The house smells like roses as I wake up. My uniform on the end of my bed awaits me. Slipping my feet in my school shoes, I stare at my reflection. Behind my silhouette, we can see my bedroom filled with books. The bigger ones are stacked on the floor whereas the smaller ones are in my bookshelves.

I hear the bell of the delivery boy near our porch. He throws a journal that I catch in time. The morning dew, the big trees, everything is so beautiful in this little town. Heading to Haddie's house, I smile at the people on the way. Birds are chirping, the usual chit-chats with the merchants are slowly starting. I decline the offers most of the time, but today I decide to buy some oranges.

Haddie and I arrive on school grounds five minutes before we have to go to class. She hurries, I follow her.

How did I never notice him? Behind me in class is the boy from the bookstore. I tear a small piece of paper from my notebook. 

Who is the guy behind me, Had.? 

I pass the note to my best friend who's sitting to my left. She scribbles quickly, giggling. 

Someone has a crush? 

I roll my eyes, and answer. 

Who is he?! And no, ew, he's quite annoying, actually. 

Haddie writes back quickly. 

If you find him annoying, why do you want his name? 

I gasp, noting her name in capital letters on the paper : HADDIE..! 

She shrugs me off, fake-ignoring me. I kick her desk with my foot. 

"If you want to know it so bad, shouldn't you just ask him?", my best friend whispers to me. In the corner of my eye, I can still see him. "Fine... After class and you better wait for me."

He is cleaning the green board in front of the class. Is he working for the school..? My heart beats way too fast for the situation. I'm just going to ask him his name. 

"What?", he snaps at me, turning around. He makes his way to the trashcan by pushing me. Why is he so rude? I didn't even start talking.

"I'm-" 

"Sorry to be bothering me right now? I don't know if you noticed, but I need to polish these boards before the next class..." 

I restart my sentence, trying to avoid my current thoughts : he doesn't want me here, the moment has passed. "I'm Maisie... We met at-''. 

He throws a wet sponge at me. "I know. Now, would you be a sweetheart and help me scrub one of the boards?" 

I squish the sponge in my hand. "No..!" 

"C'mon, it's fun..! Why do you think I'm doing this?'' 

''Because you work for the school or something..?'' 

He rolls his eyes. ''Wow, you ARE smart, Maisie Underwood...'' He chuckles, staring into my soul. 

''Ok, then.'' I go around him and slowly approach the cleaning tool to the board. 

''You're really help-'' 

I take the chalks and break them with my hands, sprinkling the powder on my sponge. I pivot, defying the boy with my cheeky gaze. His eyes widen as I show him the sponge, a smile forming on my lips. 

''NO!'' 

He hurries my way, but it's too late. I slide the sponge covered in the white dust all over the left board. He frowns, running faster in my direction. Passing throughout the desks, I get to the right board and smash the sponge on it, making a big ghost white stain in the middle of the green. 

Guarding the middle board, he shoots me a dirty look. ''What the fuck is your problem?'' 

I drop the sponge on the ground, blowing away a streak of hair that was falling on my face. ''What? I don't seem like the type of girl who would do that?''