One — Catherine♡

I will definitely regret this, won't I?

I step into my new school, hoping the first day of me in this school goes well. The school I joined is as modern as the house of my aunt.

A few days ago, when I came here to check how the school was, I saw a mysterious man who was mopping the floor of the corridors. He was at least 40 years old. He was definitely not looking happy. It's like he was forcefully working here for a negligible salary. He forced his lips to smile. His wrinkles were barely visible when he smiled. I wanted to ask about his skincare routine. I brushed off this thought. And I wondered that, if this school has all the modern equipment, why is there a need for a human to mop? I ignore my thoughts, as usual.

Nevertheless, I don't know what made me feel unsafe when I entered the school that day. It's maybe because of the old man's struggle or me having a phobia of modern things; the school being futuristic or modern is the curse to me.

I definitely prefer normal schools, but my single-parent mother, Saima, is so rich that she wants me to study here. And I can't say no to her.

"Hello there, Ms. Winchester! Welcome to the Edison School," I hear the principal, Thomas Edison, standing in front of the entrance, say.

I smile gently at him. I suppose they change the school name accordingly to the current principal's name. The school is absolutely overfilled with interactive robots, escalators, and touchscreen displays to know where your class is located, in case you forget.

Students are way less weird than the school. They are not so well disciplined. If they had been in my previous school, they would definitely suffer.

My previous school was bullshit, but it was definitely better than this 'Edison School.' It's not that I hate modern things; it's just that I get nauseous when I oversee, overuse, or over-experience them.

I better be careful with the principal; I don't know when he might drag me into those modern projects or something else. I would vomit on him if he did that.

First Glance…

"Hey there…" I turn to see a guy. He seems pretty handsome. "What's your name?" he says, interrupting my thoughts.

"Oh hey… Catherine," I said nervously, "may I know yours?" I ask, trying to act as normal as possible.

"Pietro," he says with a soft smile, extending his hand, which I gladly accepted.

"Italian? Aren't you?" I ask again curiously.

He raises a brow, "It's the name, isn't it?" He chuckles, "But you are right," he says, still holding my hand, which is warm. I take my hand back when I realize I was holding his hand for way too long. I shake my head and smile.

"Can you help me find this classroom?" I look at the paper in my hand, which is just the info about me and the school. "12 (B)" I look up at him.

"I'll have no problem… We are in the same class, by the way." I follow him to the class.

"Oh, so glad to hear that," I say as we enter the class; looking around, I notice each student has an individual seat, which was not the case in my previous school.

Everything looks so favorable with the huge windows giving quite a good view… Well, it's not a problem when I get bored during the classes. I feel a hand on my shoulder; it is Pietro.

"Why don't you sit till the teacher, or I shall say Miss Kelvin, comes?" he says dramatically.

"What's with that tone?" I say, shaking my head with a smile.

"She can be so dramatic to the core sometimes."

I am about to reply when we hear, "Everyone sit down, and absolutely no noise." I chuckle and look at Pietro, who gives a knowing smile.

"All of you sit down," she says, keeping her books down, and when she looks up, "Today, we have a new student. Please come and introduce yourself… Pietro help her," she says.

As he is sitting beside me, I look at him in confusion, "Should I go in front of the class and do that?" I say.

"Here it is a little different…" he says and explains to me to fill in my details in the student's biography section in our provided iPads.

After the details are filled, Miss Kelvin calls me, "Miss Winchester, I'm your English teacher, and I hope you get along with everyone."

I hate when they call me 'Miss Winchester'; it's my so-called father's surname, who left me and my mom alone for another ugly woman. My mom was better for him. He is full of shit. My mother is no less an actress. She has this pretty voice and face, which can melt any man. I had a doubt from before that my dad, Alan, was a psychopath. He was very weird. He used to touch me differently. You can make out when he touches with a dad-daughter intention or a man-toy intention. I am literally so thankful to God for making him get out of our family. At least, my mother and I will not be used as toys anymore.

I feel respected... and offended. "Hey, guys. It's so nice to meet you all! And please just call me Catherine," I inform.

"Nice to meet you too, Catherine!" they say altogether.

I underestimated this school. At least I thought so. The classes go on. The teachers were way more interactive than my old school teachers. They interacted via the tabs sometimes. The bell rings.

"It's the lunch break, class. You may now go to the cafeteria or the lunch area," the teacher says.

It's lunchtime...

Pietro holds my hand and drags me to the cafeteria and gives me a tour and tells me what to do when I already know it. Usually, people admit that they already know it, but me, I do not. I'd love to spend more time with him. While he gives a tour, he gives his brief introduction, where again I had already seen his details in the "Students' Bio Data Section." And I again listen to whatever he says instead of just admitting that I already know it. Everything he says just feels heavenly to me. I am staring, staring, and staring.

Pietro is 5-7 inches taller than me. He is definitely handsome, he studies well, he is flawless at volleyball, and most importantly, he is a novel reader. I mean, if you want a boyfriend—who is handsome, plays some sports, is good at academics, and is a novel reader—he is the one.

My cheeks flushed red when he held my hand. I am so glad I came to this school. Pietro is just like my dream boy. My first day is going well. The look he gives me makes me feel like butterflies are all over my body. His thick eyebrows, his light brown eyes, his dark curly hair, and his pointed nose—I just can't stop looking at him.

As he finishes his 'cafeteria tour,' he stops at a table with a bunch of people, "So Catherine… these are my friends." I nod, looking at them.

Our hands now apart.

"Oh, nice to meet you all."

"Nice to meet you too," one of the girls says; she introduces herself as Fatima.

"Come join us." I suppose he is Danielle; I mean, I saw everyone's biodata.

"Sure, but I forgot my lunch in the class." I scratch the back of my head.

"I'll come with you if you want." Danielle says.

Why is everyone so good? I wish this was my first school, but anyways.

Danielle is no less than Pietro. I know this is going to be dramatic, but he looks like a movie star… but unlike Pietro, he isn't talking much… I look at him as we walk to the class, "So, you're Danielle?"

"Oh, yeah… it's me." He says with a smile, and like this, we were talking till we reached the classroom.

"..."

I am finding my lunchbox.

"..." Awkward silence...

I look at Danielle. "I think I forgot the box." I scratch my neck.

"Oh, no problem… you can share with us." Danielle says. I nod as we stand there in silence.

"I'm sorry—"

"Well, I don't—" We both speak at the same time. I mentally slap myself. "Hmm… you can say."

"Oh yeah, so I was telling you that I know this is awkward with me; I'm kinda awkward around new people, you know, so," he says nervously, but his voice is firm.

"Well, I can understand; I'm the same at times, but I'm sure we will get along soon." I say, patting his shoulder. But, to be honest, after she betrayed me, I am starting to mark my boundaries, but fuck it, let's not speak about it for now.

"You were saying something?" Danielle says.

"Well… I was telling you that… I'm dumb to forget my lunch on my first day, and on that I forgot my lunch money," I say playfully; he chuckles. I would hate to admit it, but it sounds like heaven. I know it sounds weird, but hey, come on, I'm a teenager.

"Oh, no, no, you are not... Let's go," and we soon reach the cafeteria while randomly chatting about things.

I eat with them and return back to classes… So there's this guy in my class, Ali; he is kind of a nerd. It seems like he talked with no one, so I decide to talk with him. He kept his replies short, and then soon the bell rings. "Ohh, the bell rang. Bye then, Ali." I say packing my bag.

As I am packing, Pietro stands beside me and asks, "So where is your house?"

"Oh, nearby," I say.

"If you want, I can walk you," he asks again.

And my cheeks turn a slight shade of pink, "Su—sure…"

I say my goodbyes to everyone, and we start walking to my home; we were talking about the school, our hands slightly touching.

"We are here," I say. "Do you wanna come in?"

"No, I have to go, but next time surely I'll come," he says.

"Oh, okay, see you tomorrow" I say as I stand at my gate watching him leave; I am blushing as I enter. Then I change practically and do my normal routine.

I am dumb!

"How was the day, hun?" my mother asks with curiosity.

"It was the perfect day a new kid will need," I say as I hug my mother. "Thank you for choosing this school for me," I add.

"I knew it. I knew it. I made the right choice."

"You surely did. I'm a little exhausted. I'll take a nap and get back to you, Mama."

"Sure, hun."

I go to my messy room. I love to keep my room clean, but everything happens the opposite of what I love. I have a habit of keeping a journal to track my everyday progress, as I am going through depression because of that friend and my father (obviously).

My therapy sessions are still in progress. The upcoming Monday is my next session. The therapist, Olivia, is the best. She does some great therapy. I feel good and relaxed when I attend her therapy sessions. I didn't have anything to do but continue reading my favorite book series. 'The Housemaid Is Watching' is the third and last book of 'The Housemaid' book series written by Freida McFadden.

Instead of taking a nap, I start to read the novel. I am a big liar, I agree. To escape reality, I would read, but now I don't want to escape reality because of the things I experienced today. I just want to be in the reality and continue. But I had a goal to finish this book series by the next session of my therapy. So, I have to read it; however, the book is fast-paced; I'll finish it soon.

My eyelids are feeling too heavy right now—not that the book is boring; it's that I slept at 3 in the morning today. So, I keep the novel on the bookshelf, which varies from the darkest to the softest romance novels, mostly dark. I am a dark romance novel reader. And I love the dark romance novels a lot.

I like soft romance novels too, but I am very specific about them. Like I have read, 'the Love Hypothesis' by Ali Hazelwood, 'Heartstopper' by Alice Oseman, 'Powerless' by Lauren Roberts, 'Book Lovers' by Emily Henry, and many more.

I so badly want Pietro to love the novels that I love. I lay on my bed. Within two to three minutes, I pass out.

~~~~~