noted → calum hood | #Wattys2015

eight

Melanie woke up that morning around six, and arrived to school about a quarter till eight.

Nervous wasn't the right word to describe how she felt; anxious? Terrified? She didn't know, but she did know that a certain Calum Hood was the cause of it.

When she walked into the high school it felt like the first day of freshman year all over again, and not as if she had just been there yesterday. Her stomach was practically in her throat and all she really wanted to do was hide in the bathroom all day. She counted her steps as she made her way toward the media center, where juniors and seniors were to pick up their schedules.

Mrs. Reed had been in put charge of directing the students where to go based on their last names. She was an elderly woman of a petite size, and a memory that was not what it was when Melanie took her English class in freshman year. Mrs. Reed had always been one of Melanie's favorite teachers, and when she retired to become a substitute teacher rather than full-time, Mel was happy. Even though the grey-haired woman didn't remember Melanie, she smiled at her. "Juniors to the right, seniors on the left. Get in line based on your last name." Melanie just nodded, not bothering to return the smile because of the bundle of butterflies forming in her stomach.

The two minutes she waited felt more like two eternities.

"Last name?" She didn't recognize the teacher talking to her, but figured that he was one of the new teachers that had been hired at the beginning of the school year.

"Craig."

"Melanie?" She nodded as he handed her a pastel green piece of paper with her schedule printed onto it. "Have a good day!"

Melanie was pleased to see that her homeroom class was Art 2. Having taken the prerequisite course in her sophomore year, she hasn't been allowed to take the classes back-to-back, and could only hope that the year-long wait would be worth it.

She walked down the long hallway that led to the art studio; she sat at a table in the center of the room, picking up the class syllabus on her way.

She sat quietly as she watched various students walk in, one in particular catching her eye. "Can I sit next to you?"

Melanie smiled at the boy next to her, Michael. "Sure!" He dropped his backpack on the floor next to his seat and sat down quickly.

"Have you seen Calum yet? I know Ash's got Music Theory with Luke, but they haven't seen him either."

Melanie shook her head to Michael's question. "No, which sucks because I was really looking forward to meeting him."

"He really wanted to meet you too; God, he wouldn't shut up about it. 'Look what Melanie wrote!', 'I wish I had a class with her,'" Michael scoffed. "He's crazy about you."

"No pressure there..." Melanie giggled as the art teacher, Miss Beck, closed the door and walked to the front of the class.

"Did everyone pick up a syllabus?" She waved one around in her hand. "Yes, no, maybe? Make sure you did. We're not going over it because you all had Art 1 with me before, so I assume that you know the rules of this class, right?"

Michael wasn't paying close attention, but rather was doodling on the blank edges of the syllabus. "Instead, I want you guys to get a headstart on your first project. Decide on a medium you want to improve on and that will be your primary focus for the year. On the syllabus there are ideas for projects if you cannot come up with any, but I would rather you all were very imaginative and creative with your pieces this semester."

A loud knock at the door caught Miss Beck's attention. "You're late."

A boy handed her a purple tardy slip, and followed Miss Beck into the room. Melanie couldn't make out who it was due to him facing away from her. Michael began tapping on the desk, catching the boy's attention and causing him to turn around to look at Michael.

He didn't quite get to tell Michael to be quiet, because Melanie caught his gaze.

And in all honesty, Calum wasn't exactly expecting to have art class with Melanie.

Not that he was complaining, of course.