It was just like any other winter day in Australia. I woke up, much too early for my liking, and stumbled around to get ready for school. I felt much more awake after a nice, warm shower. I let my bright red hair drip dry as I frantically searched my room for my uniform. After searching the entire room for the dreaded thing, I finally found it, crumpled in the floor from yesterday. Luckily, it's the last day before our 2 week long winter break, so I could care less if it was clean or not. "Adriana, hurry up! You'll be late again!" my dad yelled from downstairs. My mum left us when I was 11, so it’s just me and dad, taking on the world together. Dad met me at the door with my shoes, and a slice of toast for breakfast. I quickly slid my shoes on, and stumbled out the door, nibbling on the toast as I started to school. Although it was winter, it wasn't particularly cold yet, so the cool breeze felt good as I walked the few blocks to Penola. I've lived in Glenroy all my life, although I've never really fit in. Even when my mum was around, I was the odd kid out. Then, when she left us, things became worse, and I slowly learned to accept my role as an outcast at school. My days were long, and full of silent lunches, and keeping my head down during breaks. Through the years, I'd learned that usually, if you're quiet, the kids leave you alone. As I rounded the corner, I was met with the faces of some of the people that had made my life miserable back when I was still trying to fit in. "Oi, Adriana! You've got a loose shoe lace." Luke Brooks, the leader of the pack, hollered when I appeared around the corner. I ignored his comment, which was probably meant to make me look stupid, and kept walking, telling myself to stop thinking of his warm, chocolate brown eyes, and how utterly attractive he was with his lip ring. I sighed inwardly, as I came to the reality that he'd never acknowledge me for anyone but someone to tease. As I was merely steps away from him and his posse, I tripped over my shoelace, and went sprawling towards the ground. My cheeks instantly began turning a shade of dark crimson as I quickly collected my books from the ground, and re-tied my shoe before running towards the building in embarrassment.
I nearly lunged through the front doors, trying to get away from the embarrassment as quickly as possible. I wasn't used to people actually looking out for me, so I took Luke's comment as a joke; even though I guess it was actually a friendly comment. My cheeks were beginning to fade back to their normal color as I entered my room for maths, and waited through the 10 minutes that remained for class to begin. I fiddled with my pencil as the class slowly began to fill, everywhere but around me. As the bell rang, our teacher, Mr. Matthews, began rambling on about our assignment that would be due when we returned from holiday. I easily tuned her out, drawing doodles of cats in my notebook instead. As I was perfecting the heart shaped nose of my newly drawn feline friend, the classroom door swung wide open, and someone waltzed in, and dropped their bag next to the only empty desk--the one next to mine. "How nice of you to decide join us, Mr. Brooks." the teacher groaned. BROOKS? Oh, no. There's only two Brooks in this school, and I really wasn't in the mood to run into either of them, after the incident this morning. The lesson droned on, and I returned to my doodles. That was, until a note was placed on my desk. I glanced up to make sure Mr. Matthews was occupied, and quickly unfolded the note. It read: "Sorry about earlier. Was just trying to help. -Luke x" I quickly scribbled back, "its fine, I'm clumsy anyway lol. x" and shoved the note back onto Luke's desk. Within seconds, it was back on my desk. "lol you always have been. :) what are you doing over holiday? x" I didn't know how to respond, since mum left, dad and I didn't really do much for holidays. He worked all the time, and I was usually left alone to have movie marathons. "Nm. Dads working all holiday like usual. You? x" I passed the note onto his desk, as he went to grab it. We brushed hands, and I quickly pulled away, my cheeks crimson. I focused on the trees moving in the wind out the window, until the note was back on my desk. "Same, mum and Beau are working and leave Jai and I alone. :( you should come to our party this weekend. x" Why would Luke invite me to his party? Probably so all his friends could make fun of me. "ha, don't think I'd fit in too well. /: thanks though. x" I passed it back right before the bell rang. I shoved everything into my bag, and headed towards the door. “Just think about it?” I heard from beside me. I shrugged in reply. “I wouldn’t want to intrude.” I muttered quietly, staring at my shoes. “Let me make up for this morning? I know I haven’t been the nicest to you, and I want to make up for it.” Luke said, as he pushed the door open for me. “I’ll think about it.” I finally offered, mostly so he’d shut up about it.
