Emeli

I wake up. Just yesterday, the new boy Wayne had caused an outburst and stuck up for me! The boy who I thought looked like a gang leader actually did something nice. Who would have ever thought that? Clearly, not me!

For once, I wake up before my alarm goes off which hardly ever happens for me. I wake up either on the alarm or I sleep in. The sun once again is shining through my curtains. The weather had been glorious for a few days and yet it wasn’t even summer!

I slowly get up, trying really hard not to make such a loud noise. I am really clumsy and that isn’t really helpful when I try to be quiet. I just end up causing a disturbance. I leave my bedroom. I hear snoring coming from down the corridor so luckily, my parents are still asleep.

I tiptoe down the stairs but just as I reach the foot of the stairs, I hear footsteps coming from the lounge. Who could it be? My hamster couldn’t have escaped from his cage? I walk in and collide... Into my brother.

Yes, my older brother has somehow gotten into our house. I didn’t even hear him come in. At all. If this was meant to be a surprise, then it failed. Miserably.

‘Careful Emeli!’ my brother said. ‘You almost made me drop my tea!’

I stare at him. My brother knows that I am one clumsy person.

‘What are you doing here?’ I ask.

‘Just staying... for a while’ replied my brother.

Let me tell you this. My brother thinks that he is an accomplished liar. Well, he isn’t. I can tell if he is lying or not. He stands there in front of me. I know he is lying.

‘Spill!’ I say.

My brother has turned a deep shade of crimson. He has to tell me now because I am not moving.

‘Well.....’ replies my brother.

‘I am not an infant you know!’ I say.

My brother looks deep into my eyes. Sometimes, he is quite nice.

‘I got into a fight with my best friend. We were both out at a party when he accused me of flirting with his girlfriend.’ he replied.

I stare at him. ‘And did you?’

‘NO! I would never flirt with her. She is such a show off.’ he replies.

‘Then, what happened?’ I asked.

‘Took the train here and I arrived at midnight.’ he replies.

‘Do Mum and Dad know you are here?’ I ask.

‘They do now...’ my brother’s voice trailed off.

Standing right behind me are Mum and Dad. Both of them have slept in. Why? Because I turned my alarm off. Oops...

Wayne

My hands are shaking. Still coming to terms with what happened yesterday. I stuck up for this girl Emeli who to be honest looks like a primary school child. I have also heard that she is quite a geek. I don’t do geek girls. No. Nada.

I get up. Mum is standing in the kitchen. Toast again. Oh joy.

I politely eat it even though I am not in the right state of mind to do so. Mum watches my every move. She knows I am shaking.

‘I am coming along to the school with you.’ she announces.

I moan. I really don’t want to look like a Mummy’s boy... or a babyish idiot. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my Mum but the thing is. If I play truant from school. Then she has to come to the school with me. How awkward.

Both of us walk to the bus stop in silence. I really don’t want to speak to her or anyone else at the moment. I need to think. How can I redeem myself? Would Mum or my classmates think that changing my attitude is a good idea? Maybe or maybe not.

I spot Emeli. She sees me. We both stare at one another. The one thing that I quite like about Emeli is her eyes. Her eyes are attractive. Like diamonds basically. Those little twinkles in them. I wave to her. She stops walking in amazement. I beckon her to come on the bus but she shakes her head. I feel quite guilty. Why do hormones have to be so confusing?

Emeli

Mum and Dad run out of the house like formula 1 cars. Both of them are running late and they really are not happy with me. Always me who gets the blame. It is so not fair.

My brother is still asleep on the sofa. I gave him a little kiss on the top of his head but he was sound asleep.

I walk quite quickly towards school. I really cannot be late today. I have maths first and my teacher Mr Zucker gets really mad if you turn up late. Really mad. One time, a girl in my class called Mel came to his lesson ten minutes late and Mr Zucker roared his head off. Poor Mel. I felt really sorry for her. It wasn’t her fault that her Dad’s car broke down was it?

Out of the blue, I spot Wayne walking to the bus stop. Walking beside him is a small woman. I think that might be his Mum but I wasn’t sure. He is not smiling and by the looks of things, he is quite shaken up at the thought of school.

I pick up my pace. But as I do so, Wayne waves at me. I stop in surprise almost dropping my bag. Wayne waved at me! The woman next to him nudges him in the shoulder. He turns quite red. My face also feels quite warm.

He beckons me towards the bus stop just as the bus is arriving. I shake my head. What a mistake. Wayne looks away from me embarrassed. I had blown my chance to talk to him. Nice one Emeli.

I run to school.

Wayne

The bus journey goes really quickly. I see Emeli as she is running towards school. She is not a bad runner to be honest.

As the bus pulls up outside the school, Emeli has stopped running and is talking to her friend Jess. The bell rings. I quickly dodge out of the bus but my Mum catches me.

‘Not so fast Wayne!’ she said.

I stare at her. She hands me my packet lunch.

‘I want you to behave today Wayne. No more throwing red paint on whiteboards!’ Mum said.

I nod silently.

‘See you later my baby. I love you.’ said Mum as she kisses me on the cheek.

‘I love you too Mum. See you later.’ I reply. I also give her a small kiss.

I cross the road and head into school.

Emeli

I am in tutor. The noise is so loud. I can’t even hear Jess even though she is sitting right next to me. Mrs Gordon at that moment raises her voice. We fall silent.

‘Right then 10X, let us do the register...’ Mrs Gordon’s voice trails off as the classroom door opens. Wayne walks in, his head held high. No earring in his right ear.

‘Wayne, why are you late?’ asks Mrs Gordon.

‘I overslept Miss.’ replies Wayne.

I can tell he is lying. I am so good at working out people and their thoughts.

‘Right... Take a seat Wayne.’ said Mrs Gordon.

Wayne takes a quick look at me and then, he sits down. My face has gone rather red.

During tutor, I talk to Jess about what happened to my brother. Sometimes, she is a good listener and that is a really good thing.

The bell rings. Time for maths. How fun...

Wayne

I walk towards the form room of 10X. What a wired name for a form. I can hear loud voices from the form room as I stand outside the door. I summon up the courage to enter.

I open the door and walk in just as Miss is doing the register. Everyone turns to look at me.

Miss asks me why I am late. I replied that I overslept. Emeli is staring at me. I feel a little small now. And generally this is a bad sign.

I sit down at my desk and daydream. During tutor, I overhear Emeli and her friend Jess talking about Emeli’s brother and the events which occurred. Emeli mentions that her brother goes to Cambridge. No wonder she is so geeky. She is just like her brother.

The bell rings. Time for maths with Mr Zucker.

Let me say this. I really don’t like maths and according to Emeli, he sounds like a mad bull.

I really don’t want to get on the wrong side of him because if I do. I might be expelled... Again...

Emeli

The day passes by rather quickly. Wayne is in most of my classes and he is actually putting in a lot of effort. This has surprised me quite a bit.

At the end of the school day, I said bye to Jess and started the long walk home. I feel so tired. I could just crawl up and go to sleep.

I spot Wayne standing by the bus stop. He beckons me again! What should I do? I decide to sum up all of my courage to talk to him.

I walk over towards him. He smiles. I smile.

‘Hi. You must be Emeli.’ said Wayne.

‘Yeah. And you are the new boy who taught Mrs Turner a lesson!’ I reply.

He goes slightly red after I said that.

‘Sorry. Didn’t mean to remind you about that.’ I said.

Wayne looks at me. I have to change the subject and fast.

‘No earring?’ I ask.

Wayne brightens up. ‘No, Mum made me take it out.’

I stare. ‘Sneak it out past her.’

‘Wow Emeli. You are such a sneaky geek.’ he replies.

I turn bright red just as the bus pulls up. I turn to walk away but Wayne pulls me back. I gasp at him. He gets on the bus and pays for two tickets. I am speechless. What would my parents think if they saw me travelling home with a boy?

We talk a lot. Mostly about music and sports. He is such a casual person. No wonder my shyness has vanished quite quickly.

When the bus pulls up a few doors from my house, I get off. Wayne waves to me. I wave back.

I have this really powerful feeling in my heart. Just like a glass of fizzy cola.

Wayne

Mr Zucker didn’t yell his head off. I worked really hard in lessons and I managed to put in lots of effort and... I spoke to Emeli.

I spotted her leaving school after the final bell rang. I knew that this was my chance to talk to her.

I beckon over to her. I think she found me creepy at this point. But she comes over.

We start to talk. She happens to mention the Mrs Turner event. I go rather red. I really wanted to put this event behind me. She does realise how embarrassed I am. But luckily, she changes the topic and she mentions about my earring not being in my ear. I change my mood.

The bus arrives. She moves away but I pull her back. She gasps at me. I am being a gentleman and allowing Emeli to travel home with me. We both get on. I pay while Emeli finds a seat. She waves, I sit next to her.

We talk about sports and music. It feels great to find a girl who has similar interests. I am so confident.

The bus arrives at her stop. She gets off smiling. She turns and waves to me. I wave back. My face has gone rather red.

I have this feeling in my heart which I have never felt before. It is such a powerful feeling. Like a glass of fizzy cola.

I still had this feeling when I got off the bus and walked to my flat. I open the door and the thing I do is chuck off my school shoes, kiss my Mum and run to my bedroom slamming the door lying flat out on my bed smiling.

I want this feeling to last.