Sommerstall Academy
: Chapter 1

Honestly, I’ve been wanting to get hit by a car for a while now. Therefore, I really shouldn’t complain now that I’m lying on the hard street flat on my back like a bug and just as unable to get up. Stupid, heavy backpack. What I did not wish for was for this to happen right in front of the school just as all the students file out of the busses and onto the sidewalk a few feet away from me. I also didn’t anticipate the Vehicle hitting me being a bus.

‘Are you okay?’ the old driver crouches down next to me. All around us, more students gather, some reaching for their phones. No, I’m not okay, I think. I am mortified.

I try to slip out of my backpack just to notice that my shoulder hurts like a female dog. Dammit! I have to write a test later today. If I miss it, Miss Yeng will certainly be angry. That old lady doesn’t like staying after school so a student can write a make-up test. Believe me, I speak of experience. Besides, she is seriously scary. At least it’s Friday and that’s always a highlight.

‘Can you hear me?’ the bus driver repeats, pulling me from my thoughts.

‘Yes. Sorry, yes. I’m alright,’ I assure him before attempting to get up once more.

‘Hang on, let me help you. I’m really sorry I didn’t see you. Do you need a ride to the hospital?’ he asks slowly as he pulls me to my feet.

‘It’s no problem, really. Have a good day,’ I tell him with a smile before walking off and trying to blend in with the rest of the students. That, at least, isn’t a very hard task since all the students of Sommerstall Academy are heading to their first period.

Now, you might be wondering how I managed to get hit by a bus that drove about 5 mph on a street I cross every day. All I can say is that it was not my fault! It was totally his! If he hadn’t caught my eye from where he was sitting inside that bloody vehicle, I would have noticed the bus ahead of his was starting to drive. I’m just thankful I didn’t drive to school today. If anything would have happened to my Vespa, I would have cried. Though since it’s a beautiful spring day and it’s only a fifteen-minute walk to school, I left her at home.

Once I sat down at my desk, I check the time. School starts in ten minutes, so I can still read. I should have time for at least five pages if no one interrupts me.

I take my book out of my backpack, trying not to wince while moving my left arm. I’m thankful I always carry my current read inside a protective bag so today’s fall hasn’t damaged it. With my record, ‘rather safe than sorry’ is the key to survival.

‘Hey, Lorence! I heard you kissed a bus this morning. How’s that for a first kiss?’ my classmate Orion yells on his way to his chair on the opposite side of the classroom. I hate that nickname, which naturally is exactly why he keeps using it. Thanks, Mom, for naming me Florence, I guess.

‘Probably better than yours,’ I fire back. He actually looks impressed, or shocked, who can tell with this guy? ‘Sorry, that was mean,’ I mumble before turning back to my book. I hear Orion talking to his friends Markus and Liam and it takes everything in me not to become agitated. Honestly, some people have no respect for others. It’s eight am and those idiots are already laughing and talking loud enough for the whole room to hear.

‘Morning Flo. I heard what happened, you okay?’ Benji asks while pulling me in a sideway hug. It’s slightly awkward since I’m sitting and he’s a giant but I appreciate any hug I can get. Even though the smell of weed coming off him this early in the morning isn’t very pleasant.

‘Yeah, I’m fine, thanks.’ I look past my friend as a glimpse of black hair catches my eye. Elija walks past Benji, sending me a quick smile before sitting down next to Orion. My cheeks heat up like every other time he does that. I don’t know what it is with that guy. I can usually handle people smiling at me. Hell, I smile at everyone I see. With him, it’s just different.

Not sure if it’s his unruly black hair, his style and chains, and rings, his cute brown eyes, or those soft-looking lips- Oh my, never mind.

I raise my gaze back to Benji’s only for him to lift his perfectly thick eyebrows knowingly. I laugh in embarrassment before shoving my friend away. I follow his movement only to get another glimpse at Elija. I notice Jamie’s already in his seat which means their group is now complete.

More students fill the room, smiling at and greeting me as they do so before class begins. I couldn’t even read a single page.

The next forty-five minutes consist of me trying to focus on the teacher’s lecture while fighting the urge to look at a certain guy on the other side of the room.

It’s embarrassing that after a year of being in the same class as Elija I still get excited each time I see him as if it were news. It’s not like we’ve exchanged more than two sentences in all the time we’ve known each other. He just somehow piques my interest.

That’s why Friday is a highlight. It’s the day when most people go out for lunch while I stay in the classroom to do my homework or study. Notice how I said most since Elija and some of his friends are often back in the room with me in a matter of minutes. Even though the two of us don’t speak, I keep catching him staring at me just as much as I get caught myself.

I’d be scared he thinks I’m a creep if it weren’t for that small smile he keeps flashing me. That smile, dammit.