Chapter 2: What is this feeling?
Thanks for the reviews for my last chapter. So here it is, I present you with chapter two. I hope you like it.
As soon as the two entered the classroom they noticed a strict distinction and division between the children at Urban Tots. Boys were to the right, and girls were to the left. This hadn't been assigned by the teacher or anything, the children just naturally wanted to stick with their own gender. At this age, girls were still yucky and boys had cooties. Gerald and Phoebe went their separate ways, but both caught themselves glancing back at the other from time to time with a smile across their faces.
Gerald noticed a group of boys playing with blocks and soon joined them with ease. Phoebe, being more reserved just sat at a table alone. Out of the corner of her eye she saw a small blonde girl enter the classroom. Her pink outfit was drenched with rain and stained with a great deal of mud. The girl plopped down in the seat next to Phoebe and placed her hands under her chin and let out an exaggerated, lovesick sigh.
Phoebe nervously got up the courage to introduce herself to the pig-tailed girl. "H-hi. I'm Phoebe", she said as she formally stuck her small hand out to the girl.
"I'm Helga", she said not even taking notice to Phoebe's gesture.
"If you don't mind my asking, what are you staring at?"
"That boy with the unique shaped head over there. I don't know his name, but I wanna marry him", she said as her mind trailed off into her own fantasy land. Phoebe looked over at the corn flower haired boy and saw that he was joining the group Gerald had been playing with. Although she'd only meant to look for a second, Phoebe found her eyes were glued on Gerald's as she watched him play.
The two sat lovestruck as the Mrs. Applebaum drew her attention to the class.
"Children, pay attention. That's enough free play time. Let's all gather around and form a circle on the carpet."
All the children huddled onto the carpet and crossed their legs in a traditional pretzel formation. Mrs. Applebaum began to introduce the activity as she pulled up a chair to sit in.
"Now, since we are all new here and don't quite know each other yet, I thought we'd start with a little introduction. We could go around the circle and have each student tell us their name, and one fun fact about themselves. Hmm... let's see, how about we start with...you, dear!" Mrs. Applebaum said pointing her index finger out in Phoebe's direction. Gerald's eyes immediately widened with interest and he focused all his attention on Phoebe.
"M-me?" Phoebe timidly asked hoping that she hadn't just been picked to go first.
"Yes, you, honey. Go on, we're listening", Mrs. Applebaum encouraged.
"W-well, my name is Phoebe Heyerdahl," Phoebe softly stated. Gerald listened attentively to her from the opposite end of the red, circular rug. Phoebe, he thought. The name rung in his ear like wind chimes in the breeze. He'd never heard such a beautiful name before. Gerald lingered on Phoebe's voice as she began to muster up the courage to speak again.
"Yes, now what's one thing about you? Do you have any talents or hobbies...?" Mrs. Applebaum asked.
"Uhm, I really like to learn. I have a strong yearning for knowledge", she proudly confessed when a roar of laughter broke out among the students.
"Oooh, Phoebe likes to learn, ha-ha!", a chubby kid named Harold mocked. "What a loser!"
Gerald looked over at Harold and give him a death glare as he clenched his fists so hard that his nails left indents in his palms. He wanted so bad to just lean over and slug the large child, but he was afraid of getting in trouble with the teacher. More importantly, he was afraid what the other students might think. Not only is Phoebe a girl, but she is also now considered a geek. If he defended her, would he get laughed at and made fun of, too? He loosened his grip releasing his fist and tried to calm himself down. He wanted to stop feeling this way about Phoebe. These new feelings were scary to him, and would probably lead him to a life of mockery.
Phoebe sunk her head down in shame. She thought she was coming to a place where learning was the central element and purpose. How could this have made her the laughing stock? She looked over at Gerald who now had his head down. The sweet boy who had helped this morning couldn't even look at her now.
Eventually the laughter subsided and people began to continue introducing themselves. Mrs. Applebaum called on child after child, eventually reaching Gerald. he introduced himself with such ease and confidence. Phoebe sat and admired him from afar. She realized that Gerald could never have the same feelings about her that she had for him. They were just too different.
She forced herself to get through the rest of the day, despite the frequent giggles she heard directed toward her. When she got home she threw herself onto her futon and cried. She didn't realize before that school would be so hard. She didn't want to go back.
Gerald, too, sat up in his bed that night. Every time he would doze off all he could see was Phoebe in his dreams. He couldn't understand why he was feeling the way he did, or what this feeling even was. All he knew was that he couldn't shake her from his mind.
Thanks for reading. I'm glad people seemed to like my last chapter. Sorry if this didn't live up to it's expectations, but if it did then yay! :)