unwillingness in his voice, just kindness, and he hadn't even looked at me yet.
Ms. Fraser set a page on my desk before walking away.
Corbyn turned around in his seat to face me. He was smiling.
"Hey, I'm Corbyn."
"(y/n)," I said, "Nice to meet you."
"It's nice to meet you too. Do you want to—" He pointed at the seat next to him and I nodded, moving. When I sat down he continued.
"So, I'm guessing you're new?"
"Yeah, I am. Is it obvious?"
"No," he said, "I just haven't seen you around."
I hummed in response.
"Well, I hate to ask you this typical question, but how's your first day been?" he asked.
I shrugged a little. "Alright. I'm enrolled in a lot of challenging classes, so that's a little daunting, but I was expecting that anyway."
"Yeah, well," he said, messing with his hair for a moment, "you're in Advanced Bio, so I figured you'd be taking hard classes."
I turned my head to look at the room, at all of the posters and projects from past grades hanging on the walls.
"I love science and math; that's why I'm in here," I said.
"Really?" he said. His eyes were bright with eagerness. "I do too. Favorite subjects."
I smiled a little. There was a pause before he spoke up again.
"Well, (y/n), if you ever need help with anything, a tour or somebody to hang out with until you get your feet under you- or afterwards- I'd be glad to be that person."
There was a gentleness about him that was extremely attractive. I found myself wanting to be with him more, even though I met him just minutes before.
"Thank you so much," I said, tugging at one of my sweatshirt sleeves. "You're actually the first person who's offered to help me today."
"Really?" He sounded surprised. He turned his head, shaking it as he wasn't looking at me. "Man, I like this school most of the time, but our welcoming committee really needs to step it up."
I laughed a little.
"It's alright," I assured him. "I'm usually pretty quiet anyway."
He scoffed in a light manner.
"Well, that shouldn't matter. I don't mean to be too upfront, but I find you pretty stunning. I don't see how everyone didn't try to talk to you as soon as you walked in. And you seem very approachable. Nice."
I didn't blush very often, but I felt heat creeping along my cheekbones. I kept up our conversation, hoping that somehow, he wouldn't notice. If he did, he had the graciousness not to mention it.
"I try to be nice," I said.
He let his head fall to the side as he looked at me.
"When are you not?" His tone wasn't judgmental, just curious, authentically wanting to get to know me.
"Let's see... when I'm in traffic, when my favorite coffee shop is somehow out of coffee-" that made him chuckle- "when my younger brothers wake me up on the weekends with the t.v.'s volume all the way up. It's hard to be nice then."
His smile was crinkling the corners of his eyes. I found it oddly adorable.
He was about to respond when Ms. Fraser's voice at the front of the room called our attention.
"Now, I know it's the first day and you all want to talk, but try to get some work done, please."
I glanced around the room at my classmates before turning back to Corbyn.
"At least we weren't the only ones not working," he said lightly. It was as if his smile was in the tone of his voice, all the time.
We began working on the lab after that, but I couldn't help thinking, in the back of my mind, that I had found that person I was hoping for after all.
