Mina walked down the street, gazing worriedly up at the darkening sky. She shoved her hands into the warmth of her jacket pockets, taking out her phone briefly and looking at the time. It was seven-thirty, nearly time for her to meet her mother for dinner. Rehearsal had run much longer than expected and the two had decided to meet in town at a local restaurant for dinner. She had declined the offer of a ride, preferring to walk instead, but now she found that she had regretted her decision. The street was deserted and the first drops of rain were beginning to fall. She felt that eerie feeling of being watched again wash over her and she quickened her steps. She was instantly reminded of Amanda and her heart began to beat faster. She wondered if this was how Amanda had felt. Had she felt this awful feeling of being watched and not being able to do anything about it?
She glanced around at her surroundings quickening her steps yet again. She was almost at a run. The rain began to fall heavier and her heart began to beat faster. She felt as if she was about to hyperventilate. She fished her phone out of her pocket, holding it firmly in her hand. At least she knew that she had her phone charged and on hand if anything were to happen. In her haste, when she reached the curb leading on the next street, she misjudge how big of step she had to take, and tripped forward, landing in the puddle that was beginning to form. She felt tears burn her eyes, this was possibly one of the worst days of her life. It got even worse when she saw that almost the entire contents of her bag was strewn across the dirty, wet street. Apparently in her hurry to get out of the studio, she had forgotten to zip the zipper. That was just the icing on the cake, she thought.
She rubbed the tears out of her eyes, propping herself up. Why did bad things just seem to happen to her? First, it had been her mother forcing her to leave the safe, sanctuary room and go the ballet rehearsal. It had been nice to be around ballet again, but she hated the whispers and stares that had been directed at her. Didn't people have better things to do? Sure, it wasn't everyday that a dancer had a nervous breakdown and had to take a break, but it wasn't anything new. She knew of plenty of dancers who had had to give up dancing because of the stress. Couldn't people just treat her normally and leave her alone about it?She just wanted to go home, curl up in a ball, and never leave her room again.
She reached out to grab the stuff that had fallen out when she saw that someone had already beaten her to it. She felt fear fill her, sure that it was someone that had followed her. She was sure that there had not been anyone else on the street but her. Her eyes journeyed upwards, to where a face would be and she gasped. What she was sure was the handsomest man she, or anyone else, had ever laid eyes on was currently handing her her clothing. She sat dumbstruck, her mouth slightly agape.
He had curly, black hair that just brushed the collar of his shirt. His eyes were as dark as his hair, but he was squinting for some reason, as if the light bothered him. She could tell that he was tall, even though he was crouched on the ground. He still towered over her slight frame. He looked exactly like one of those perfect statues that were in museums. She would have thought she was dreaming if it hadn't been for the cold rain pounding down on her, assuring her that what was happening was in fact real. She didn't know it was possibly for someone so perfect to exist. Still numb, she accepted the pile of her things from him, shoving it back into her bag. He stood back up, and her assumptions of him being tall were instantly confirmed. He had to be at least 6' 4''. He offered her a hand and she stared at it.
"Well, are you just going to stay sitting on the wet ground?" He asked, humor filling his voice. His voice was a deep baritone, and for the first time her life she understood what people meant by a voice having a musical tone.
Her hand shaking, she took his offered hand, letting him pull her up. Her thoughts and fears of being followed were completely banished from her mind. She felt as if she were in shock. She was completely speechless, and though she tried, she was unable to form any words. She probably looked like a fish, with her mouth opening and closing in an attempt to form words. Great, she thought, she looked stupid and was embarrassing herself. That really wasn't anything new.
"I'm Aganir," He said.
"M-Mina." She managed to stutter out.
He chuckled, probably laughing at her stuttering. She felt a flush come over her face. She wasn't blessed like most people to look at least cute while blushing. Her whole face turned red and felt hot. She was sure she looked like a fool. It was bad enough that she had to crane her neck to look up at him. She noticed that her hand was still held firmly in his between them and she blushed more, if that was possible. However, she wasn't exactly sure that she wanted him to let go. It was odd because she had never felt that way before. She was pretty sure it was shallow just to be attracted to some one by their looks, but she had never seen anyone so handsome in her whole life. Even the celebrities who she and Amanda had giggled over could not hold a candle to to the man standing before her.
"Thank you for helping me. It probably would have taken me ages to even try and get it all gathered up. I'm not usually that clumsy. I was just distracted and- Sorry." she blushed again. "I'm rambling."
"That's quite alright.I find it quite charming." He said, smiling down at her. There was silence for a moment. "Are you eighteen?" He asked
She was broken out of her awe by the sudden and odd question. The fear that had been gone slowly leaked back into her. Who even asked that sort of question if they weren't some sort of creeper? Like a lot of people, she had grown up with the notion that 'bad' people were always ugly,old, and wore dark clothing. She couldn't believe she had let something like someone being attractive get in the way of her judgement. She jerked her hand from his grasp, backing away.
"I-I have to go. I,um, I'm late for something."
He laughed again. "Very well. Until we meet again, Mina."
A/N. Thanks to everyone that has read and reviewed this story. This chapter took me longer to write than I had expected. It's also pretty short, but the next one will be much longer. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review!