Author's note: I have changed the first chapter since the first time I wrote it, so you might like to go back and re-read it. I was reluctant to keep working on this piece, but people seem to like it.
In retrospect, I should have looked through the peephole first; perhaps then I wouldn't have been so surprised by what I saw. I swung open the door and was assaulted by eyes as grey and hard as steel, lined with black. He grinned at me, but I could only stare. His jet black hair stood up in a mass of spikes, adding at least six inches to his height. His ears were pierced with silver rings and studs, and another silver ring pierced his lip. He wore a black T-shirt, faded and torn grey jeans, and scuffed black boots.
"Hey. I'm Max. You must be Lily." he said.
"Yes. H-hi." I stammered. I couldn't take my eyes off him, and I was simply speechless. Ordinarily I was timid around new people, especially guys, but this...this was something else. I'd never really seen anyone dressed that way in real life before. No one in my small, suburbian high school had dressed in that fashion. No one else at the college did either. I'd seen them in movies and on TV, and once while walking down the street in the city. That's all. Never would I have expected to see a punk rocker at the door to work on a school project with me.
He slowly looked me up and down. I felt naked under his steely gaze. "So are we gonna stand here in the doorway all night, or are we gonna get this shit over with?" he asked impatiently. I blushed and got out of the way. He entered the room and looked around. "Wow," he said. "Your room is really plain. Don't you have any posters or photos or anything?" I shook my head. He made a non-commital noise. I took out some paper and a pen and sat on the bed.
"So what should we write about? Any ideas?" I asked softly. He turned around and sat on the bed next to me. My heart did backflips.
"Well, we're supposed to be writing about a cause we both feel strongly about. Is there anything like that you're really passionate about?" he questioned. He drummed his fingers on his leg as he waited for me to respond, and I noticed that his fingernails were painted black. I shrugged.
"I can't really think of anything." I said.
"Nothing?" What about world hunger? War? The death penalty? Abortion? Don't you have an opinion on any of those?" The silver ring through his lip flashed.
"Well, I guess we could write about hunger." I said, choosing the first. I felt embarrassed. I just wasn't a very political person.
"Yeah, sure. So we need some statistics, and some reasons it happens, how the government does and doesn't help them..." He wrote some ideas on the paper.
"Solutions." I said suddenly.
"What about them?" he asked, confused. I blushed again.
"We could talk about possible solutions." I said.
"Good idea." He wrote it down. "Well, I think we got enough stuff to get started with. How 'bout you research the top half, I'll research the bottom half, and next time we'll work on getting the paper done."
"OK." I replied. "Tomorrow?"
"Sure. Come up to my room around six." he said. "You remember where it is?" I nodded. He smiled, and went to leave. Suddenly he turned. "Hey, I've got jack shit to do tonight. Would you wanna go out for a cup of coffee or something?" he asked.
My heart raced as I shook my head. "No. No thanks. I'd rather not." I said. He shrugged.
"All right. Tomorrow, then." He left. After he closed the door, I threw myself down on my bed. I was such a loser. He probably just felt sorry for me. But what was I doing? Why did I say no? I needed a friend so badly. Yet....I didn't know if I wanted to be friends with him. He was so weird. I could imagine everyone staring at us, whispering about us as we went by. He also seemed kind of mean. I remembered the comment he made in the doorway and wanted to curl up under my bed and never leave. Besides, just look at him. He'd probably try to rob me or rape me or something. I knew that was unfair, but I couldn't help feeling that way. I really didn't want to go to his room tomorrow, but what choice did I have?