- The Socially Awkward Couple -
"Hey, Chels, what are you doing after school?" Julia asked, popping out from behind my gray locker door, causing me to jump.
"Dammit," I responded, dropping one of my textbooks onto the floor. When I picked up the book, I straightened out a few pages that were folded inward upon crashing to the ground and gave Julia a joking but nasty look.
"Sorry, sorry," she said, holding her hands out apologetically. As an extremely awkward girl, I didn't have many close friends. Plus, there were few people that understood and tolerated my sarcasm. So it was relatively easy to forgive her when it came down to it.
"It's okay," I said as I continued to pack my bag. Other students were bumping into us as they tried to make their way through this narrow hallway to the world outside. Although we were a fairly small school, the prospect of going home gave the small student population the same energy as any other larger school. "I'm going to the Farming Club meeting. And then there's always homework to do."
"Oh, you're no fun, and I never get to see you anymore. I miss bugging you all the time," Julia replied with a pout and large, sad eyes. Her usual cow print bow tie was tied perfectly in her blonde hair. Julia was more feminine than I was. I never really tried to look super attractive. Comfort was more my thing, which was something Julia couldn't understand.
"Hell, Chelsea, you're never going to get a boyfriend if you keep dressing like a casual boy scout. It won't kill you to do your nails or wear a dress. I'd be happy if you'd just trade in your old bandana for a ribbon. Can you do that? Just tie a damn piece of fabric in your hair, please. I promise it'll drawn all the boys' attention to that attractive face of yours."
She blamed the lack of a strong female presence in my life for my tomboyish qualities.
"Sorry, it's just… it's almost midterm time, y'know?" I said with a weak smile, trying to avoid eye contact by zipping up my bag and closing my locker. Beside the fact that I really was busy with school work, I also could only take so much of Julia at one time. I loved the girl, but her extrovertedness sucked the energy out of me sometimes. I needed time to recharge my social juices.
I closed my locker, the sound of the metal door reverberating melded in with the noise of the bustling hallway.
"You could come to the Farming Club meetings...," I suggested, hoping to stray from the current conversation.
Julia gave a deep sigh. "Dammit, Chels, we've talked about this. I grew up on a farm. I've farmed every single day of my life…"
"Farmed?"
"…and I don't need to join a club to learn and grow an appreciation for my lifestyle. I know you must feel the same way, considering you grew up doing farm work with me."
"Yeah, well-"
"We both know the reason why you continue to go," Julia prodded, poking me in the cheek with a painted blue nail.
"I… I like cows, okay?!" I responded with a huff, crossing my arms. Julia smirked, a sign that she had won the battle and was loving every moment of her glory. This girl loved pushing my buttons… and I knew she was just getting started.
"We both know you don't like cows."
We were locked in a staring contest until I couldn't take it anymore.
Sigh. "How about we hang out this Sunday?"
Immediately, Julia's face lit up as she clapped her hands together in excitement. "Yes, yes, yes!" Before I had time to respond, her arms were around me in a tight embrace. "I can't wait!"
"Me either."
You would think that someone as outgoing as her would have tons of more social friends to bother… y'know, ones whose personalities are wired to hold long conversations without saying something weird (I like cows?) and who actually followed and enjoyed the latest fashion trends.
Julia turned around to leave as I started heading to the Farming Club meeting room.
Just when I thought she was gone, Julia abruptly yelled from down the hall, "You know who else likes cows?"
I knew what she was going to say. I decided to be immature anyway.
"Your mother?"
Julia scoffed at my joke and replied, "No, smartass. It's your precious little Vaughny!"
My face started getting hot at the mention of him.
"G-Go to hell!"
I swear I could hear her giggling as I started walking away. I gave a sigh and brushed my hair out of my face. That girl was seriously too much sometimes.
When I walked through the door, the first person I saw, whether I meant to or not, (who am I kidding, of course I meant to) was Vaughn. He was hard to miss with his silver hair, which was starting to grow long. I wasn't a big fan of long hair on guys, but he pulled it off well (he pulled everything off well). Although there was a no-hats policy while classes were in session, he always put on his black cowboy hat after the bell rang. I thought this added to his mysteriousness. Why the hat? Was it a security thing? Maybe it held some kind of sentimental value? The best part about the hat, though, was the way he would gaze up from underneath the brim with his large dark blue eyes. To be blunt, it was captivating. I always found myself in that cliché eye-lock moment when time stops in my mind as I try but fail to look away from him. To add to his intriguing characteristics, in this light, his eyes looked almost purplish.
Heart… pounding…
Sigh.
"Welcome, Chelsea," Mr. Jack said warmly, gesturing to an open seat in the circle. Across from Vaughn. Damn, now it'll be impossible not to look at him throughout the meeting. Talk about a curse and a blessing in disguise.
Mr. Jack stood up once I sat down, getting ready to start the meeting. He was a seasoned farmer who always wore blue overalls to class. It was rumored that he took on his grandfather's entire field in Forget-Me-Not Valley after his passing and made it flourish again in under a year. A lot of people in the village of Sunshine see him as a role model.
"Glad everyone could be here," Mr. Jack started. He was one of the few teachers who actually meant that when he said it. "Last week, we learned about fertilizing and milking cows. Today, let's talk about composting and how to take care of horses."
After a quick lesson on what everyday items could be reused in composting, we moved to the field outside and fertilized and watered the plants we were growing. All club members were divided into teams of two at the beginning of the school year and were assigned a plant that they had to nurture. My partner's name was Natalie. She was a new student at Sunshine High. According to Julia, Natalie, her mother Felicia, and her twin brother Eliot moved here after her father passed away.
I could kind of empathize with her on this, considering I'm an orphan. Yeah, it sucked when I was young, but the people in Sunshine, especially Julia and her mother, Maribelle, helped me out a lot. I stayed with Julia and Maribelle at their farm until just last year, until I saved enough money to buy a small cabin-like house that another villager, Gannon, built and sold to me at half the original price. I still worked on the farm a few days a week and got paid mostly in animal products and crops, which is fine by me. Seriously though, the people here never ceased to amaze me with their generosity and sense of community.
Natalie used a headband to pull back her short auburn hair before joining me in fertilizing the soil surrounding our growing strawberry plant. Our plant had come a long way since we planted it a few weeks ago.
As I began picking off dried leaves and mixing them back into the dirt, Natalie tried to make small talk. Neither of us were very talkative, with her being the quieter one.
"So… um… how're classes?" She asked nonchalantly after coming back from filling up a watering can. The water sloshing around inside was filling most of the silence.
"They're okay, I guess," I said as I watched her moisten the area around our plant, the dirt turning darker as it got more saturated. "History is killing me, as usual. Chemistry's hard, but I like it."
Natalie just nodded as she set the watering can back down. We both silently examined our work before walking back to the tool shed to return our supplies.
"How're things going for you?" I asked out of courtesy, walking alongside her to where everyone else was gathering at the stables.
"Things are good," she responded. "My grandpa will be moving in with us next week."
"Oh, that's… swell!" I replied lamely, cursing my awkwardness. Of all the words in the English dictionary… I chose "swell." Go, Chelsea.
Natalie then gave one of her rare laughs. It was a short lilting laugh that seemed to fit her. She should laugh more often.
"Yeah, I guess," she said, "He's kinda an old geezer though… always going off about how his joints ache when the weather's bad and waving around his cane."
"Oh."
"But he's really a nice person… he just has trouble showing it."
I gave Natalie a smile as we reached the stables. Once everyone else showed up, Mr. Jack announced new groups.
"Chelsea," he began, "You'll be with Vaughn."
Oh Harvest Goddess.
I saw Vaughn walking toward me out of the corner of my eye, his hands tucked into his jean pockets. Again, he was unintentionally looking really suave. And then there was me, now painfully aware of how fast I was breathing and how my face was probably flushed and sweaty and how my hands weren't coolly tucked into my pockets, but were just hanging limply at my sides with dirt underneath my nails.
What the hell do I say to him? How do I act like a girl? How do I be Julia?
He greeted me by nodding his head down, his hat briefly blocking the view of his cool expression.
How was he so calm? My lungs and heart weren't listening, still pumping like crazy. Talk, Chelsea. Smile, at least. Do something relatively attractive. Say hi or ask him how he's doing!
In a last-second moment of panic, I turned to him abruptly and said, "Hi are you?"
My mind went blank.
Fuck.
Fun fact: Chelsea's awkardness and quirks were based on my own inability to be properly social. Hopefully, some of you can relate X) But hey, at least it gives me decent stories to tell!
Anyway, I really hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.
Preview of chapter two: Denny gets a door to his pretty face.
Until then,
E person
7/11/2016