Summary: A more detailed look at Poppy and James' first meeting. Originally written in 2004 as an LJSanta present for Pandie.
Disclaimers: The concepts and characters of the Night World belong to L.J. Smith.
Bloody Quills 2004 - Short Category - 1st
Bloody Quills 2004 - Romance Category - 2nd
Childlike Innocence
"Now . . ." Poppy said to herself, holding up tiny, chubby hands—one red, one green—pondering her next move, "What next?"
In front of her was a rather marvelous picture of a garden, elegantly done in finger paints. Something was missing from it, though she couldn't quite grasp what it was. Closing her eyes, she let one hand drift over her palette-a piece of construction paper with colorful globs of liquid-hoping that the next move would come to her.
Her brow furrowed as a noise at the front of the room disrupted her concentration. She looked up to see what had caused the disturbance, surprised to see a slim boy coming in the door of the classroom. He looked nervous as the teacher took a paper from his hand, his large, gray eyes wandering around the room quickly. They met Poppy's before turning back to the teacher.
"Class, it seems we have a new student with us today. This is James Rasmussen."
Poppy watched as he took a seat at the table next to her, the other students whispering quickly. She felt uncomfortable, as if she could sense how scared James was. It completely threw off her artistic vibe, leaving her painting unfinished. She gave a heavy sigh as she pushed it away, getting up from her chair to wash her hands.
.:*:.
When recess rolled around, Poppy found herself in the sandbox, helping Phil put the finishing touches on his latest architectural achievement: a fort for his GI Joes.
He had thought her painting had been very pretty, no matter how much she disagreed. However, he hadn't liked James too well. He didn't know what it was, but he thought that the new boy was weird. Different.
Poppy was going to begin a lecture about how it was wrong to dislike someone just because he was different, but was distracted by a scuffle near the kickball field. It was James and a bunch of the bigger boys from class. They had the smaller boy surrounded, yelling hurtful things at him.
"Where's Miss Mitchell?" she asked, looking around the playground.
Phil glanced at the fight and snorted, going back to his pail and sand.
She spotted the teacher by the swing set, much too far away to get to the boys before James was hurt. An instant decision had Poppy charging across the playground, Phil yelling for her to come back.
The boys didn't see her until she was swinging, putting her right fist into their bellies, kicking them in the shins, and smacking them across the face. Two of the boys fell to the ground while the other three ran away. "That's right!" she yelled after them. "Get out of here!"
She turned to James, seeing the look of shock in his eyes. Leaning her head to the side, she smiled and asked, "Wanna be friends?"
He stood silent for a few moments, staring at her almost cynically. Untrusting.
Then a tiny smile played at his lips as he nodded bashfully.
Poppy grinned triumphantly. Offering her hand, she said, "Come on. I'll show you around."
When his hand met hers, there was a shift in the air. Her arms perked up like goose flesh and her heart picked up pace.
And somewhere, deep inside, Poppy knew.
A/N: This was originally written in 2004 under my old penname, SoraiaNW. I'm slowly adding all of my old fic to my current name. :)
