After lunch, Laura walked quietly back into the classroom and sat in her seat. Not many people were back from lunch yet and the classroom was almost empty.
Laura sat there shuffling in her seat, Aiden still on her mind.
To her surprise, and relief, no one seemed to noticed her, aside from one boy sitting on his own at the far side of the room.

As she looked up, she felt his eyes piercing through her, and made an effort not to make eye contact. With his head in his hands, he smirked at her and winked.
Laura's eyes shot to the floor, pretending that she hadn't seen him, but she was certain that it was too late.
In a fluid motion, the boy flung himself out of his seat and began walking towards Laura, his hand secured on his hip.
'Oh no! Please don't talk to me, please don't talk to me, please don't...'

"Good afternoon madam," said the boy confidentley, "you're Laura yes?"
Laura shot a desperate look in Millie's direction, but all she did was snigger to herself.
"Um... yes..."
Up close, Laura could see his neat hair was coated in some sort of gel, causing the lights to shine off it and into her eyes.
His uniform was in perfect form, and his confident smile made Laura even more uncomfortable.

"My name is Liam, it is a pleasure to meet you," he said, placing his hand on his chest and taking a bow.
Laura couldn't help but smile.
"I am class 3A's student representative and I take great pride in my role. Because of this, I care greatly about the well being of my fellow students."
Liam lifted a hand and pointed to a badge on his blazer. It had a little, golden boarder around it and read, 'class representative'

Laura stayed quiet, fidgetting with her hands under the table. Her eyes stayed glued to the floor while Liam's burned into her.
"Since you're new I wanted you to know that if you have any problems, you can talk to me," he smirked, "That is all. Farewell."
He winked again before walking away from the shaking Laura.

'Argh!'
Laura began to die inside.
What on earth had just happened?
Millie walked over laughing.
"I see you've met our proud class rep," she laughed. Laura stared at her in disbelief.
"Was... was he being serious? Or... was he just... messing with me?" she replied.
"Oh he was being deadly serious," Millie began to laugh even harder, "and that's what's so funny! The look on your face!"
Laura looked across the room. Liam was standing in front of two girls and performing all sorts of silly poses.
"He's a bit... overdramatic, but don't worry, that's the weirdest our class gets."

*15:45 April 3rd*

As the sun set over Willden, Laura started off towards home with Millie by her side. As they approached her house, Laura stopped.
"Hey what's up?" Millie asked
After a few seconds of waiting, she turned to her.
"Millie," she mumbled, "thank you for being my friend."
Millie smiled at her, "No problem, you don't need to thank me. I like you Laura. Your good company. And you don't turn me away like everyone else."

Laura looked at her, shocked.
"Turn you away?"
Millie sighed.
"I can be a bit loud sometimes, I know. And a lot of the other girls say that I'm not 'girlish', but I can't help being me. And you don't seem to mind,"
Laura was lost for words. She had never expected that Millie would be treated like that. She seemed so confident and fun loving, like someone that nobody could dislike.
"Well... well I don't think that matters," she replied, "I... I think your a... a great person."
She wasn't very good at this, but Laura felt like she had to say something.
Millie looked at her and grinned.
"Thanks Laura. That really means something, you know."

As soon as she got in, Laura flopped onto her bed, wrapped up in the crazy events of the day. Her mind whirred as she tried to recap on everything that had happened.
Her first day had gone better than she could have ever hoped.
The bedroom door began to creak open and Mr. Dunning poked his head through a crack in the doorway.
"Hey sweetie," he said softly as he entered the room, "how was your first day?"
Laura's face lit up. Mr. Dunning lowered himself onto the edge of the bed and put a hand on top of Laura's head.
"So much better than I'd expected," she smiled.
Mr. Dunning's mouth curled into a smile at the news and he sighed as he let himself lean on the wall behind him.
"Did you make any friends?"

Laura thought back to Millie, thinking about what had happened after school.
"Yeah... I met someone really great." Laura smiled to herself.
Mr. Dunning was very pleased and a beaming smile shaped on his face.
"I knew you would. You had nothing to worry about."
He turned around to face her. "Laura, I know you miss our old home, but I wanna make this place feel like home for you. Don't worry because I know you'll get used to it soon."
She knew he was right. After her first day of school, Laura had changed her mind about moving. She had decided that it wasn't as bad as she had originally thought.
"Thanks Dad."

*8:00 April 4th*

The next day, Laura had managed to get to school on time and was sitting quietly at her desk when Miss Spenner walked in.
"Good morning class. Today, the principal has told me that the school clubs are going to be starting up again for the year, so feel free to sign up for one at break. Now everyone, quiet down while I take registration." She began calling out names.
Aiden leaned over to Laura from his seat.
"Hey, do you know what sort of club you might be interested in?" he whispered.
"No... not really,"
Aiden thought for a moment before continuing.
"You said you liked reading right?" he asked, "why don't you join the book club?"
Laura thought for a moment. The book club sounded interesting but she feared that she would feel alone.
"What... club are you going to... go for?" she muttered.
"I was part of the book club last year so I was thinking of signing up for it again," he replied.
Laura, reassured, made her choice. At recess, she and Aiden signed up for the book club. She felt safe knowing he would be there.