Page 4 of Transition

“Make friends, huh?”That was the one thing I sucked at the most.

CHAPTER FOUR

My head was spinning, and it had everything to do with the piece of paper I had clutched in my hand. I adjusted the strap of my satchel and walked down the hall for what seemed like the millionth time.How hard could it be to find room 401?

It would have been nice if the receptionist had given me directions alongside my schedule. Instead, the red-headed woman - who couldn’t even pretend to be bothered - had merely handed the paper to me as her gaze focused on the computer game she was playing.

“Ugh,” I groaned out in frustration, but then I spotted a sign that pointed the way to a row of rooms containing 401.

Following the sign, I scanned for 401, but I stopped when I reached one particular room. Not because it was the right one, but because of its occupant.

A boy dressed in clothing similar to mine - except for his heavy dark boots - stood peering into a beaker filled with green liquid. Judging from the ingredients he had lying around on the desk, I knew exactly what kind of experiment he was conducting.

I pushed open the door just as he muttered something under his breath and impatiently shoved back his brown hair. He stiffened when I stopped at the desk next to him.

“If you add the ammonia after adding the rest, it’s going to keep giving you that slimy green color,” I told him. “You have to add it before.”

The boy slowly raised his head and stared at me with deep green eyes that held so much intensity that it felt like I was transfixed under a spell. “I hadn’t thought of that, thanks,” he said.

I blinked. He was British,veryhandsome and British. “Um, I’m new here. Would you happen to know where Room 401 is?” I asked quickly, not about to be distracted from my original mission.

“Oh, that’s where I’m headed.” He quickly scrawled something into a tiny open book on the desk before closing it and picking it up, along with a backpack. “Come on. I’ll take you there.”

I followed him out the door and we headed down the hallway.

“I’m Aaron, by the way,” he said, turning to make sure I was still behind him.

“Kat,” I offered, with a shy smile.

“Nice to meet you, Kat. I hope you enjoy Redwood.”

We made it into the classroom precisely fifteen minutes late. Despite this, the calculus teacher didn’t say a word to Aaron about his lateness, which made me raise a curious brow. I, on the other hand, was asked to introduce myself to the entire class, something that I had been dreading all day.

“Hello, my name is Kat. I recently moved here from LA,” I said in a quiet voice.

I proceeded to take my seat on an empty chair beside a boy with curly red hair and beautiful gray eyes with thick-rimmed glasses. I knew immediately that he was a nerd as he diligently wrote down everything the teacher said in his large notebook. However, contrary to the general opinion that nerds were unattractive, this particular one was drool-worthy.

After the class ended, he turned to me with an outstretched hand.

“Hi, I’m Liam.”

I took his steady hand, muttering, “Kat.” Like I said, I was never good with people.

“Making friends with the new girl already, Eddison?”

Another boy appeared beside us, looking like the ideal image of a high school quarterback: blond hair, blue eyes, six feet tall. He was wearing a look that exuded the confidence that could only come from popularity.

Liam rolled his eyes in a bored manner.

“This is Mason. He’s a total jackass, but he’s my friend so you can trust him.”

Well, that’s new. At my old school, popular kids didn’t hang around with nerds, let alone be friends with them. Redwood was indeed an entirely different place.

“Glad to make your acquaintance, cherié,” Mason said with a flirty smile that had no doubt made many girls go weak in the knees.

“Back off, guys. I saw her first,” said Aaron as he came to stand before me with a slightly playful smile on his lips.

Mason sent Liam a look of surprise as he clapped Aaron on the back. “Did he just make a joke?”

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