Hidden Hearts | short story

ONE: FIRST DAY MAGIC

ONE: FIRST DAY MAGIC

There was a clacking of shoe heels against the school floors as it drew nearer and nearer. I drew closer to the bulletin board. I halted, looked up and tried to search for my name before I finally saw it. My name fell under the writing club with many other names I didn't really recognized.

My lips pulled up in a small smile. I wasn't sure why, but I was actually excited to join this club. Last year, I was part of the first aid club. It sounded interesting at first but the longer I stayed there, the more I realized it was like a Biology lecture with a bunch of freshmen and seniors. We learned how to put on bandage in one class but that was it. The rest of it was simply lectures given by the teacher in charge.

This year, it would be different. I was a senior now so I couldn't let this go to waste. Writing has always been my escape from reality and even if I wasn't very good at it, I wanted to at least join this club to see how far I could achieve.

"Where's my name?" That was when those clacking of heels stopped and a bunch of other guys crowded around the bulletin board as well. There was this one guy who was eagerly searching for his name, his fingers moving across paper to paper. Eventually, he closed in on the space between us and he stood right next to me. The air around me suddenly felt thin and I tried to stay calm or I would seem awkward again. "Aha! Here it is!"

His friends were pointing at different clubs than his, however, and he seemed to be the only one from the group who was part of the club he was pointing at. His friends seemed to be part of a sport club.

I knew who he was and his friends. They were in my class but I never really talked to them unless I was asking for the page of a homework or the answer of a question I didn't understand.

The one standing next to me was named Sean Ryan. He wasn't just another senior or a classmate. In fact, he was the top of our class-in our year, even. He wasn't your typical nerds who only studied. He was an extrovert and had many friends from different social groups-if things like that really existed in high school.

Sean noticed me eventually and asked me, "You're in this club too, aren't you?"

Smiling, I simply nodded. We never talked much, but we did chat often. That was as far as our friendship could go.

"Cool!" Sean smiled widely. "See you in our club meetings, Lily!"

"Yeah," I replied, awkwardness seeping out from every inch of my body, "see you."

With another friendly smile, Sean left with his friends, chattering loudly as they disappeared down the hallway.

I stood there still, scanning the names of the writing club before I finally left.

It was always the first day, wasn't it? Mentioned in novels and movies, the first day always had an eventful phenomenon that will change what your life would be like. It didn't even have to be dramatic or grand. A small little change-a play on fate-and your entire story will simply turn out differently.

+ + +

The first club meeting was scheduled later in the afternoon, after school was done for the day. I was tempted to skip it because I was exhausted from the first day but I decided to just attend anyway. What was the point of joining this if I wasn't going to commit myself to it?

There were a lot of people I didn't recognized and I only wished my friend was with me. But they decided to join netball instead so I was stuck alone.

It was a miracle when I recognized a girl from my class standing near me. I was close with her to a certain point so I decided to stick near her for majority of the time.