Orange Dawn

A ray of sunlight cut through the curtain and fragmented into a dazzling array, sparkling with a majesty that could only be called, "breathtaking." It was as if a hope was purified, distilled until all that was left was a sense of great passion, then fired out into the world, to penetrate the hearts of all. It was magical, it was powerful, and it was…

Paulo pulled the covers over his head and tossed himself over, averting his eyes from the light which had disturbed his slumber. His attempts were mildly successful, and he felt the familiar embrace of sleep come upon him, when his alarm clock pierced his mind and he knew that to ignore its wail was to invite ruin. With a sigh, he turned over and punched the button, silencing the device and setting the room back into silence.

Paulo lay there, staring up into his ceiling, and was forced again to repeat the events of a prior day. After Lucy had left he sat on his couch for quite some time, not quite stressing over his actions of what happened but contemplating what was in Lucy's head at that time. He didn't snap back to reality until his dad came home from the site, characteristic hard hat in tow. One look between father and son told his dad all he needed to know. His dad gave him a brief squeeze on the shoulder and suggested Paulo head upstairs and sleep on his thoughts. Paulo did so, and slipped to his room, sat on his bed, and buried himself into sleep.

When he awoke yesterday he felt a sadness and anger but today he merely felt tired, and he found his actions sluggish in his morning routine. When he headed downstairs his father was reading his newspaper, as was typical of a Thursday morning, and drinking some coffee in his signature mug. It was a small piece of normality that Paulo was glad for in this tumultuous time, and he made for the door to head to school. He heard a rustle of paper as he reached the door, the noise causing him to stop mid stride.

"Paulo, you're a good kid. I want you to know that."

That was all that was said. It was all that needed to be said. Paulo closed his eyes, took a deep breath and opened the door, leaving to begin the new day. His father listened for the door and chuckled when he heard it close. Taking a sip of his coffee he raised the paper up again to continue his article.

"Boy's girl problems are going to get him killed some day."

Paulo's day could be summarized aptly as anti-climactic. He felt a certain sense of dread in seeing Lucy again, but when they met up in class she seemed to act as if nothing had happened out of the ordinary beyond her asking, "You done crying yet drama queen?"

He was off put by the behavior at first but he quickly came to accept it and was thankful. He knew she must be thinking about yesterday but for the sake of themselves and their friends she was hiding it. He didn't feel like confronting her, not yet anyway. It would do neither of them any good, and this allowed him to put on a façade of his own. He was not over the Jasmine incident for reasons he couldn't quite decide yet and he was conflicted still by Lucy's behavior. But he would not let it show anymore; for his friend's sake, and his own.

With this forced smile his friends were put at ease and he found himself seeing once again that life goes on, bringing him comfort. His classes went well and lunch with his friends was pleasant, and when the bell rang to signal the end of the day he left the class with his head up high, walking with a confident step he had not shown since two days ago. He encountered David on his way out again, this time making sure he wasn't rudely plucked from the sea, and they talked and laughed as they made their way to the bike racks.

"And then she yelled at me for trying to drink the bottle of HCl!" David exclaimed while Paulo put his helmet on.

"David, you do know that stuff is acid, right?"

David looked at Paulo as if he was affronted that Paulo would insult his intelligence. "Well, yeah, but I secretly took an anti-acid beforehand, so I would have been immune to it."

Paulo laughed and shook his head. "Someday they'll ban you from the chemistry lab. But hey, I'm going home, so see ya man."

David beamed at Paulo. "Hey tomorrow is Friday! We need to go and party, have some fun fun fun!"

Paulo shook his head and laughed. "Nah man I have a date with Jas…" He cut off sharply and glared down at the ground. "Never mind. I'll see you tomorrow then." And with that he pedaled off, leaving the oblivious retriever to watch the bike move out of sight. As Paulo biked away his grip on the handlebars tightened and his teeth gritted together as he asked one question. What the hell was that?

Black dusk

Jasmine woke up to the chime of her alarm with a smile. The sun was shining and the world was beautiful. She brushed her teeth while humming and ate some cereal, part of her balanced breakfast. She was beaming when she left for school, radiating with positivity. Today was a new day, and it would be great!

Truth be told, under all her outward happiness, she still ached inside. How could she not? It had only been TWO DAYS since the break-up, however spilling her guts to her friends had helped her more than she could describe in words. When she had finished they comforted her and told her how strong she was and that she would get over it. She knew they were merely stock words used to comfort, but they were welcomed eagerly. They spent that afternoon just talking and having a good time, her spirit rising with each passing minutes until she had to go home and start on her massive amount of homework that had piled up in the span of two days, but it was of no consequence to a mind of her caliber. She finished it quickly and the rest of the night passed quite nicely.

And now she found herself at the school, prepared for a Thursday adventure in this monolith of learning. She expected a day normally spent as it was before Tuesday, and she was looking forward to putting things behind her and return to her life before Paulo. Were her expectations to be met it would have been an excellent day. Sadly, she forgot one little detail.

As Jasmine put up her books for one of her classes, she closed her locker to find a familiar Siamese face looking at her.

"Good Morning Jasmine. You're looking very cheerful today."

Jasmine squeaked at the surprise but quickly composed herself in the face of Daniel's smile. "That's not cool Daniel."

"Awww, but it was so fun to see your face like that. Still, I apologize."

Jasmine rolled her eyes at his comments. "Fine fine, something you want?"

Daniel nodded and pulled out two pieces of paper from his notebook. "I ran into Miss Amalu earlier today and she asked me to hand these out if I saw any members of the Environmental Club."

Jasmine took a paper and looked it over, quirking an eyebrow at the contents. "This says they want us to form a buddy system while at the Aquarium trip? That kind of sucks, huh."

"Yes, but it's for safety I'm sure." Daniel began. "Still I suppose Miss Amalu will hand these out to anyone who didn't get one tomorrow, but she's just trying to have these things in advance. Not sure why she didn't pass them out on Monday, but it seems like she may forget things, hmm?"

Jasmine giggled. "Yeah, she's really nice and smart but I think she is a little too bubbly at times." Her laughter subsided. "Anyway I guess I need to find a buddy and fill this out then, thanks for this."

Daniel smiled. "No problem… although speaking of finding a buddy I was wondering if you'd like to end your search before it began? I don't know too many other people in the club and would be ecstatic if you'd be my partner for this trip?"

Jasmine sighed inwardly. She should have known this was his game all along, but when she thought about it she really couldn't think of anyone in particular she'd like to have as a buddy. She wracked her brain to think of an excuse but honestly could not think of one. It was mildly frustrating that he put her in this situation however she supposed he wouldn't be that bad of a buddy. And if he really didn't know anyone else, well she'll give him this at least for what he did for her on Tuesday.

"You're really insistent, huh?... But fine, I'll be your buddy."

Daniel beamed and started signing his form with a pen he conveniently had in his hand before handing it to Jasmine who signed her own form. Daniel slid his paper into his notebook and looked at Jasmine.

"Oh you don't have to look so glum about it. But anyways thank you, and don't worry, I'll make sure that this Friday will be both informative and… enjoyable for us both." Daniel smirked and winked before walking away, leaving Jasmine to stare in silence in his wake. Her chest had a spasm of pain as an image of a familiar smile and wink pervaded her thoughts, leaving her with one question. What the hell was that?

Daniel looked at the blank buddy forms and shrugged, tossing them into a trash can. He had the one he needed, ready and available for Friday night.