Bella’s Point Of View

I ducked out of my truck, trying to avoid the already glaring eyes bearing down upon me, I was careful not to make too much noise. Unfortunately I failed miserably as I dropped my school bag, then when turning around and leaning over a puddle; I slipped and fell against the door causing an audible bang. My cheeks burned and I began to wish I’d parked under a tree in the shade when at least the darkness would have concealed my embarrassment a little. Sighing, I bent down, lifted the bag and flung it across my shoulder.

Following the parade of students and desperately thinking back to the map of the school I’d looked at, I stared up at the mostly blue sky. Typical, I thought after all the summers of dull clouds, torrential rain and nothing to do; my first day at school where I’d be trapped inside all day was similar to that of a chillier Monday in Phoenix. By now I’d reached a building, guessing my way I found a classroom appropriately decorated with examples of essays mounted on the walls and filled with shelves, stacked with books, most of which I recognised as they were classics. The teacher fiddling with a projector nodded and smiled, then gestured towards a seat on the left hand side of the classroom away from the window where light was streaming in. At least I could just sit down and stay unnoticed…or so I thought. A scruffy boy with an oversized rucksack which hit the table with a thump made me jump and look up. His smile spread further across his face when I made eye contact with him. Sliding into the chair on my right he held out a hand, which I uneasily took. He then shyly but cheerfully said “Hi. Eric,” and withdrew his hand. My blank expression must have appeared to be confused as he mumbled “I mean my name’s Eric, you must be new.”

“Hi, Eric, I’m Bella,” I whispered back quickly as the lesson had begun and I didn’t want to be told off on my first day. Fragmented conversation continued throughout the lesson when the teacher’s back was turned and was mostly one sided, with Eric doing just about all of the talking. Luckily the topic we were supposed to be studying I was familiar with so there was no need to take notes and I could zone in and out of the lesson.