settled on pool. It was a lie, I’d played about twice in my entire life and sucked both times, but it was the only thing I knew I could get away with — you didn’t need to be sporty to be good at pool. Simon finished droning on about himself and Miss Steele’s eyes shifted to me. My tongue turned to sawdust. I cleared my throat. “Um…my name is Alexander Eden. I study Physics, English, History and Maths. Socially I enjoy-”
“Being a complete loser!” interrupted TJ.
The class erupted into fits of laughter. I felt the heat rise to my face. Looking down at the desk, I mumbled, “playing pool.”
Then someone retorted, “Wow, it must have taken all night to charge up your two remaining brain cells, so you could come up with that gem!”
Fresh laughter rang around the room. Even Miss Steele appeared to be struggling to keep a straight face. I turned to see Gabriella glaring daggers at TJ. He scowled and fumbled with his pencil case. Clearly he wasn’t comfortable being on the receiving end of a joke. Gabriella winked at me. I felt a wave of warmth, mixed with shame. This was the second time she’d stood up for me, but the fact that someone else needed to bothered me. I should be able to fight my own battles! I smiled as best I could.
“Okay now, settle down everyone, lets continue,” said Miss Steele. “Oh and Thomas?” He looked up. “If I ever catch you insulting another student again, I will have you thrown out of my class like that!” She clicked her fingers and the sound echoed sharply around the room. “This is Sixth Form, not primary school. Are we clear?” “Yes Miss Steele,” TJ mumbled. I couldn’t resist an indulgent smile. It felt good to see him put in his place. “Good. Thank you very much Alexander. Now who do we have next?”
Gabriella and Miss Steel’s eyes met and the two smiled at one another, as if sharing some private joke. Without so much as a nervous dip in her voice, the new girl filled in some of the blanks.
“My name is Gabriella De Luca. I was born in Roma, Italia. My family moved here after Papa transferred with work to London. I’ve chosen to study Art, Physics, Performing Arts and English. Outside of education, I practice martial arts. I’m a black belt in Taekwondo and Kyoshi rank in Kenjutsu.” She knitted her hands together to symbolize she was finished. The rumble of approval swept around the class.
I shook my head. This girl just gets better and better.
“Well,” said Miss Steele, placing a tick next to a handwritten name at the bottom of the register. “That was an impressive way to finish the introductions.” She clapped her hands together. “Okay, now would be a perfect time to get the lesson underway. Today we are going to talk about electricity and its effects. Please turn your text books to page seventy three.”
The bell for the end of the lesson sounded and the usual rustle of bags and shuffling papers started up. “Right class,” finished Miss Steele, “homework today is a summary of what we’ve learned. It doesn’t have to be war and peace, but I expect to see the key topics in there somewhere.” I jotted the word ‘summary’ at the bottom of my notes and stuffed my folder back in my bag. Gabriella turned to me. “So what lesson do you have now?” she asked. I thought for a second. “Uh…double Maths.” Then put both my thumbs up. “Fun!” She laughed — a soft sound, like a purr. “Okay then, meet me by the main entrance at Lunch?”
The thought made my heartbeat accelerate. I agreed. With that, she swept off the chair and joined back up with the girls. Their chatting and laughing resumed as if there had been no hour long interruption.
Miss Steele was wiping her notes from the board, so didn’t see TJ seize me by the back of the neck, digging his fingers into my flesh. His mouth moved close to my ear and he spoke low and harsh, sending spittle flying onto my cheek.
“Think you’re it now do you Eden, getting birds to stick up for you?” His eyes were wide with anger. “You better watch your back mate, because I’m coming for you.” He released his grip and shoved me as he stomped away. I collided with the desk, whacking my ribs against the edge. Groaning, I rubbed my side. At that moment Miss Steele turned around from the board. She frowned at my pained expression. “Are you okay Alexander? You look hurt.” “Uh I’m fine thanks. I fell against the table. I’m a bit accident prone.” Miss Steele set the cloth down on the desk. “You know you can talk to me if you need to. That’s what I’m here for.”
Something about the way she asked seemed genuine. If I’d been in my normal low state of mind, I may even have told her. But knowing I was going to spend some time with Gabriella had lifted my spirits. Not even TJ’s threat could do much to bring them down. “Really, I’m fine,” I assured her, heading for the door.
“Alright then, please close the door behind you.” She shot me a dazzling smile then busied herself with the collection of papers on her desk. As I pulled the door shut behind me, she muttered something under her breath. It sounded like ‘not long now.’ I shrugged and headed for Maths.
When lunch time rolled around, I eagerly made my way to the main entrance. As promised, Gabriella sat waiting for me on the front steps.
Problem was she wasn't alone.
There were a hive of people hovering around her. Most of them guys, I noticed, with another stab of alarming jealousy. Also it irritated me to see the gossip witches Lucy and Rita in the group. It seemed that in just over a day, Gabriella had managed to climb the social ladder higher than I had done in my entire school life.
My bag swung around my legs as I stood frozen in the doorway, unsure of what to do. By now there was no doubt Gabriella would’ve been told how uncool I was. Which meant this could be some kind of trick. Maybe if I went over, she would humiliate me in front of everyone, which would cement her social status — maybe that’d been the plan all along. I just didn't know if I could take a confidence knock like that — not from her. After weighing my options, I decided that the best course of action was to simply walk past the group and pretend that I hadn't seen her.
I got three quarters of the way down, before a familiar angelic voice floated over to me. “Alexander, there you are!”
My stomach knotted at the words. I turned to the direction of the group and saw Gabriella looking at me, wearing that delicate smile and waving with excitement. The others regarded me in silence.
No choice now.
I returned the wave awkwardly and shambled over to her direction, praying to God that I didn’t do something crap, like trip up the stairs.
Gabriella stood up and pulled me into a tight hug. There were no tingles this time, but her body felt soft and warm and she smelled great.
“Were you trying to ignore me Alexander Eden?” she questioned, holding me at arm’s length, eyes suspicious.
“Uh…I…no I didn’t see you,” I stammered.
Gabriella nodded, appeased. She turned away, but left an arm on my lower back. Its presence sent a warm glow running up my spine.
“You all know Alexander right?” she said to the group.
Some nodded and a few even said hello, which wasn’t expected. I gave awkward replies. It was unnerving, I wasn't used to this much attention. I felt my cheeks turning red.
“Okay so I have to go,” said Gabriella. “I owe Alexander some lunch.”
I could see the surprise on the group's faces, but most tried to hide it. I understood then that Gabriella was trying to hoist me up the ladder with her, by letting everyone know beyond doubt that we were friends. It was probably the nicest thing anyone had ever done for me.
We walked away from the crowd, me travelling on jelly legs. I started in the direction of the Canteen, but my companion shook her head.
“I was thinking we could walk up to town. One of the boys was telling me there is a really good fish and chips place. That okay?”
I breathed in deep to help calm my racing nerves. “You mean Cods Haven? Yeah sure, sounds great.”
We crossed the road and headed up towards the main town centre. As we walked, Gabriella fired a barrage of questions at me. She seemed really interested in my life. I told her about my favourite music and books and when my birthday was. She raised her eyebrows a little on the last one, but then carried on to inform me that my star sign was Leo, which meant I was caring and a born leader, but harboured intense anger which could be released when provoked. I smiled and nodded, just enjoying the sound of her voice. She was vibrant and used her hands a lot whilst she spoke. I felt little pangs in my stomach every time I looked at her. Occasionally I tried to dig up more about her personal life, but somehow the conversation always ended up back on me.
As we reached Chapter Hill town centre, the bright fascias of the various shops and restaurants bloomed
