Polar Opposites (A Charlie McDermott Fanfic)

Chapter 4

The next day at school, my first lesson was Geography. After the bell had gone for the end of form, I walked to my classroom, which was at the other end of the corridor.

When I got there, I noticed that everyone else was already inside, but they weren't sitting down. They were all standing at the front of the room, crowding around a small piece of paper on a table. I went over to see what they were looking at, and I immediately knew what was going on.

There was a new seating plan.

I suddenly felt scared, as I didn't want to have to sit next to someone that made fun of me. It was already horrible enough when people yelled at me from across the classroom, and I didn't want to have to sit next to anyone like that.

But when I finally caught a glimpse of the new seating plan, I was instantly relieved by the name that was beside my own.

Charlie McDermott.

I looked at where the seat was on the sheet, and I figured out where I had to sit. Then I walked over to the table, and I sat down, taking my school bag off my back. After about a minute, Charlie joined me at the table.

"Hi." he greeted me, seating himself in the chair beside me.

"Hi." I made myself say, unsure of whether or not he heard me.

Then the teacher came into the classroom, and closed the door behind him before sitting down at his desk.

"Okay, class. Today we will be learning about volcanoes and earthquakes, and the impact they can have on the environment." he told everyone, before opening a file about the topic and projecting it onto the whiteboard.

The teacher went through a few slides on his presentation concerning volcanoes and earthquakes, then when he was done, he placed some worksheets on the table with the seating plan.

"Come and get a sheet each, one at a time. When you've got one, start answering the questions." he instructed, then he went back to his desk.

"I'll get us both a sheet." Charlie said, standing up.

Then he went to collect two worksheets, while I stayed sitting at our table. When he returned, he gave one of the sheets to me, and I wrote my name at the top of the page. He wrote his own name on his sheet too, and as he did so, I looked over at him. He really was quite beautiful.

"So. We meet again." he said with a smile, looking up from his worksheet.

I nodded, not knowing what to say to him.

Just then, one of the boys from the table in front of us turned around in his seat to face me, and he started making fun of me.

"Hey, Victoria!" he called over to me, laughing.

I immediately felt a familiar feeling in my stomach. The same feeling that I got every time someone spoke to me. It always happened, and it was horrible. I looked down at the table, trying to tell myself that the moment would pass.

"Hello? Victoria?" he said, laughing.

I still didn't answer him, and I began to feel even more scared. I wished he would just leave me alone. He knew that I didn't talk, so why did he always try to make me say something to him?

Then I heard a voice from beside me.

"Leave her alone." Charlie said, turning to face the boy who was picking on me.

I lifted my head and turned to look at him. He was actually standing up for me, something that nobody had done for me in a long time. Not even Ashley stood up for me when she was in school. She was sick again today, which I was secretly glad about, but if she was here, she wouldn't have even looked to see if I was okay.

"Why should I?" the boy said.

"Can't you see you're upsetting her?" he asked them.

"Why would I care about her?" the boy said, laughing again.

"You should care. You could really hurt people if you don't." Charlie told him.

"Well, I don't care." he replied, but then he turned back around in his seat and started talking to the other kids on his table.

"Are you okay?" Charlie asked me, turning to look at me.

"Yeah." I said, forcing myself to reply.

If it had been anyone else, I wouldn't have been able to answer. But there was something about Charlie that made me feel less scared. Maybe it was because he was just really friendly, or it could have been because I didn't want him to hate me. I had almost made a friend, a friend who I was also seeming to be developing feelings for. And I didn't want to lose him, even though I had only just met him yesterday.

"The kids at this school seem to always be making fun of you. That must be horrible. Why can't they just leave you alone?" he said.

"They don't like me because I don't talk at school." I told him with a sigh.

"I'm sorry. You don't deserve to be treated like this." Charlie said to me, looking straight at me with his ocean blue eyes.

"It's okay." I whispered, looking down at the table.

"Do you want to sit with me at lunch again today?" he asked me.

I was surprised when he said this. He actually wanted to sit with me, which was another thing that not many people did. People claimed to want to sit with me at lunch sometimes, but that was because they actually liked sitting with Ashley, and she made me sit with her.

"Okay." I replied, then I carried on with my work.

At the end of the lesson, the bell went, and I walked to my next lesson.