The Right Mistake

Just Ellie

My name is Ellie Daniels. There's not much to know about me. My name is not only my title, it's also my description. I'm just Ellie. Plain old Ellie.

"Welcome to Blue Trails," Mr. Sanders, the principal, tells me. "It's not often we get transfers this late in the year," he takes a sip of water out of a stained drinking glass. God, he's really sweaty. I don't say anything, so mom steps in for me.
"Yes," she smiles at him politely. "We just thought homeschooling wasn't working out for Ellie anymore. She needs to socialize more, in my opinion." Mr. Sanders nods.
"I agree. A 16 year old girl needs to be around people her age." He takes a glance at his wristwatch. "Well, look at the time! We better get you off to your first class." He stands up, and mom looks at me, tears in her eyes.
"Oh, Ellie." She sighs and pulls me into a hug. I do not hug her back. "I'm going to miss you, honey," she pulls back and smiles sadly. Her short blond hair which is usually smooth is mussed up now, and I know she won't be happy when she finds out. Mom is a neat freak. I feel a pang of sympathy as I leave her in the cramped office with Mr. Sanders. After dad died, she's always looked a bit lonely. But now that I'm leaving her...
"I have your schedule here," Mr. sanders interrupts my thoughts. He digs around in his pocket and pulls out a crumpled piece of paper and hands it to me. "Sorry about that," he apologizes. I shrug and keep walking. We turn out of the hallway and then suddenly I am surrounded by students who all seem really tall. The crowd is thick, and Mr. Sanders starts to push everyone aside.
"New student coming through," he yells. Suddenly, all eyes are on me. I feel my cheeks flush and I duck my head in embarrassment. I hate being noticed. People start talking in hushed tones, glancing at me and then back to their friends. Or is it my imagination? I don't know. I just want to get out of here. I dig my fingernails into my palm, a bad habit that I've struggled to break for ages. I have scars all over my hands from that. "Here we are," Mr. Sanders stops in front of a door with a plaque on it that says "Mr. Dennis" on it. "I made sure we got here early so you can meet your teacher before everyone else gets here." I don't say anything and Mr. Sanders looks confused. "You don't talk much, do you?" I nod shyly. "Well, that's fine. I'm sure you'll warm up sooner or later." He opens the door for me. "See you later, Ellie. Have a good day!" He waves and then slips away into the sea of kids. I take a deep breath and step into the large classroom where roughly 25 desks are laid out in neat rows. I notice The office desk where the teacher sits is empty. That's weird... Mr. Sanders said he was in here. At the front of the room is a guy reading a book, but he looks much too young to be a teacher. A student, I assume. I don't like to talk, but I do need to find Mr. Dennis.
"Excuse me," I say softly. "Do you know where mr. Dennis is?" The student looks up and laughs.
"You're looking at him!" It takes me a second to figure it out and I blush, embarrassed. He looks so young!
"Oh, um, sorry," I say, looking at my feet.
"It's fine," he smiles at me, studying my face. It's almost like something clicks into place in my mind, the way he's looking at me. He's making me feel really weird. "You're Ellie, I assume?"
"Yeah," I whisper. I look up and meet his gaze. His eyes are a shocking emerald green, I've never seen eyes like his before. I look away quickly, as if they burnt me. Aaak! What's happening to me?
"Well, I'll be your science teacher for the rest of the year." He says, looking away from me at last. I take a breath, trying to relax. He is absolutely gorgeous. His face is so angular, so perfect. Wow, I sound like a stereotypical white girl, but I know I'm not one because I've never been around one before. "Do you have any seating preferences?"
"No, I was homeschooled until now."
"Oh? What was that like for you?" He looks at me again, and the room starts to feel like its enclosing around us.
"Uh, it was okay, I guess." I had never really thought about how I liked being homeschooled.
"I see." he flashed a dazzling smile. "I was homeschooled until I was 15, but that was 5 years ago." That would make him 20, but aren't 20 year olds supposed to be out partying all the time? Why Is he teaching? We were silent for a moment, then he points at a lone desk at the back of the room. "Do you want to sit there?" I shrug.
"Doesn't matter." I mumble. I hitch my bag up on my shoulder and walk over to the desk, but I can't help but feel Mr. Dennis's eyes following me across the room. Do I look funny or something? I notice Students are starting to enter the classroom, and I quickly take my seat and pretend to be very interested in my hands, picking and my nail polish. A few of the kids look at me but don't bother to introduce themselves. I don't mind, I'm not really someone people want to be friends with. I'm not pretty either. My eyes are too big and I have too many freckles. I avoid mirrors at all costs to keep myself from feeling bad about how I look. Once every seat is filled, mr. Dennis clears his throat to get everyone's attention and a silence falls over the room. "I hope that everyone here had a great winter break," he says, looking at me. Suddenly, it's hard to breath. "I'm sure you've noticed we've got a new student," everyone shifts in their seats to look at me. "This is Ellie...?" He paused.
"Daniels," I say, barely audible.
"Ellie Daniels." he smiles warmly at me. "I hope you will make her feel welcome here at blue trails, okay?" A handful of students nod absentmindedly. "awesome." He says clapping his hands once. "Okay! Let's get started!"

At the end of class, Mr. Dennis approaches me, smiling. "Was my teaching good enough for you?" I blush and nod. "Good." he chuckles.
"I should go..." I say, fiddling with my backpack strap. I'm already running late for my next class.
"Before you go," Mr. Dennis says. "I was thinking you could stay after to school so I can get a sense of where you are in the curriculum. Is that okay?" My heart starts to beat faster.
"Yeah, sure." Mr. Dennis gives me a thumbs up, and I rush out the room, not sure how to feel about the situation. Do teachers always treat their students like this? Cause it sure felt like he was flirting with me.
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Hey! So this is really exciting. I think I'm going to try to make this the first story that I've ever completed on wattpad. I'd also like if you guys would leave suggestions that I could incorporate into this story? Maybe even some tips? I hope you like it! 😄