I was amongst the last to walk in, so I had my head down, trying not to look at anyone. It's always embarrasing to be late. But when I noticed the whole class had gone silent, everyone's eyes trained on mine, I stopped and looked up. I met the gaze of a girl, whose line of sight directed me to the reason they were staring. The new teacer stood, seemingly confused, at the front of the classroom. When I turned to look at him, he stared right back at me with the same icy blue eyes.
He was tall, with fair hair. My exact opposite. But those eyes, they stared at me so intently that it felt like he could see right through me. I felt like I knew him, I felt like I knew something. But whatever I felt I knew was suppressing itself from my mind. I broke away from his ages and hurried to my seat, near the back of the class. The girl next to me, Alice, whispered to me; "Is he your brother or something? I mean, your freaky looks turned heads the first time, it's weird to see it again, right?"
"Yeah, um, I don't know who he is, guess it's just a coincidence."
"Yeah, right." She replied bluntly and then turned back to giggling with her friend.
Once this new teacher had gathered his composure, he introduced himself to the class. "I'm Mr Logan, I will be teaching your biology classes until the end of the year, as Mr Temple has unfortunately had to resign rover family matters. I'm only 23, so be kind on me, you're my first proper class! Ok, so where should we start?"
Before shuffling through his papers, he shot me a weary glance that I refused to acknowledge. This has to be a coincidence. There's no other way to explain it.
The rest of the lesson dragged on and on with Mr Logan attempting to explain about myocardial infarction, even though we have already covered it a year ago for GCSE. The second period finally came, and then that seemingly dragged on for eternity as well. The spend the lesson finished, I grabbed my things and rushed to get out of the class. That man, that teacher, there's something about him that makes me so uncomfortable. Even after one lesson I can tell that there's something being hidden, something he's not telling us. Or maybe it's something that I won't tell myself.
"Hey, are you alright? You look kinda pale, like you've seen a ghost!" Sam joked, but I felt like I had seen one.
"Yeah I'm fine." I shook my head, I've got to get this out of my mind, but I can't.
"Hayley?"
"Yeah?"
Sam shook his head, and laughed again. "You really are hard to read, sometimes I just don't get you. Look, we're going down to the cafe, do you wanna come?"
I didn't really know what I wanted, but a distraction sounded like a good idea.
"Yeah, go for it." I muttered back at him.
"Great, we're leaving now. Al and Josie and some other guys they know are coming along. Ready?"
I smiled and nodded and followed him to his wider group of friends. I got some wary looks, but then again I always did.
I followed Sam and the others down the road towards the cafe. It's not like Madison's going to miss me.
"Hey, Hayley? What do you want, tea, coffee?" Al was taking everyone's orders.
"Uh yeah, can I get some coffee please?"
"Sure thing." Al smiled. He was always a smiley and happy kind of guy.
The cafe was a small shop on the corner of Kristen Street. The first thing that hits you as you walk in is the pungent smell of coffee beans. I've always liked coffee, since I was around 13 maybe? It keeps me awake, keeps the nightmares away.
The waiter bounded over, happy and smiley, just like Al. "Here you go, coffee for you, tea for you? Lovely, let me know if you need anything!"
There was a lot of small talk between everyone, but I wasn't really inherent km any of it. One of the worst feelings is being in a crowded room and still feeling alone.
