corrupted lungs | d.w #Wattys2016

prologue

She stared the building up and down, taking in its features and watching the students she didn't knew yet rushing inside. It was a big school, bigger than the ones she'd been to before. Just by looking at the windows, you could see it was many enough to make the lighting inside just perfect, and she hadn't even seen the inside yet.

She adjusted her backpack that hung over her shoulder as she took her first steps inside of her new school.
Inside, she was met by fresh air, feeling like she still was outside. She scanned across the halls, some students glancing at her, some greeting her with smiles that reached their eyes.

She soon found the locker she'd been assigned. Everything about her new school had been sent to her in an email, which was different for her, since in all her other, past schools they'd met with her a day before to give her the information. But honestly, she preferred getting an email.

She stuffed her things inside, got her notebook and pen before locking up her locker and moving down the hall towards her first class. Here, no one bumped into her or 'accidentally' knocked the books out of her hand.
Here, people walked calmly and chatted with each other without any trouble.

Her first class was math. She didn't like math, actually, she hated it, but always greeted her teachers with a smile and always looked interested while taking notes, it didn't matter what class it was.

She was given a book and an exercise book. The teacher, whose name was Mr. Wentz, introduced her in front of the class before giving her a seat next to a girl named Sarah, and the class started.

"Hi," Sarah had told her once Mr. Wentz review on the board was done and they were allowed to work by themselves. "So you're the new girl." She didn't say it in a cocky, jealous, 'I already do not like you' way that others did. She said it as more of a statement.

"What's your name?" Sarah later on asked, and the new girl replied with a smile,

"Gabrielle. And you're Sarah, if I got that right."
Sarah had giggled at that, and that's how they made contact in the first place.

Two hours later, it was time for lunch, and Gabrielle followed Sarah and her friends inside of the big dining hall. It was well lit up, with big windows covering each wall, just like the rest of the building.

They got seated by a small table in the middle of the room that had good sight over the rest of the tables and the students sitting by them.

Gabrielle had looked across the room, glancing at the students. Some she had seen before, in class, but some were strangers. No one really caught her attention, until her eyes had landed on a boy who sat alone by a table in the corner of the room. He was dressed in black tight jeans, a grey tee shirt and a coat hanging over his shoulders and even though he was seated, you could see that he was tall. Like, super tall. His hair was colored in a dark brown, well styled color and his skin was a glowing warm tone. And he looked very lonely.

Gabrielle had nudged Sarah in the side, her eyes still on the boy in the corner. "Who's that?" She had asked, and Sarah had looked the same direction as her before she replied,
"Oh. That's D. I don't know more than that he's pretty lonely, and really weird." She shrugged and Gabrielle wondered what his full name was, like the curious being she were, but no one knew, they only had guesses.

She found it odd that no one knew the boy's name, since he seemed to be pretty well known around the school, from what she heard of the people around the table. She continued to watch him as he picked with his fork on the food, only taking a few bites of it.

She was just about to look away from him, when his gaze suddenly met hers from across the room. She felt the hair in her neck stand up, her whole body tense as his eyes continued to stare into hers. It felt like his eyes impaled her, like he could see right through her, and read her like a book. But in between all that, she felt connected to him in a way she'd never felt connected to anyone before.