Page 2 of I Always Will

The walk was short and she arrived in plenty of time. Jess was already waiting at the gates for her when she arrived, looking genuinely terrified of the much larger grounds and the adult-sized year elevens walking past her. The relief on her face when she saw Hailey was echoed in Hailey’s chest—though she’d never admit that out loud—and Hailey knew then that they would be each other's friends until everything around them stopped feeling like panic.

Together, they’d waited for Liam to show up, and the three of them had headed across the asphalt playground towards the main hall where they would be welcomed.

That hadn’t been too bad either. Everyone else in the queue around them had looked as terrified as they did. Hailey had wondered whether the second day—when all year groups were back—would be worse or better.

She filed that away to ask her mum about when she got home.

Jess and Liam had chatted quietly with her, she’d forced on her smile, attempted to look confident and friendly, and shuffled forwards as the line allowed.

And then they’d been split up.

A pair of teachers stood at the door to the hall, greeting the new pupils, asking their names, and sending them off to the correct area of the hall. Seats had been set up in form groups, and your form group was going to be yours for the next five years.Better get a good one, Hailey thought to herself as the young, blonde teacher next to her looked for her name.

“Ah, yes, Hailey Davis,” she smiled down at Hailey. “7T with Miss Torbin. Right over there.”

Hailey followed the direction of her finger and couldn’t help but notice neither Jess nor Liam had been sent that way.

She nodded. “Thanks, Miss.”

Luckily, most of the kids in her form hadn’t seemed to know anyone else there either. Mostly, they just sat silently, looking at the planner and documents they had been given to avoid speaking to each other and waiting for someone to tell them what to do with themselves and their lives.

They’d been introduced to the school and the staff in the room, they’d been given their timetables and assured people would be around to help direct them for the first few days. The headteacher had also implied that, should they continue getting a little lost later in the week, the older pupils would be more than happy to help direct them. Hailey had frowned very slightly at that. She might be new here, but even she knew it would depend massively on the type of older pupil you asked for help. There were some, she was certain, who wouldn’t care enough to give helpful directions to a lost year seven. It wasn’t malicious, they just didn’t care. There were others who would get a kick out of sending you in the wrong direction. That wasn’t a judgement either, it was just part of being around teenagers who were stuck in school all day.

But it was nice the headmaster thought the best of everyone.

Luckily, finding the maths building had not been difficult. Though, Hailey was sure that having Maths on a Monday morning would become difficult soon enough. She supposed at least it wasn’t first period. That was reserved for history, which she liked, but they hadn’t made it to today because of the extended welcome assembly.

In all honesty, she didn’t mind maths either, it was just a class she had to pay more attention in. And who had the energy for that on a Monday morning?

She stepped forward again, now at the front of the line, and waited for the teacher to ensure the person in front of her made it to their seat. The teacher didn’t look too bad—a little serious and like she wouldn’t take any nonsense, but that was fine. Perhaps everyone looked like that here. This wasn’t primary school anymore and teachers weren’t going to be as fluffy and welcoming as they had been back there.

“Hello, I’m Mrs. Rhone,” the teacher said, looking down at Hailey. “And who might we have here?”

“Hailey Davis, Miss,” she replied, forcing her voice to be confident and assured. No matter what she didn’t know, she was confident in who she was.

Mrs. Rhone smiled. It wasn’t as warm as the smile Miss Torbin had given her when she’d handed Hailey her timetable, but it was the kind of smile that was assessing, appraising, and Hailey could get on board with that too. She knew she had to impress Mrs. Rhone, and she would, but she’d still be herself as she did it. “You’re in the back corner, far left, next to Alexandria. You may talk to your shoulder partner while everyone is getting situated, but please keep the volume to a reasonable level.”

“Yes, Miss,” Hailey replied, her eyes locked on her seat and her very stiff-looking shoulder partner.

Hailey knew the back row was a coveted position, chosen—in a situation with no seating plan—by those who were cool and liked to chat. She knew the purpose of a seating plan was to throw off friendship groups and avoid clusters like that. She did not know how Mrs. Rhone had managed to put the most serious, conscientious pupil in the whole class in the back corner before she’d even met them. It was an odd sort of miracle for a teacher.

Alexandria stiffened further when Hailey stopped at the seat next to her, jumping like the chair had been scrapped along a metal floor, rather than being dragged over carpet. It wasn’t the softest carpet in the world—it was that navy blue, industrial stuff that would give you one hell of a carpet burn—but it wasn’t metal.

“Hello,” Hailey said warmly. “I’m Hailey Davis. Nice to meet you.” Alexandria might be nervous around new people, but this was Hailey’s time to shine.

Alexandria looked up at her. She had big, wide hazel eyes, and a slightly too-fast breathing pattern. She was terrified. “Hello.”

Hailey’s smile transformed into something more smirk-like. She was delighted Alexandria was talking to her, but she had not expected such a formal tone from someone who was eleven years old. Perhaps she should have. It did fit with her initial assessment of Alexandria, but the scared little expression she’d gotten in response to saying hello had her expecting something softer, more unsure.

“I’m Alexandria Daley,” she continued in that overly formal tone. Hailey wondered whether that was always how she spoke.

It could be. Everything about her was pressed and perfect. Her uniform crisp and new. Hailey supposed most of their uniforms were—unless they’d had them passed down from older siblings—but something about Alexandria’s made it look like it had been starched to within an inch of its life. Her long hair was pulled back in a neat braid that fell perfectly down the middle of her back and was nothing like the haphazard ponytail Hailey was sporting.

It was only as she dropped into her seat—her pencil case and new planner pulled out of her bag and placed at the front of her desk as their head teacher had instructed they do in every class—that she fully registered what Alexandria’s name was. She looked around the room, hoping to spot someone she knew. Sure enough, there was Liam—last name Yannis—sitting on the other side of the room, awkwardly looking at his shoulder partner and then away again.

The other side of the room. The other side of the alphabet.

They were sitting in alphabetical order by last name.

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