"I'm in- You're in my form. We have Mr Oliver. He's boring, no one likes him. Keep up."
She spoke so quickly it became a blur and I gave up trying to listen. Every word she said frustrated me and I had to restrain myself from screaming and yanking her hair back. How could one person just be so... Awful?

Losing all interest in even trying to keep up with her, I looked around at this complexly dull building. I had never seen such a depressing place. It was an old building, but not old enough to have character or interesting architecture; it was 70s old, and was falling to pieces. St Mary's which I used to attend was so colourful! So alive! Displays embellished the corridors and colour coded blocks helped the innocent (but you have to admit annoyingly pathetic) year sevens find their way in this new strange place. Lakebridge Highschool, however, was another story.

Beige Lino and chipping grey paint snaked around the entire building. Windows were square and lain out symmetrically around the walls and harsh, unnatural light was littered around each room, broken light bulbs left dormant for months. There were cracks in the walls and several broken windows that had been 'temporarily' patched up, but the gathering dust and dead flies begged to differ.

Claire stopped suddenly after a worryingly high amount of corners turned. Skidding to a halt, I almost, almost, bumped into her. Shooting me a disapproving look, Claire lead me into yet another grey room. She strode in confidently, sweeping the room with her glare. A bright smile emerged  suddenly across her face.

"Hey Sir!"
"Hello Claire, is this our new student?" he asked calmly, nodding in my direction.
Claire swung a chair out from under a table at the very front of the room. Her eyes rolled so hard I wouldn't have been surprised if they'd popped out of her head.
"Yeah," she sighed, as though I were a disappointment to her. The teacher ignored her and looked up to me with a warm smile, and gestured to me to come sit down next to Claire. To be honest, I would have rather stayed lingering at the back of the classroom, but I sat.

He was tall and slender, with a stubbly beard and round glasses. He was around 30, and despite his brown tweed, "old man" jacket, he looked rather cool. Despite Claire's snide remarks, I could tell almost instantly that Mr Oliver and I would get on.

"Hello! I'm Mr Oliver," He outstretched his hand and I shook it "You must be Cam. I'll be your form tutor from now on. Do you enjoy English?"
He had a kind face; hopeful, almost naive.
"It's okay." I looked down and traced my fingers along the table. I heard a soft chuckle and looked up. Mr Oliver lowered himself to my face and whispered quietly:
"You're supposed to say yes." He winked and laughed to himself as he turned to his desk.

Whilst Mr Oliver took the register I looked tentatively around the room, trying to draw as little attention to myself as possible. There was a table of year seven boys in the corner, scrawling in notepads and finishing last minute homeworks. They were loud and unaffected by the people around them. Across from our table was a group of girls, one having dragged up a chair from another table. They sat silently on their phones, still and oblivious to the world around them. Next to these was a table of older boys, probably year ten or eleven. They too were gazing hopelessly into their phones, but still talking and laughing amongst themselves. A final desk remained lonely by the door, holding just a boy and a girl, probably about mine and Claire's age. They sat across from each other silently, looking down.

After inspecting the room I stared back down at the table and I noticed a tall boy across the desk. He had round brown eyes and a chiselled jaw, rested on his left hand. He gazed silently out the wide window, his body slowly rising, and falling, rhythmically to his breath. His short brown hair was perfectly ruffled, with subtle waves. He slowly turned towards me and I diverted my gaze to the table.
"Hey," he said with a soft smile. Mr Oliver typed noisily at his desk.
"Ah, hi," I mumbled. My cheeks were burning as my eyes darted around the room. My palms were clammy and I shuffled awkwardly on my seat. God, am I always this awkward?! He let out a single laugh.
"I'm Joel."