-Anastasia's POV-
Mom had made toast. Toast used to be my favorite thing to eat, and she knew that. I could smell the jam as she lathered it on thick. She tried to make me happy. She tried to make everything seem okay. It broke her heart when she realized I wasn't okay.
I let out a sigh and grabbed my bag. I eased down the stairs trying to think of a way to tell her I wasn't hungry. I was never hungry. When I got to the bottom of the stairs she was looking at me smiling and holding a plate of toast. "I made your favorite!" I could hear the excitement in her voice. "I... I'm not..." I started. I could see her emotions change in her eyes. I did it again. Mentally punching myself for being such a bitch I tried to recover. "I have to go, mom. Can you throw a couple pieces in a bag so I can take it with me?" I shot her a fake smile. I had mastered my fake smile by now. The excitement found its way back into her eyes and she carefully placed three pieces into a plastic bag with flowers and butterflies on it. I grabbed the bag and wrapped her in a hug. She squeezed me tightly and whispered "I love you so much, darling." In my ear. She had tears in her eyes as she pulled away. "Have a good day.. Do you want me to pick you up after school?" She asked sincerely. "No thanks. I may go to the mall with Aubry. You should go out and have fun while I'm gone. It's not healthy to stay cooped up and worry so much. Everything alright. Okay?" "Okay." She replied, smiling through the obvious tears in her eyes. I kissed her on the cheek and left in a hurry.
I was only standing at the bus stop for about 5 minutes before the yellow thing came screeching down the road. I was beginning to shake. I hated this bus and the people on it. I took a deep breath and began climbing the steps.
It was the same old same old. Everyone sat in the seats they've been sitting in since grade school. Divided into sections by their "type." Populars in the back. Normals in the middle. And people like me in the front. I didn't even belong in that category. I was in the very front. I've always had a seat to myself for as long as I can remember. No one wanted to sit by freak. Today, though, something was different. There was a guy in my seat.
I could tell he was new. He had this innocence that surrounded him like a bubble. He had dark brown hair, nearly black, thrown across his face. He had eyelashes similar to mine. Thick and long. He was sort of tan and honestly, quite attractive. What was he doing sitting up here?
"Uh... Excuse me.." I said politely. He glanced up and pulled his earbuds out. Smiling, he said "oh hi.. Am I in your seat?" God, that boy had a beautiful smile. His eyes were a mixture of light blue and darkish green with a golden ring around his pupil. A subtle shine caught my eye when the light hit him. The source was his left ear, which was pierced with a medium sized diamond earring. He pulled it off surprisingly well. I didn't realize how long I had been staring until he cleared his throat. I snapped out of my daze and said "uh.. Y-yeah.. well. Kind of.." Damnit. I stuttered.
"Sit down, Ms. Rose." My bus driver said, annoyed. I quickly glanced at the boy. He patted the seat beside him and gave a goofy smile. I kind of giggled and sat down, blushing a bit. I looked down at my lap and began fidgeting with the edge of my sweater. Glancing over I noticed he was wearing a long sleeved flannel shirt and AE jeans. Man, they looked really good on him, too.
I could feel him looking at me. I glanced over and immediately caught his gaze. He still had that goofy grin. I could feel my cheeks burning. "Why're you staring at me?" I asked quietly. "Because you're beautiful." He replied, not attempting to hide his voice at all.
I heard some of the girls behind us scoff and make disgusted noises. They pretended to whisper "poor guy. I guess he's blind." Just loud enough so I could hear them. The jocks all began laughing. "Good one, bro!" They would yell. This whole time I was unable to speak. I just looked at him, dumbfounded. At first I was flattered, then I realized they were all right. He just thought it was funny. "Look," I said, feeling sort of angry, "I don't know what you're trying to achieve. You can't break me. I'm already broken. So save your breath. Your jokes not funny."
By this time, the bus was stopped. I jumped up and hurried off, disappearing in the crowd. I looked around for Aubry. When I didn't immediately see her, I just decided to get a head start. I went by the office and picked up my schedule and headed straight for my homeroom.
"Hello there, ms....?" "Anastasia. But you can call me Ana if you want. Or Rose, which is my last name" "ah, Hello, Ms. Rose." Said a man who appeared to be around 25. "I am your geometry teacher, Mr. White." The irony of his name made me internally chuckle. He was a tall, dark colored man. He was bald and you could tell he shined his head every morning. He wasn't exactly fat, he was just thick. I assumed he also worked out quite a bit. He wore a dark purple button up with a black tie tucked into black slacks. He looked very precessional.
"Here. You can begin working these problems I have here on the board. They are not for a grade, just to see what you know." He said, pointing towards the problems he has sloppily written. I pulled out a sheet of paper and a mint colored pen.
I got bored on the first problem and decided to wait until everyone else got here to actually begin working. I slipped back into my thoughts for a while.
-Dane's POV-
I was shocked. I didn't know what had happened. I didn't mean to offend her. I just thought she should know she was beautiful, because, God, she is beautiful. I need to fix this. I need to talk to her.
"Dane?" I was snapped back to reality. "Uh.. Yes?" I said confused. "Here's your schedule." Oh. Of course. "Uh. Thanks." I said to the lady behind the desk. I looked it over and began making my way to homeroom.
-Anastasia's POV-
I hadn't realized I had completely zoned out until someone else entered the room. I could hear a conversation in the background interrupting my thoughts. I glanced up and saw him. The guy from the bus. He was looking at me, too, nodding at the teacher pretending to be paying attention to what he was saying. Why is he staring at me? Is there something on my face? I self consciously looked down and started wiping at my face.
Everyone else began flooding into the room. I sat in the back corner, and of course, the new mystery guy occupied the seat directly beside me. "Hi." He said, smiling. I felt my stomach knot up. Why? "Oh.. Hi.." I replied sheepishly. Aren't I supposed to be mad at him for trying to humiliate me? Why am I talking to him? I quickly looked down at my notebook pretending to be interested in the problems. "I just want to talk about earlier." He said, still looking at me. "I don't." I replied in a slightly annoyed tone. "I think you misunderstood the situation based on other people's reactions. I would love to take you to coffee and try again in a more private place." My eyes shot up, trying to determine if he was being sincere or if this was another attempt at humiliation. When I couldn't find anything suggesting deception, I quickly made a decision. "Okay." I said, sort of shocked. He smiled a big smile that could melt your heart. I smiled, too, feeling a whole cage of butterflies being released in my tummy.
