RORY

I can feel the tension rising in the air around us as we walk to class, the silence almost haunting. I don't know what I should say, or if I should say anything at all. What if he thinks I'm silly, or that I'm trying too hard? No, it's better to keep silent and hope that maybe, just maybe he'll break the ice. I mentally curse my social anxiety, hating how it finds a way to show up at the worst times.

"So...do you normally give the tours?" Emmett asks, and I lift my head to find his piercing golden gaze on me. It's so intense that I find myself desperately wanting to look away.

"S—sometimes, yes, but they usually ask the seniors to do it," I stutter softly, earning a small nod.

"This is it," I announce as we approach a painted door; the light blue paint is chipped ever so slightly from age, and the faded letters across the door spell out 'English'.

"Mr. Shepard is a great teacher. I may be a little biased, but I think you'll enjoy his class," I say with an awkward smile, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of him whether it be secondhand embarrassment or a smile.

He simply looks at me before opening the door and stepping inside. I quickly follow, managing to slide through as the door starts to close behind him. So manners aren't a priority with him, I conclude silently as I sit down at my desk, my chair wobbling a bit under my weight. I look at my books, wondering why he wouldn't talk to me and if I had done something wrong.

"Hello...earth to Rory," a hushed whisper pulls me from my thoughts, and I turn to see my friend Sadie with a look of confusion plastered across her cheeks. I groan, remembering that I was supposed to meet up with her in the library before class to go over notes.

"I am so sorry Sadie," I apologize, keeping my voice low so I won't interrupt the class. "Mrs. Jeanie wanted me to show the new family around. I totally forgot about our plans."

Sadie gives me a warm smile and quickly shakes her head. "Don't worry about it. So is that one of the new kids?"

I turn my head just enough to look back at Emmett. He didn't seem to notice, though, with his head propped up by his hand and eyes glued to the window.

"Yeah, that's Emmett. He's a bit...anti-social," I answer her question, pausing briefly to come up with the right word to describe him.

"He's cute," she giggles, and I throw her a look that says 'don't go there'. I mean sure he's...very attractive, but anyone you can't hold a conversation with isn't worth the effort you'd be putting into the mix. Or at least, that's what I believe.

As if sensing our conversation, his head turns in our direction. Sadie lets out a soft squeak as we quickly turn around to face the front, just in time for the teacher to enter the classroom. I flip to the right page in my book before sinking further into my seat, my cheeks a bright crimson. There's no way he could've heard us...right? He's sitting in the back, a good four rows behind us, so he couldn't have. It's not possible. The teacher cuts through my thoughts as he begins to call role, and soon all worries involving Emmett Cullen ceased to exist.