Magic Love (A Cethany Fanfiction)

Chapter 3 - New Friends?

I don't want to believe it. I really don't. This could mean anything. It could be the start of a great beginning or it could be where everything starts falling apart.

Maybe it'll only last for a couple hours. How could this even be possible, anyway?

The bell rings loudly, and I walk quickly out of the classroom. And then the voices enter my head like a tornado.

Does my breath smell?

My parents are gonna kill me for getting an F.

I wonder if Brad will want to meet up at his apartment later. I've been dying for some love.

I roll my eyes at the last one and suddenly the voices stop. I look around. Nothing seems different. Then I realize I'm holding my breath. I let it out and the voices are back.

It stops when I'm not breathing. I guess that makes sense.

I'm so focused on this new experience that I don't look where I'm going. But then again, neither is the person I crash into.

I look up and find Connor.

"Oh," I say. "Hi. Connor, right?"

He smiles. "Yeah. I never got your name, actually."

"Right," I say, smiling back. "It's Bethany. Beth, for short."

"Beth. Of course. I haven't seen you here before."

"I, uh, used to be homeschooled," I say, suddenly conscious of my lack of high school experience.

"That's cool. I used to be homeschooled, too. My life was kinda chaotic for the past few years. It's weird, you probably won't care." He runs a hand through his hair and glances to his left, at a clock. "Sorry, I have to go. Can't be late to another class." He seems genuinely upset that he has to go. He looks at me a little longer, which makes me slightly nervous, and walks away before I have a chance to tell him that I probably do care.

I give him a small wave and look at my schedule. English. Great.

Fourth period is French class. I sit in a desk beside a dark haired girl with bright red lipstick.

She must be new, she thinks.

After a few seconds, she turns to me. "Hi. Do you speak French?"

I look at her and smile sheepishly. "No, I'm just taking this class so I can have a foreign language credit."

Her eyes sparkle. "I don't know a word of French. Just today I learned that oui isn't spelled w-e-e."

I laugh. "I'm Beth."

"Livia."

A boy walks through the door then, carrying a lot of books and wearing the kind of hipster glasses that only people who really care about their appearance wear. He would look really nerdy if it wasnn't for his muscles and tight tshirt. Livia waves at him to sit with her. He sits in the seat in front of me.

"What in the world are all those books for?" Livia asks him.

He sighs. "If I don't ace this class, my mom is going to ship me to Canada," he grumbles.

"Canada isn't bad," Livia says. "They have maple syrup."

He laughs reluctantly. "Who's the girl?"

She's pretty. I hope she's nice.

I don't realize he's talking about me until Livia says my name.

"Her name's Beth. New girl."

He smiles at me under his glasses. "Hi. I'm Valentine. President of The Club of Kids who Desire an Actual Name. Call me Val."

I smile. "Is that an actual club?"

"Doesn't concern you unless your name is a holiday."

"My middle name is Noel," I say, laughing. "Does that count?"

He laughs. "Sure. Welcome to the club."