“Nice to meet you,” I mutter, although I wish the ground would swallow me hole.
They all gather chairs to scoot closer to me, as if I really want to deal with them. Preferably I wish to be alone, but I don’texactly have the heart to tell them that. I’m not rude on a daily basis, even if they’re all beginning to annoy me.
“So, where are you from?” Gertrude asks, tossing her hair over her shoulder. She’s got freckles dotted across her nose and cheeks.
“Uh…” I don’t exactly enjoy talking about myself and having them already wanting to know something about me is making this difficult. “Here and there.”
“Military family?” Alex asks and I nod, just to be on the safe side.
No reason to tell him the truth…that my family shipped me off to live here, that it was either find a new school or be put into an institute— you can guess which option I chose.
“Ah. That must suck.” Alex has pretty brown eyes, but I hope he doesn’t get the wrong idea. I’m not here to have a relationship and the sooner he gets the hint, all the better.
Kendra is the quiet one out of the four of them. They’ve talked about music, books, hobbies— all in the span of twenty minutes before the bell signals for first period. Kendra is the first to stand, flashes me a weak smile, before darting out of the classroom. So far, she’s my favorite person I’ve met this morning.
Faith and Gertrude stand by my chair as I hoist a bag over my shoulder, arching a blonde eyebrow at them. Alex is heading out of the room as the girls wait for me expectantly. Seems like I won’t be able to shake them as easily as I’d originally hoped too.
“Who do you have for first period?” Faith asks, gesturing to the sheet in my tight grip.
Looking down, my breathing hitches slightly as I stare at the name of the teacher.English Lit-1stperiod: Mr. Maximilian Daniels.
“Ooh, she’s got Mr. Daniels!” Gertrude says with a clap of her hands after scanning the sheet over my shoulder.
Faith smiles when I look up at them. “Don’t worry, he’s an easy teacher. Strict, but he’s easy on the eyes for sure.”
Gertrude nods in agreement. “His voice is so hot, especially when he reads passages from Scripture. Makes me all flustered.” She fans herself and they both giggle.
I frown as I trail behind them as we leave the classroom.
I don’t really know what to say, I’m not here to make googly-eyes at a teacher, I’m here to warn him. If I don’t, something bad is going to happen to him. I’m just not sure what exactly.
Mr. Daniels isn’t in the classroom when I walk in behind Faith and Gertrude. They pick the front row desks, each sitting down and pulling out notebooks and writing utensils. I hesitate by the open doorway, wondering where I should be sitting.
After all, the faster I can tell him about the reoccurring dream I’ve been having with him in it, the faster I can leave this school.
“Is there a problem, Ms. Mitchell?” A voice speaks up and I start, turning abruptly to the right, my eyes landing on a very physique and broad shouldered man. I can’t help but to stare at him, unable to speak, my tongue curling inside my mouth. Mr. Maximilian Daniels cannot be defined as ‘hot’ as Gertrude and Faith labeled him, if anything he’s…otherworldly beautiful.
His black eyes seem to stare into the depths of my soul. He’s regarding me curiously but arching a dark eyebrow, his lips curving slightly upward into a smile. “Ms. Mitchell is there something you wished to discuss before the class?”
I open my mouth, then snap it shut. Giving a slight shake of my head, I turn, hurriedly toward the first open desk I see. I’m tripping over my feet as laughter echoes in the room.Embarrassed I take a seat, fumbling for the notebook and pen in my bag.
Mr. Daniels is already moving to the center of the room and begins by telling us about a Revelations passage from Scripture.
In my mind, I’m too busy wondering about how to bring up the dream to Mr. Daniels, that I don’t even notice when my name is being called.
Slightly alarmed, I sit up straighter in my seat. “Yes?” I croak out.
Mr. Daniels is giving me an almost sour expression, nothing close to the smile he gave me at the start of the class. “Care to give any thoughts about the passage we just read?”
“Uh…” I can feel my cheeks growing hot. Glancing at the girls for help, both have their bibles opened toward the end of the book and I can feel all eyes from my classmates on me. “Sorry, I don’t.” I mumble.
“Where’s your bible?” Mr. Daniels question causes my gaze to meet his and then I quickly look away first.
“Never had one before.”
Footstep’s sound and then he’s standing in front of me, putting his own bible down on top of the desk. When I tilt my head to look up at him, he’s giving me a soft smile that causes his eyes to crinkle at the sides. “That’s all right. You can use mine until we can get you a proper new one.”
Faith and Gertrude are making cooing noises off to my right which I try to ignore as Mr. Daniels takes a step away from my desk and turns to address the class once more.