Surprise, surprise…

"At that very moment, the thundering of a shot drowned the room and I felt a sting stabbing me from behind, in my left shoulder. In a reflex, James turned around and threw the metallic jumble to the redhead man standing behind and pointing his weapon at us…"

1. "Jennifer Catherine Walters"

Do you believe in love at first sight? I'll be honest with you:

I didn't since a while before leaving Washington, a little after I finished high school. However, it all changed for me when I started college. Dad's friends had always told me: "Never say never. Maybe you'll meet the woman of your life there", and also "anything can happen in college. Take nothing for granted, because it'll be an awesome time for you", "Expect anything. You never know when something extraordinary will happen" or things like that, but I never believed them.

I believe I should start from the beginning of my story, since it would be the fairest thing for you, my dear readers. It all begins two weeks before the end of September 2002, when I got my acceptance letter into Empire State University, one of the most prestigious colleges in New York City. Without expecting my parents' response, I looked for a room to rent as cheap and close to campus as I could get, packed my stuff, took my savings (almost eight thousand bucks I kept since I was seven years old from every birthday gift, allowance and Grandpa Lou's graduation gift) and left, never looking back.

My car, an old 1969 Volkswagen Beetle that belonged to my father, and I, traveled the 236 miles that separated both cities in barely six hours (way good for that wonderful car's engine, I would say) and finally settled in Manhattan island, in Chrystie Street 187. It was a very modest dorm building. The only bad thing was that I had to share the bathroom with the other inmates, but it was a good place where I stayed a couple of weeks while I got an apartment to settle in more comfortably.

Of course, the "Big Apple" was totally different from D.C. It's a huge city, even for those who are used to the urban way of life. Everything goes really fast over there and there's no time to doubt; everyone will run you over without even blinking. No one has time and they're always immersed in their particular bubble, isolated from the rest of the world. That turned out to be quite frustrating for me, but I could only adapt to it. It didn't take long, actually, which amazes me.

The day after my arrival, I made my application in the Empire State University (or E.S.U., which is shorter) official. I couldn't believe it. It was one of the best colleges in the country and I got in. Eminences from every field of science, humanities and arts taught there. Names like Reed Richards, Leonard Samson, Curt Connors, among others that went through that university's classrooms and research centers were only some of the ones appearing on the information billboards, science awards' showcase and the local newspapers' front pages.

Once I had my class schedule, I discovered that activities started that very morning, so I rushed into my first subject: "Classic literature: Greek period". I could barely get to the classroom and the lecture had already started. It was a very capacious place, a hall that resembled the shape of a piece of cake. The desks described a semicircle from the lower part, where the professor's desk and the blackboard were, up to the door which I came in. The very moment I chose my spot, right beside the door, and sat down, everyone stared at me closely, even the professor, who stopped his explanation momentarily to look at his watch, give me a look of disapproval and then carry on like nothing happened.

Just as I imagined, the professor cut to the chase. He gave a brief introduction on Greek culture and how it's considered as the origin of much of our present culture. After giving us the textbooks list, he decided to put our Greek mythology knowledge to the test. Using a projector, he showed us a marble sculpture. "Let's see", he started, in a kind of malicious way as he looked at the students and walked up the stairs, "who can recognize this character?". He finally stopped at my desk and stared at me. He fixed his grayish blue eyes on me through his glasses; his round face, mostly covered with a short, dense and somewhat gray-haired beard indicated his academic character, just like his straw-looking hair, short and grey-haired, as well. I could tell he was medium height, maybe a little shorter than me by a few inches, and had a thick body constitution that matched that of his age and occupation, being a person who had devoted his life to cultivating his mind instead of his body.

"What do you have to say, young man?", he inquired, resting his hand on my desk. "Do you know who that is?". I felt everyone's eyes on me. I glanced quickly at them and then looked back to the teacher, who was convinced that I wouldn't answer, so he started walking again, turning his back on me.

- It's Palas Athena, professor – I answered, raising my voice –, the Greek goddess for warfare, civilization, wisdom, strategy, arts, justice and ability. She's known for always being present during battle, carrying Nike, the goddess of victory, in her right hand, godfathering the winning side.

The professor kept his eyes on me as I continued explaining, while turning his malice into amazement each second that went by.

- Tell me, young man, do you know any of her epithets? – he inquired with malice.

- I only remember her being called "owl-eyed", since she had green eyes, like the bird, which was also associated to wisdom.

He nodded with satisfaction as he resumed his march towards the lower part of the classroom to continue talking about this deity. I couldn't take my eyes off the picture, as I imagined the color of her eyes staring at me. For some reason, I always considered her as the kind of woman I felt attracted to. I don't know, it's just how I believe women are and should be: strong, intelligent, cultured and skillful. The rest of the period revolved around the origin of the Greek gods and a sneak peek of how lectures would be from then on, to conclude afterwards. Once he picked up his things, he slowly climbed the stairs to my desk and stopped.

"I was wrong about you, young man", he said misgivingly, "and you've showed me that you probably have great potential. Do not disappoint me". "I won't", I answered as I shook my head. "By the way", he added, "I don't usually tolerate tardiness", he went on calmly, "but I will make an exception just this time. From now on, get here on time, agreed?". I nodded slowly, he responded with a subtle arching of eyebrows and carried on. The moment he left, I took my right hand to my forehead, trying to cover my eyes with frustration, as I slowly went down the desk, just like I was letting myself go down to the floor. While I did this, my glasses fell a little, so I immediately took my hand off there.

Everyone started to go out the classroom after the professor did. However, a figure stood right before my desk and stayed there for a while. I looked up to see who it was. It turned out to be a girl and she kept watching me with disapproval in her eyes. It was hard for me to determine her height, because she was one step below me. Her skin was white, she had a light brown, straight hair that fell a bit below her shoulders, a delicate and profiled nose, which fit perfectly with her well-defined cheeks. Her blue eyes were staring at me, with a quite ironic smile that stressed the disapproval in her look. I put my glasses back to their place with my index finger as our eyes met.

- Quite a first day, huh? – she said with a tinge of sarcasm in her voice.

- Sure looks so – I answered in dryness.

- Make sure it doesn't happen again – she added, changing her scolding tone for a much friendlier one.

I just nodded mildly as I twisted my mouth in a grin. On the other hand, she smiled happily as she reached out her right hand to me.

- I'm Vanessa – she said, introducing herself.

- James – I answered, grasping it.

- Well, James, since you just enrolled, I'm sure you didn't read the billboard. The next period, "Language morphology", is suspended for today. The teacher is still on vacation, so there won't be any more class until tomorrow.

- Wow – I mumbled –, thanks.

She just smiled and left the classroom. It was only ten o' clock, so I had the rest of the day for me and myself only. I took my backpack and took off. Since I had enrolled in a rush, I decided to rest a little until noon and then I'd go look for a decent apartment to rent. I picked up my notebook and left the classroom. I wanted to explore the campus and become acquainted with my alma mater, which I shared with another 15.000 students. The first and only place I visited that day was the library. The building stood at the end of the property, some feet away from the street and almost half a block from the subway entrance.

Once I had walked around and seen how big it was, I decided to come in and take a look at the facilities, but I had to return to the entrance. I undoubtedly couldn't keep my eyes off the structure's facade as I walked around it. It was made out of red bricks, like most of the buildings in New York. I was spellbound by it as I walked under the shadow of two trees. Right at that moment, I tripped on something and fell hard against the grass, hitting my chin on the ground. My glasses flew off my face, falling one feet away from me. I put my left hand on the grass and got to raise up a few inches as I grabbed my sore chin with my right hand.

It took me a while to react and, after a few moments, I took my glasses and turned around to see who I had tripped on. Lying against the tree there was a girl, her expression was that of pain. Her left leg was extended while the other one was flexed, her sole resting on the grass. She had closed her eyes in pain and rubbed her right knee. I rushed to her. "Are you OK?", I asked nervously and worried at the same time.

She just moaned softly in pain while she pressed her lips together. Moments later, she opened her left eye and looked at me quickly, just to close it again. I could swear I had seen an emerald green bright in her eye, but she finally exhaled and looked at me again. I realized it was brown. She seemed angry for a while, but she smiled lightly later.

"Are you alright?", I babbled, ashamed. She tried to look at me in anger, but she couldn't hold herself anymore and bursted in laughter. I looked puzzled at her while she laughed.

- I'm sorry – she laughed – but I couldn't help it. You looked like you were about to have a heart attack!

- Really? – I inquired innocently.

She looked at me a bit impatiently while still smiling. She then shook her head as she sighed.

- Are you in this planet? – she asked impatiently while she snapped her fingers – It was a joke!

- Yes… yes – I answered while shaking my head -. I'm here.

- Doesn't look like it – she replied, extending her hand so I could help her stand up.

While she was standing, a red jacket and a book fell off her lap to the grass, while I repeated her last comment in my mind. Actually, she was right. I was somewhere else. In fact, I was spellbound to the sight of her. Looking at her brown eyes through the crystals in her glasses captivated me. Her short, brown hair, which reached down to her earlobe, seemed beautiful to me, and it looked shiny and silky. Her beautiful and delicate nose matched perfectly to her thin face. Her cheeks stood out each time she smiled and little dimples formed close to the corners of her mouth each time she did it. Her height was medium, her complexion slim. She looked fragile and feminine at the same time. She was wearing a white blouse with a golden pin close to her neck, she had a black skirt just above her knees and wore pantyhose with red low-heeled shoes.

Suddenly, she fixed her eyes on me. Actually, not because they corresponded my spellbound look, that of someone who falls in love for the first time. No. It was the look of someone who waited. When I reacted by lowering my vision a bit, I noticed her right hand extended to me again. This time, she meant to introduce herself.

- So? – she asked, impatiently – Don't you have a name?

- Yes, yes. Sorry. – I rushed to answer while shaking her hand –. My name is…um…

Yes: at that moment, I suffered a mental lapse. I had forgotten my own name like the biggest of idiots. I finally reacted and shook my head.

- I'm… McCleod – I stammered –… Ja-James McCleod.

- Nice to meet you, "McCleod, James McCleod" – she repeated laughing and using the same serious tone I had used to introduce myself -. I'm Jennifer Catherine Walters.

I didn't need to look at a mirror to see how much of a fool I was making out of myself at that moment. I gulped heavily and tried to look more relaxed.

- James Sullivan McCleod – I said casually while I dedicated her a friendly smile –.

- It's a pleasure to meet you – she replied, smiling back.

Right then, she sat again on the grass and beckoned me to join her, so I did. She took her book and the jacket back to her lap. She was about to open her book, "Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader", but she changed her mind. She took a leaf right beside her and used it as a bookmark. Then left the volume on the ground and looked at me closely. All that time, I couldn't stop staring at her. When our eyes met again, I could feel something I hadn't felt for a long time. It was that adrenaline rush running through my veins, indicating the emotion I felt for being close to her. I was attracted to her, no doubt about it, and most importantly: I think I was in love. But I wasn't quite sure.

- I'm from Los Angeles – she said, breaking the silence –. It's my first year of Law School in here.

- But U.C.L.A. is a great college – I replied in confusion -. Why didn't you go there?

- As L.A.'s Sheriff, dad wants to keep me out of trouble – she continued, in a darker voice, as she looked down -. That's why he sent me here.

- I'm sorry, I – I didn't mean to upset you.

She looked up while smiling. "Don't worry", she said with a renewed joy, "it's not as bad as you think". I smiled back. "You know?", she said casually, changing the subject, "I'm not from here, so, what if you show me around one of these days?". I tried to avoid her look, bashfully. "You see", I finally answered, "I don't know the city yet. I'm from Washington and barely arrived yesterday". "Then, I think", she added after laughing a bit, "we could tour together". She looked at me for a few seconds with a smile on her face. I was still spellbound.

The next thing I knew was that it was way over 1 o'clock when we realized. We had been talking about anything for those three hours. She jumped out of the grass and started to pick up her stuff frenetically. "I'm so late for work!", she cried while packing her book into her purse and taking her jacket. "Wait", I said, trying to calm her down, "I brought my car. What if I give you a lift?". She smiled softly but, after shaking her head a bit, she came back to her senses. "I'm sorry", she said, "it's too far away from here and I wouldn't make it on time. There's too much traffic to get there. I'll take the subway". She started walking towards the station right away.

- Wait! – I stopped her halfway to the station.

She turned to see me walk to her while looking desperately inside my backpack for something to write. I finally found a spare passport photo and a pen. I quickly wrote my phone number on the back of the picture and gave it to her. "This is for you to charge me for getting you late for work", I told her in shame. She smiled, then took the book out of her purse and put the photo on the page she had marked with the leaf, the proceeded to put it away again. Her expression shifted when she remembered how late it was. "Thanks!", she said while running away. "Talk to you later!".

I stood there, watching her until she disappeared on the corner. I was certainly stunned. I couldn't erase that smile, those beautiful brown eyes off my mind. I stood there for a couple of minutes, remembering her, until a soft breeze returned me to reality. "I think it's time to go home", I told myself while my stomach growled on hunger. As I walked back to the parking lot, I reviewed every detail of the gorgeous girl I had spent the last hours with. Something told me that we'd meet again soon, and that's exactly how it happened, but… WOW!