A New World

He glared at Nia while he traveled his gaze in Cassie's direction. Without another word, Cassie scoffed, rolling her eyes as she turned on her feet while folding her arms in the process and sauntered off together with her friends to their seats.

Nia stared briefly at their backs as they settled in their seats which were the first two desks on the front row from her left. She instinctively sighed. "What a great first welcome." She grumbled mentally to herself, being a bit sarcastic.

Iris was no different either as she also watched the too-proud Cassie and her girls take their seats. She glanced back at Nia who was still standing and slightly pulled her hand, gesticulating her to sit.

Nia deftly turned her gaze back to the intruder who just saved her to show her gratitude only to see him back in his initial position. Her brows instinctively furrowed whiles her expression turned into a skeptical look.

"I don't know why those girls always like to bully people." She heard Iris mumble over her shoulders but she gave her no audience as her concentration was still on the boy.

Iris on the other hand had no idea Nia was still standing with her gaze fixed on the intruder as she was busy rummaging through her bag for her textbook whiles talking.

"Hey, are you..." She began, turning to Nia as she pulled out the textbook but paused between words when she saw her eyes fixed in the distance. "What are you looking at?" She muttered, stretching her neck to have a glimpse of what Nia was looking at.

"Hmm..." Nia fumbled, slowly taking her seat as she turned her gaze to Iris. "Is he always like this?" She questioned with a creased brow.

"Who," Iris acknowledge, dropping the textbook on the desk while she flipped through. "Emery?" She added, burying herself into her book as she finally found the page she was searching for.

"Is that his name?" Nia addressed, swiftly glancing at him and then back to Iris.

"Of course." She scoffed without looking up. "And you two never get along. You're like fire and petroleum, I don't understand though." She uttered but then slightly tilted her head on second thought as she instinctively glanced up at Nia. "You don't remember anything at all?" She questioned.

But Nia just twisted her lips as she slightly shook her head. "I just can't believe this," Iris muttered, twirling her head back into what she was reading. "I should just keep reading." Nia heard her say and her lips curved into a smile.

But then, there were still lots of things she wanted to know about herself; like the kind of person, she was. Judging from what she just got from Iris about herself and Emery, she felt she harbors some sense of maliciousness.

"Was I a jerk?" She suddenly blurted out which made Iris sneer.

"A badass." Iris snapped in. " I think that's the word that best suited you when you were in that girl group of yours." She added, tipping her head in Cassie's direction.

"You mean Cassie and I were friends?" Nia gasped with a slack jaw, her eyes slightly widened as her mind couldn't comprehend the mere fact that they had been friends before. How did they cohabit? She asked herself, quietly puzzled. Giving it a critical thought, they were two different personalities. Far beyond her imagination.

The expression on her face was enough to sell her out as Iris instinctively nudged her arm. "Don't worry about your head. You were just like her." She pointed out, returning to her book. "But to what happened between you two, I have no idea about." She swiftly added.

Nia was quite surprised by this piece of information. There were a lot of things that still seemed hidden about this teenager. she thought. "Was there any dark past she was trying to run away from but felt shielded in?" She grumbled mentally to herself. "I need to find out more." She added as her mind went back to the diary but then, that diary didn't say much. It looked more like shielded information.

She was still in her thoughts when their teacher staggered into the class. "Class– show your respect." She heard Iris' voice break within the walls of the class while shrugging to her feet, bringing her back to reality as the rest of the students followed Iris's reaction.

Nia also jerked up from her seat, joining in so as not to be the bad nut. "Good morning– sir." They chorused.

"Good morning." The teacher replied, dropping his books on the table while he took his stand in front of the class. At that moment, he noticed Nia. He instinctively gestured for them to have their seat whiles his gaze rested on her.

"How are you feeling now Nia?" He questioned, taking her unaware.

"Ah– fine I guess?" Nia answered with a half-shrug and a slightly raised eyebrow. She notice from the back of her eye Cassie snorted, rolling her eyes in the process.

Nia badly wanted to know the problem she had with her but then, that will have to wait until class ends.

"Okay–" She heard the teacher say, flipping the textbook before he opened it. "So our last topic was on landscapes." He continued whiles the entire class sat ears edged as they concentrated on the lessons.

"What are landscapes?" He questioned as his eyes scanned through the class.

"Yes–Emery?" He called, making the entire students glance at him. Nia was no different either.

Though he was reluctant, he managed to get to his feet with the gazes of some of the students still fixed on him which Nia was among.

"Landscapes are all the visible features of an area of land, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal." He answered which was quite unexpected of him. "Examples of these are Wetland, Desert, Tundra, etc." He went on, giving out more examples for which the class applauded him.

"That's not bad," Nia grumbled to herself as she wasn't expecting much from him.

"Okay," Mr. Bruce, their geography teacher stuttered. "So we move to the next topic." He began.

The rest of the hour passed by with Mr. Bruce talking more about the types of landscapes while the students listened attentively.

After about 5mins, the bell finally rang for a break. The entire class chorused their appreciation and Mr. Bruce staggered out of the class. Just as he stepped out, the class broke into rumpus as students found their way into the corridors.

Nia jerked up from her desk at that instant and strolled towards Cassie and her gang who were putting their things together and about to leave. Both Iris and Emery stared expectantly at her back as she neared her.

Cassie on the other hand was busy packing her books and didn't even notice when Nia walked up to her.

"Can we talk?" Nia uttered, making Cassie glance deftly at her.

Cassie's mouth instinctively curved into a slight close-lipped smile with one raised eyebrow. "Of course." She slightly tucked her chin as they Locked eyes.