Visions of a Dream

Soon enough it's time for school to start, we get our instructions from the main reception and find that Rosie and I are in a different form group to Marie and Poppy... A fact that clearly irks Rosie as we make our way to the room.

"I don't like her." She announces decisively. "I don't trust her around Poppy." She adds. They are kind of polar opposites, but Poppy's far from weak minded, if anything she'll cheer Marie up a bit.

"Personally, I think she reminds me a lot of you." I answer, receiving a scoff from my sister. We arrive at our room for attendance and take a couple of seats. Slowly, the room starts to fill up and groups begin to form as friends begin chatting with each other, until finally the teacher arrives and runs through registration, finishing with mine and Rosie's names, causing everyone to turn and look at us.

Well, I'd be lying if I said I hated the limelight. "Greetings, mortals!" I declare to my adoring public, receiving a mix of laughter and confusion, followed by more laughter when Rosie smacks me over the back of the head.

As soon as the teacher... Whose name I just can't be bothered to remember, finishes the roll call the class appears to flood towards us, and soon we're surrounded by faces.

"Hi, you're new, right?"

"That hair is gorgeous!"

"I love your accent!"

A million questions fly past us and we're not able to answer a single one before the next appears, eventually the bell rings for the first lesson, and we make a hasty retreat. Damn, I wasn't expecting a mob, we're not that abnormal... Okay, not that they know anyway.

Focus, English, need to find English and... Wait, where's Rosie? Rose? I can't see her through the crowd and we usually stand out. Shit, if she's lost then I'm definitely lost, in which case we're both fucked. My breathing starts to shallow out, come on. Not now. Not here.

"Hey, you okay?" A soft voice asks me, placing a hand on my shoulder. "You look lost... And pale." I turn to look at the voice, and if I wasn't already struggling to breathe I'd have it taken away. The girl standing next to me is slim, about a head shorter than me, and almost as pale. Her hazy blue eyes almost hidden by her white shaggy bob haircut.

I try to regain my composure before replying, but it takes too long, I have to say something. "So... You come here often?" I joke. Okay, probably should've stayed silent, bit late for it now. "I'm a bit... A bit lost."

I can't tell if her face is one of amusement or pity, either way, she gives me a kind smile. "It's okay, just tell me where you need to go." She offers sweetly, allowing me enough respite to explain my situation. "Oh, that's no trouble, English is on my way, just follow me, okay?" She insists, leading me down the hallway.

The corridors are a bit more sparsely populated now, with most people arriving at their classes, which makes navigating this maze a lot easier. "I'm Rufus, by the way, I'm erm... Kinda new." I introduce myself as we walk.

"Hi Rufus 'Kindanew', my name's Andrea, but everyone just calls me Andi because I'm pretty 'Andi' to have around!" She smirks, firing finger guns at me. I'm not usually a fan of puns but when they're coming out of lips as nice as those, I'll take it. "Here we are, you should be in one of these, are you gonna be okay from here?" She asks as we arrive in the English department.

I spot my room with the last few people funnelling in. "Yeah, I'll be fine, thanks for your help, maybe I can make it up to you sometime?" I grin as she begins walking away.

"Bye Rufus Kindanew." She winks over her shoulder as I walk away, not answering my question. "And yeah, I come here pretty often!" She adds with a wave. Not exactly the question I was referring to.

*

English is pretty dull, the lesson, not the language, the language is fun, free-flowing, and fanciful... The lesson is rigid doctrines in how to structure sentences. Dull. Still, it meant that, aside from Rosie chewing me out for getting separated, I could spend the lesson daydreaming about that girl, Andi. It's well established that I don't like relationships, but damn if I wouldn't love to wake up next to her once or twice.

My bliss is interrupted by an elbow to my ribs. "Hey, dumbass, everyone's leaving, let's go!" Rosie insists, the sudden urgency making me stand up more quickly than I was expecting... So quickly that I lose my balance and fall to the side... Straight into a brick wall... Wait, brick walls tend not to push back...

I land on the floor, looking up at the other party in our collision. "The fuck're you doing?" Comes a grunt from the monster of a man in front of me, he's like a walking stereotype of a jock, blonde hair, green eyes, built like a bulldozer fucked an aircraft carrier. I pull myself to my feet to find we're almost the same height... Which I guess is something.

"Well, you just looked so grumpy I assumed you wanted a hug... Do you? Come on, every man needs a cuddle now and again!" I smirk, opening my arms wide. What happens next is very quick, I manage to duck and narrowly avoid a straight punch to the face, giving me the chance to back away. "Should I take that as a no, or is this some new-fangled foreplay I'm not familiar with?"

"I'm gonna take your kneecaps." The boulder growls at me.

"I'd prefer if you didn't, I need them to run away." I retort.

"Ty!" A new voice yells from behind me. "What in the fuck do you think you're doing?" I turn around to see another girl. Her long black hair cascading down onto a black leather jacket where her blazer should be. Her aura is actually more intimidating than the guy's, maybe that's because her eyes are blood fucking red!

"I- Er- I was- He-" Ty begins stuttering. Damn, he's really scared of her. I actually feel a bit bad for the guy.

I stride closer and put my hand on his shoulder, turning to face the demon girl. "We were just getting some light exercise in, Ty here was telling me all about the gym, isn't that right, big guy?" I lie with a smile on my face. Ty looks confused but goes along with it, nodding intently.

The girl very clearly doesn't believe me, but doesn't appear to be in the mood to argue. She beckons Ty to exit the room, who obeys unquestioningly. "You're full of shit. Don't get my attention again." She warns me in an angry tone. Is it a bad time to notice she's insanely hot? Probably, but it isn't going to stop me checking her out as she leaves.

A slap to the back of the head wakes me again. "You stupid bastard! What were you thinking?" She demands, hitting me again. I almost forgot Rosie was here, she looks worried sick... I feel bad now. I place both hands on her shoulders and look into her eyes before replying.

"Just making friends."