Chapter Two - Nick

“So where did you go to school before you came here?” Oasis asks me politely as we head towards our maths class.

“I was home-schooled,” I say as we reach the room.

As I open the door for her to the classroom, she pauses in front of me and looks at the earnest look on my face before going into the room and taking her seat. I quickly head over to the teacher's desk and hand her the slip I have to get signed. Once she has signed it, I head over to the chair next to Oasis and pull out my books.

“So, have you made any other friends today?” Oasis asks me once my books are on the table.

“Yeah,” I say with a smile. “But none as pretty as you.”

She gives a shy giggle and casts her eyes down at the desk. I’m about to ask why she is so shy when Mrs Cutler calls everyone to attention. She gives us our instructions and sets us to work. I start doing my work.

“Has no one told you that you’re pretty before?” I ask, wondering why she went so shy on me.

“No, I’m plain, ordinary and no one notices me,” she says with her eyes downcast.

I look at her closely and see a beautiful girl, she has black hair with some brown highlights scattered through her hair which she has pulled back into a sleek braid, violet blue eyes with small flecks of green in them, a cute button nose and a petite figure.

“How could nobody have noticed you? You are beautiful,” I tell her after a couple of seconds of silence.

“No, I’m not,” she says adamantly. She looks over at me and catches me looking at her. “You’re staring,” she tells me and drops her head shyly.

“No I’m not, I’m observing,” I say trying to keep a serious face and failing.

“Mr Green and Miss Summers, get back to work,” Mrs Cutler tells us angrily.

We sit quietly through the rest of class, doing the work Mrs Cutler assigned us. I look over at Oasis a couple of times and catch her looking at me. When the bell rings, I look at my class schedule and see that I have PDH/PE and I was told by John, one of the boys I met at the office this morning, that we are doing dance.

“What have you got now?” Oasis asks as we head out of the classroom.

“I have PDH/PE,” I tell her with a smile.

“Me too, just so you know, we are doing dance,” she informs me with a slight smile on her face. “And we have assigned partners.”

“I actually like dancing,” I tell her happily. “Do you know who I’ll be assigned to partner with?”

“Me actually, I’m the only one who doesn’t have a partner,” she tells me with a shy glance toward me.

We walk in silence the rest of the way to the gym and I feel excited about getting to dance with Oasis. When we reach the gym, I put my bag down in my designated section and join the rest of the class.

“Hey, Nick,” I hear a voice behind me say. I turn around and see that it is James, another one of the boys I met at the office this morning.

“Hey, James. How have you been today?” I ask politely.

“I’ve been good. So I guess you’ll be partnered with Oasis,” James says with a slight smile.

“Yeah, I’ve been told that,” I say with a smile. “She’s very pretty.”

“She’s okay,” James says, looking over at Oasis were she is waiting for class to start.

“Well, I think she is gorgeous,” I tell him politely.

“You should ask her out,” James suggests.

“I will while we’re dancing,” I tell him quietly with a quick glance over at Oasis.

“Let me know how it goes,” James says as the teacher comes in.

“Everybody partner up and make a circle,” Mr Davis says as he enters the room. “Mr Green, you are dancing with Miss Summers,” he says when he sees me.

“Yes sir,” I say and move into place next to Oasis.

Mr Davis slowly shows everyone the steps for the dance we are learning, the Gypsy tap. Once he has shown us the steps, he puts the music on and makes us practice with the music at half speed.

“Oasis,” I say, feeling nervous when we have finally stopped practicing and have to do it without Mr Davis’ instructions.

“Yeah,” she says looking up at me as we dance.

“I was wondering, would go out on a date with me?” I ask in a slight rush.