This time next year

CHAPTER ONE

New state, new school, new life

First day of year ten in a new high school, nervous as all fuck and I don't know anyone, all my friends went to the high school closest to my primary school and I moved from Melbourne to Sydney so I'm starting fresh and extremely nervous, mum said that I'll be fine but I don't know, leaving my friends has taken a massive toll on my life but I can still contact them, I have their house phone numbers so I'll still be able to talk to them, but all that aside still a bit nervous.

Mum's just dropped me off at my new school Norwest Christian College. Mum is very religious but dad isn't at all, but dad's out of the picture and has been since I was about six so it's always been me and mum. As I walked in through the gates of school being not so nervous anymore I familiarized myself with my surroundings; buildings, concrete, students, and a... "Oh wow! Who's he?" I thought to myself. My eyes just stared for a few seconds then looked away with this boy's appearance still in my mind. I walked towards the main office to start my orientation and see where all my classes are and where my locker is. I walk with the Principal as he shows me around and I walk past a few students that stared at me weirdly like someone just shit on my face, weird way to describe it but oh well deal with it. After I was shown around the school I was taken to my first class and I familiarized myself with the people I introduced myself to a group of girls that seemed nice to hang with so I sat with them during class. A few minutes went by and I heard the classroom door open and I was shocked, the boy that I saw when I walked into school was in my class, I didn't know how to react but I knew he didn't see me in the morning so it didn't matter. But what happened next made me nervous, He sat down at my table and I couldn't help but just act shy for some reason, I was pretty confident when I walked into class and sat with the girls but when he sat on the table I got all shy and I didn't look up from my work until one of the girls, Crystal her name is, started to talk to the boy, "Michael, this is Dakota. She just moved here and she's a bit shy" she said, I looked up from my work very slowly, my brown hair fell over my right eye and I didn't bother to move it, "Nice to meet you, Dakota, I'm Michael" the boy said as he stuck out his hand and I politely but shyly shook his hand and introduced myself, "I'm Dakota, sorry if it takes me a while to warm up to you, I for whatever reason get shy around boys, no offence" he giggled, he didn't take any offence to it at all but found it rather amusing, I just giggled with him I also thought that me being shy was a bit silly. After the first two periods, we had our first break but Michael didn't hang out with anyone so I gained the courage and sat next to him. I thought it would be a polite thing to do because he was so friendly to me. "Why are you sitting alone?" I asked "I just enjoy my own company, but it's nice to get some by others as well" I nodded, I understood where he was coming from, "I also enjoy my own company, even though I get lonely sometimes it's nice to have some alone time" we spoke for the rest of the first break and we continued to talk on a separate table to everyone else, don't ask why we just walked into class and sat down at a random table. The teacher didn't like that we were talking all lesson but she just assumed that we were talking about the classwork, we weren't. I was trying to make friends and I had no idea why he was talking to me, I mean his blonde hair was just so perfectly styled that it made him look about 1000X hotter than what he was, not saying that if his hair was styled differently he'd look ugly or anything, not at all but it just looked really good the way it just sat there and didn't move any other way. After the third period ended we walked around and talked more than I found out that he liked to play the guitar which put me in shock for a few seconds then I told him "oh my gosh, I play too, that's crazy" then we started talking about what we can play, what we can't play, how many chords we can play at once, and the list goes on. Michael and I had a music class together but since I didn't know anyone else I sat on a table with him and he introduced me to his friend Calum who played bass. Calum had Brown hair that was a bit curly, I thought it suited him. We were all in a group together for our music assignment but all we did was talk and get to know each other and how we all got into music, but my story was probably the most depressing out of the three, but that's not what we're talking about. Once class ended we all went back to our lockers to get our bags and go home but mum was still at work so I had to walk home. "Hey, Dakota!" I heard Michael scream from the other end of the corridor "do you need any company on your way home?" he asked with a nervous smile. I couldn't say no, he'd been so welcoming today. "Sure, the more the merrier" I replied with a smile, he ran up next to me and we walked back to my place and I heard Michael say so suddenly "no way! We're neighbors!" I couldn't help but sigh with relief, I could walk to school with Michael instead of my mum driving me to school and being late now. "That's awesome" I replied with a smile. A small amount of silence fell for a bit but then Michael interrupted it and said: "well if it doesn't bother you, maybe we could walk to school tomorrow if it's ok with you?" I didn't hesitate to answer at all "sure, that would be wonderful" Michael smiled "cool, so I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked, I nodded "I'll see you tomorrow" I didn't know what to do next I went to shake his hand but I ended up hugging him somehow, I almost died of embarrassment but to my surprise, he hugged me back, we just stood there for a while, I didn't want to wash my uniform after that because I could smell his aftershave on my jacket. After a few minutes, he let go, he was blushing and so was I "I'll see you tomorrow Dakota, bye" Michael said as he walked over to his house, "yeah see ya Michael" I waved back as he walked away.