Nowhere Girl

A New Beginning

Author's Note: I have changed my main character's name from Syra to Nora, and this is what she will be referred to throughout the story now. Sorry for the confusion!

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Nora hated Mondays.

She yawned, closing her eyes for the briefest of seconds and resting her head against the corridor wall. They were standing outside her chemistry class, waiting for it to begin. Celeste stood by her, her arms crossed. Nora would have preferred Ash's company instead- but she had Spanish when Nora was in chemistry. Now that her anger at her friends had subsided, she had so many burning questions for her best friend- the first being about Hassan Al Jibari.

"Tired?" Celeste asked, raising her eyebrows in question.

"I'm having a bad day." Nora explained.

"Nora, it's seven am in the morning."

"My point exactly."

Celeste laughed, then glanced at her watch- an intricate, sophisticated thing that screamed I'm rich about as loudly as a loudspeaker would. Most people at Queen Mary's wore some sort of emblem of their wealth in that way- anything that restored the individuality that had been robbed from them by the drab monotony of the school uniform. Nora, though, had always been unadorned, save for the pair of mismatched moon and star earrings she always wore.

"I have to get going, but see you at lunch?" Celeste asked, and Nora nodded.

The girl was out of sight in an instant, leaving Nora to her thoughts. So lost was she in them that she hardly noticed herself shuffle forward in the crowd when Ms. Taylor let them in, and everyone took their seats. As usual, she sat down in the middle row as a force of habit. The placement here was perfect- she was not near enough to the teacher to be intimidated by her lecture, nor was she far enough away to be lumped in with the delinquents at the back of the class who spent their chemistry lesson drawing genitalia on the lab table.

She hadn't bothered to make any friends in her class, and no other student had been gracious enough to take that initiative for her. She liked it that way. She worked better alone, removed from the distraction of someone else's idle discourse. And so it surprised her beyond belief when, as she was taking her books out of her bag, someone spoke out.

"Is this seat taken?"

She whipped around, and was met with glinting eyes the colour of warm honey.

Elliot.

"Well?" he waited. Drat. Why did his appearance always manage to unsettle her so? She shook her head, and he dropped his things down and settled in.

"You're in this class?" She frowned, confusion etched on her face. He nodded, opening his notebook. Out of the corner of her eye, Nora noted his handwriting- it was impossible not to. It looked like calligraphy. She brought out her own notebook, angling it towards him as she sifted through the pages. Her handwriting was just as beautiful as his was, and she wanted to make it known. The ruse worked, and it caught his attention- she thought she saw him nod his head minutely, impressed.

"How come I've never noticed you?" she pressed on.

"Because you're blind." he said simply. "And a little conceited. You think you're the only one smart enough to make it to Top Tier* Chemistry? I think not."

"I do not think that." she said, vexed by his implication- mostly because he was correct. Well, partially correct. He hadn't struck her as the type to be very studious. Artistically gifted, yes, but not exactly a genius- he was far, far too good looking for that.