Maya-

3 more days until til winter break, I can do it!

I'm walking ti first period, English however Im not accompanied by my big mouthed friend today so everything seems a little quieter and less lively, however the thoughts running round my head are much louder than usual.

As i wander into English my attention is instantly drawn to somebody sat at my desk. He is in deep conversation with a group of boys so nobody notices me

I try to stall the conversation as long as possible by walking slowly over to my desk at the back. As I get closer to them I stop dead in my tracks.

What will i say to them?

Usually i would have Maya here with me and she would speak for me however i am going to have to do it for myself. I need to ask them to move but I'm not in the mood for talking much today. Having to speaking to a boy, even worse a large group of boys, is one of the worst things that could possibly happen!

I'm overthinking this so much, but what if i say the wrong thing, or they think I'm rude or...

The thoughts continue to swirl around my head and my breathing becomes slightly heavier.

In that moment one of the boys, specifically the one sat in my seat, turns to face me which causes a chain reaction, and the rest of the group follow, their eyes drifting in my direction. With him now facing me i realise who I'm speaking to, and who's sat in my chair. It's Max the quarterback of the football team!

"Are you okay?" He asks with genuine concern prominent in his tone.

"Y-yeah" is all i manage to rasp out.

This can't be happening! I head towards the classroom door to take a moment outside, and recollect myself, and try to steady my breathing.

By now the halls are empty as everybody has reached their first class of the day. This helps to calm me down as i have no witnesses except for my English class.

I'm facing away from the classroom however I can feel the presence of somebody stood behind me. I don't want to look. I try to reassure myself saying that it could have been worse, and I could have had a full on panic attack. Which luckily didn't happen.

"What happened back there" the voice is familiar and I realise that Max has followed me. Mac places a reassuring hand on my shoulder, but it doesn't ease the tension. What I need in this moment is space.

Im now turned to face him, which causes his hand to slide off my shoulder, "I Urmm think you might have been sat in the wrong seat." I say, in almost a whisper.

"Oh yeah we had to get into groups for this lesson, and I thought you would move to sit by your friends ,so assumed you wouldn't mind, sorry" his voice sounding genuine.

"It's fine. I didn't realise, but to be honest I would've stayed sat there anyway as my friend Maya isn't in school today"

This is the longest conversation I've ever had with a boy!

"Oh well... erm let me make it up to you. You can partner up with me if you would like, I'll let you have your seat back and I will even help with the assignment, which for your information, is a first time thing for me.

I weight up my options, either sit in class by myself for an hour, or sit with max?

Although I've never really thought about it, Max is actually quite good looking, he's slightly taller than my 5,4 self which for a guy, is quite short. He's got dirty blonde hair which he's used a bit too much gel in when styling it back.  I think if I were to touch it I wouldn't be able to run my fingers through it. And despite being a football player he doesn't appear to be very muscular at all.

I opt for the latter choice and take him up on his offer. He barges through the classroom door first not trying to hold it open for me- so it almost bounces back and hits me in the face.

He tells the other guys he was sat with that he's with me and tells them to go somewhere else. "I've never really noticed you before" he outwardly says, as he sits in the desk next to mine.

"Yeah. Well I'm pretty quiet and I get akward in social situations - like just now - so I try to avoid speaking to new people."

"I have to say, I'm not sure how I missed a pretty girl like you"

I sort of freeze as I have no idea what I polite reply to that is. And I can't tell if he's doing it as a joke or being genuine. But either way I feel my face heat slightly and the only words I can think as a half decent reply are "Thanks".

The rest of the class is filled with small talk and most of the effort is on his part. However we do exchange numbers. Not that I really wanted it or needed it but I felt awkward saying no.

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Only a few days until Cam and Nate come for winter break! Please comment your thoughts so far and thank you for the support 🩷
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