Fresh Start

Chapter 9

Annabelle's POV

Christmas went by in a blur - we had Christmas lunch at home, just me and mum, which was nice since we could just have a nice relaxing day...
In the evening I went round to Lauren's house and - get this - she got a puppy for Christmas! I am not usually a jealous person, but I am ashamed to admit I did feel just a teensy bit jealous when I saw the adorable little black Labrador puppy!

Daniel and I had started texting a lot more recently - the worrying thing is, I might be starting to like him again... And I really don't know what to do about that...

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The first day back at school after Christmas is always the worst. It usually rains; everyone has a cold; no one likes January; all the slutty girls are still bearing as much skin as possible. But, there are some things that I like about being back at school - I get to see Lauren again, and Daniel.

I walk up to the double doors which lead to the main hallway and carry on to my locker, only to find Annabelle there, chatting away to Alex.

"Annabelle!" I squeak, whilst throwing my arms around her. I let go of her with one of my arms and wave awkwardly to Alex too.

"Okay Lauren, I saw you like, two days ago. Just, calm down..." She said in a jokingly patronising way - accompanied with a pat on the head.

"Hey have you seen Daniel yet?" I ask her, she looks at me in a funny way and then glances behind me, and then looks back at me with a weird smile on her face.

I self-consciously glance behind me only to see Daniel looking as if he was about to sneak up on me and then got caught in the act.

"Annabelle! You could've been more subtle... I was going to make her jump!" Daniel pouts.

"Oh you were? Were you?" I look at him accusingly and then punch him gently in the arm and giggle.

Giggle? Since when do I giggle around boys?

He's not just any boy...

Ugh. My conscience is annoying. Dan is just a boy! Okay? Just. A. Boy.

Daniel turns to me, "Lauren, can I talk with you for a bit? Umm... I just wanted to ask you something." He mumbles looking down to the ground. Why is he so embarrassed all of a sudden?

"Sure, what's up?" I notice Annabelle and Alex have left us alone to talk.

"I was wondering if you wanted to possibly date again sometime - I mean, I know we used to date and I messed up, but I've changed and I've grown up and I really really like you now and-"

"Ok."

"Ok never mind, it was silly of me to ask you in the first- wait. What?" He looks at me shocked. What happened to his big boy ego?

"Yes, I would like to start dating again. I can see that you've changed, you've proven that to me, and you know what?" I look at him shyly and say, "I think I kind of really like you too."

I can't hold back the smile that spreads its way onto my face, and it looks as if Daniel can't either.

"Cool, so do you wanna go out at lunch today or something? We could go to Zizzi's? You like Italian, right?"

Naturally, the bell decides to be awkward and ring just as I open my mouth to speak, so I shut it again and look at Daniel in a 'hang-on-you-won't-be-able-to-hear-me-if-I-talk-now' kind of way. He looks back at me in the 'I-get-you,-let's-just-wait-for-the-bell-to-stop' kind of way.

"Zizzi's sounds perfect, I'll see you at lunch." I say, and walk to Art - best lesson ever.

I guess first day back can be good - I will just ignore the fact that it is currently raining. But it's England, so what can you expect?

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Yes, I'm aware this is short, but it's still a chapter! And more of a filler just to get me back into the flow of this story.

Let me know what you think in the COMMENTS, and please VOTE if you enjoyed it. :)