The morning that classes began was one of the most stressful mornings of my life. Although I had the boys and Erin to hang out with, unfortunately none of them took the same classes as me. We all sat in the coffee shop in the crisp early morning, my head swimming with the thought of meeting hundreds of new people.
“You okay baby girl?” Ash questioned, placing his hand firmly on my denim covered thigh and squeezing gently. His name for me always gave me goosebumps. I don’t know why; I just had never had someone like me enough to call me something that sweet.
“Yeah, just stressed” I smiled at him, his dimples soon appearing and easing my pounding heart. Rubbing small circles on my thigh with his thumb, he kissed my cheek lightly. “You’ll be fine, honestly. How could anyone not like you?” I laughed at his cheesy comment, turning back to the group’s conversation as Ashton laced his fingers in between my own.
“Fuck me, I’ve got science first period,” grumbled Luke, “I hate science.”
Erin laughed her girly giggle, checking her timetable and sipping her chai latte. “Me too babe, we can sit together,” She squealed. “What do you have, Meg?”
“Uhm, English” I grimaced, rolling my eyes. As the rest of the boys checked their timetables once more, just to confirm they didn’t have class with me, the bell for first period rang loud and clear through the little café. I sighed loudly, grabbing my bag from the floor and throwing my empty coffee cup into the bin. As our group stood up, their chatter increasing as they left the building, Ashton pulled me by my hips into a well needed hug.
“It’s okay baby, you’re gonna be fine, I promise.” He soothed. His long, calloused fingers ran down my arms as he looked at me, pulling his lip between his teeth momentarily.
“I know,” I sighed, “I’m just nervous.”
He smiled his sympathetic half grin and laced his fingers between mine, squeezing my hand lightly.
“I’ve got to go babe, ill text you later. You’ll be fine.” Pressing his soft lips against mine for less than a second, Ashton turned on his heels and began walking to his first period.
When I entered the classroom, it was nearly empty. A few boys sat at the back, chatting and laughing loudly, and a girl with bleached blonde hair sat in the far corner, applying lip gloss and pouting into a compact mirror. With a shudder, I picked my seat in an empty row, and set out my books and pencil case. Slowly but surely, more and more students started filing in.
I skimmed over my textbook to pass the time, the classroom filling with the sound of chatter from students who had not seen each other since the last academic year. People gossiped about their adventures over the break, talking of parties and summer flings and who was dating who.
The loud screech of the chair next to mine being moved was what drew my head from my textbook. Glancing up quickly, I met the eyes of a tall boy. His sandy brown hair flopped into his eyes, and his nose was adorned with a septum ring. He smiled at me, breaking the ice, as he sat down. “Hey, I’m Logan.”
