What Once was Safe

Chapter 2

Gold filled my view. I found it hard to look away.

Mrs. Hass cleared her throat, bringing me back to reality. I was staring into the eyes of a stranger, and it felt so natural. I quickly turned around in my seat, facing my desk, feeling my face heat up. I silently prayed that this girl would only be in this class and as far away from me as possible. "What's your name?" I risked peeking up at the teacher to see that she was looking at this girl with wide eyes.

"Valerie Vipond, but I go by Val."

The teachers briefly looked like she was in a daze before shaking herself out of it. "Do you happen to have a mother with the same name that went here?"

".....yes?" The stranger-Valerie- said hesitantly.

The teacher suddenly broke out into a large grin. "Oh my gosh, I was friends with her! Does everyone tell you that you look exactly like your mother?" She said cheerily.

"Nadine?!" Valerie said in shock, causing me and the teacher to be a little shocked. "I'm sorry, it's just that my mother mentions you a lot and I never thought I'd actually get to meet you. Apparently, you were her best friend." Mrs. Hass beamed. "And yeah, sometimes people say I look like my mother, but her hair is lighter in color and is a little shorter."

"And your eyes are a little different, they're really pretty." Val smiled and nodded, accepting the compliment. "Okay then." Mrs. Hass said with new enthusiasm in her voice, "You sit here, Val." She pointed to the seat right next to me to my right. Just my luck.

"Alright, thank you!" I heard the chair sliding next to me, and I assumed she was sitting down, and by the feeling of a burning stare I felt, she hadn't moved her beautiful golden eyes from me. And anyone would admit that her eyes were beautiful, they looked like liquid gold. What was I thinking? Here I was, sitting quietly while being victim to somebody's eyes, and I wasn't completely freaking out over it.

I heard Mrs. Hass talking to the line of students that had gathered by the door, getting through them one by one, but I couldn't care less. I allowed myself to use my peripheral vision to try to get a better look at Valerie, but when I did, I found my eyes being drawn completely to her and it was hard to look away, she was so mesmerizing. She was the definition of beautiful, her hair looked like a waterfall of chocolate, her face could be compared to one of a goddess, and I shouldn't even get started on those eyes. I realized that I was now looking at her directly, making eye contact once again. Blushing, I quickly looked away, and tried to focus on Mrs. Hass, who had gotten through the line of students (most of the desks were now filled) and was now walking towards the front of the classroom.

"Hello, first period! I am Mrs. Hass, your math teacher." She looked around the room, trying to meet everyone's eye. "Now, since it's our first day, we will all introduce ourselves and after we'll do an icebreaker." Ugh, icebreakers were the worst. "Why don't we start with you, Simon?"

Some annoying-looking kid stood up at the desk in the right corner of the front of the classroom. "Hello, I am Simon Bogdanović, and..."

I stopped paying attention at that moment. I would have to talk to the class? Didn't I tell the teacher that I had social anxiety? I started to panic, my stomach feeling like there was a bottomless hole underneath it. My breathing became short and irregular, but I tried to be quiet and normal. I didn't want people thinking bad things about me. My chest started to hurt as I saw that Simon was finishing up and letting the next person speak. I could already feel someone's eyes on me, but when I quickly glancing to the side I saw it was just Valerie from before, but it only made me panic more.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped a little and quickly turned to see that it was just the teacher. I turned red at my little freak out, hoping no one else except for the teacher  saw that, who am I kidding, Val must have seen that too. Val? Since when did I start thinking about her name shortened? . "I know that you are uncomfortable speaking in front of people, but do you think you can? Because if not, we can just skip you." And let me stand out and everyone think of me as a privileged person, which will eventually lead to negative thought? Absolutely not, even if I die from panic.

"I can speak in front of the class for a second." I forced out.

Mrs. Hass smiled. "Great! Then when it's your turn, just stand up and say whatever you want to be called, maybe say an interesting fact about yourself, if you can, then go ahead and sit back down." She then walked away to the front of the class, leaving me to panic all by myself. Why would I agree to that?

"Hey," I startlingly turned to face Valerie, whose eyes rarely left me. "Are you alright?" I noticed her eyes drop down to my hand, which was shaking. I tried to make it stop, but I only succeeded in making it shake less. I looked at her and her captivating eyes before nodding. She gave a small smile. "It's almost your turn." She said, pointing to a kid two seats down, who was now standing up and talking.

"Thank you." I muttered quietly, hoping she heard and would start ignoring me so I wouldn't have to talk again. Then the person next to me sat down.

And it was my turn.

I put my shaking hands on the table before forcing myself to stand up. I was determined not to become that kid, because then everyone would know and pay more attention to me, and notice me more and catch all of my mistakes. "I'm Xavior." I spoke as confidently as I could, which sounded alright. It was just one class. I couldn't bear standing up any more, so I quickly sat down, unable to think of or say one fact about myself. But it was done. I did it, but all I felt was fear. What did people think of that?

Valerie stood up, finally taking her eyes off of me, and I looked at her, paying full attention. Who was this stranger? I had never seen her in the school before, and anyone would remember a face like that. I quickly glanced around and saw pretty much the whole class looking at her intently, waiting for her to speak. "Hello, I am Val." She spoke with so much confidence and so swiftly, her voice was almost musical. I automatically knew that no one would remember me and my little speech because she was after me, and I felt comfort in that. Then her eyes went to me again, and I could feel a lot more than one persons eyes on me. I looked around again and saw over half the class, mostly guys, staring at me with what looked like anger, as if Valerie had put them in a sort of trance, making this somewhat normal high school feel like one from a movie with everyone crushing on the pretty girl. I began panicking again. This was terrible! My eyes looked up to Val with urgency, and she lifted her gaze off of me immediately, looking back out at the class. "And a fact about me is that I have an older brother." Well that was more boring and normal than expected.

Based on everyone's faces, they all felt the same.