Falling For You#romance#fiction#friendship#high schoolers#love at first sight

Chapter 1 Mara, a young beautiful girl in her teens, found herself in the middle of Border town high school as a transfer student due to some complications. It was her first senior year and she didn't plan on making new friends but she was nervous as it was her first day."It's going to be a really long day" she said to herself. Mara tightened the straps of her backpack as she walked through the busy hallway. Students laughed in groups, some exchanged holiday stories while others rushed to their classrooms before the next bell. She felt invisible among them, yet somehow every passing glance made her even more nervous. "New school... new classmates... new teachers," she thought. "Please don't let anyone notice me today." Moving schools wasn't something she had ever wanted. Leaving behind the friends she had grown up with still hurt, but life didn't always give people a choice. Her mother's transfer to Border Town had forced them to start over. She missed the familiar streets of her old town, her favourite bookstore, and even the old mango tree outside their previous home. Taking a deep breath, she whispered to herself, "You'll be fine, Mara. Just survive today." After the morning class session, the bell rang announcing break time. Zara being a shy type, concluded on going to the school's garden to eat lunch as hardly anyone goes there often. She walked past the hallway, the school's cafeteria and then followed through a crowd of fellow high schoolers in order to get to the garden with her lunch. After the successful walk, behold the garden right in front of her. Her eyes widened "it's really beautiful and I'm glad I found it."The school garden was breathtaking. A narrow stone path curved gently through rows of blooming flowers. Purple jacaranda petals floated lazily through the breeze, landing softly on the neatly trimmed grass. Butterflies danced from flower to flower while birds chirped high in the branches above. In the centre stood a small fountain whose gentle splashing drowned out the noise from the rest of the school. Mara smiled for what felt like the first time that morning. "So this is where everyone disappears..." She found an empty bench beneath the largest jacaranda tree and slowly unpacked the lunch her mother had prepared earlier that morning. There was a sandwich, a small juice box and slices of fresh apples. "Mum always worries too much," she thought with a small laugh. For a brief moment... She forgot she was the new girl.As she admired the colourful flowers, a gentle wind blew through the garden. Purple petals swirled around her like tiny butterflies. She stretched out a hand to catch one. At the same moment... Her shoe landed on a loose stone. Distracted by the wonderful vibe in a beautiful garden setting, she missed a step and slipped. As she lost her balance on the garden path, his arm wrapped around her waist before she could fall. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Her hands rested against his chest, and all she could hear was her heartbeat, all she could see was even fair skin, dark brown eyes, a sharp nose and lips as pink as pink rose and by just looking at those lips, she could tell they were equally soft.For a few seconds, time itself seemed to stop. Mara could feel the warmth of his arm around her waist. She had never been this close to a stranger before. His heartbeat was surprisingly calm. Unlike hers. She quickly looked away, afraid he would notice the blush spreading across her cheeks. "Why is he looking at me like that?" Ethan couldn't explain it either. The girl standing in front of him looked completely different from everyone else at school. She wasn't trying to impress anyone. She wasn't smiling loudly or pretending to be confident. She simply looked... real. "She's beautiful," he admitted silently. "I've never seen her before." The sudden sound of her grumbling stomach snapped out of her day dream. It was quite embarrassing but at least it made her remember she is hungry and has to eat something so she pushed him light and gentle and began walking into the garden to find somewhere convenient to eat. "At least say your name" he called out, but she didn't budge "hmmm" he said and walked away. Ethan watched her disappear between the rows of flowers. He chuckled softly. "Interesting." His teammate Clyde appeared from another path carrying two basketballs. "There you are," Clyde called. "What are you doing out here?" Ethan looked toward the direction Mara had gone. "Nothing." Clyde followed his gaze. "You don't look like 'nothing.'" Ethan smiled to himself. "The new girl almost fell." "And?" "I caught her." Clyde burst into laughter. "So that's why you're smiling." "I'm not smiling." "You are." "I am not." "You've been staring into flowers for almost two minutes." Ethan rolled his eyes. "Let's just get to practice." As they walked away, Ethan glanced back one last time. He didn't even know her name. But somehow... He already wanted to see her again. Ever since that day, he repeatedly saw that image of her, the image of a long brown haired girl with perfect height and size, drop dead gorgeous and beautiful all at once. And at the same time, it's easy to make any guy fall hard to his knees, madly in love. "I do hope I'm not falling in love with her," he thought. "It'd be really dangerous for me and for her too, she could be a first year.