The moment he walked into the room, Courtney felt his presence. It was strange, but with him came an almost eerie sense of calm. And this was even before she turned to look at him.
When she turned to look at him, she gasped. The boy looked almost identical to Bobby Pendragon. She had thought, at first, that he was indeed Bobby Pendragon. There were some differences, though. This boys' hair was a very dark brown, almost black, but not quite. His eyes were an astonishing shade of green. A shade of green, the likes of which she had never seen before. He glanced at her for a moment, and then lowering his eyes, he sat down in one of the seats in from of her. Silently she cursed her position in the room. She wouldn't be able to see hose eyes for the rest of the period.
All of a sudden, she felt guilty. Guilty for liking this boy, and anything about him. She had always thought she would never feel for someone the way that she felt for Bobby. Bobby was the one she loved… wasn't he? She had slays thought so. Since all the way in the fourth grade when he had captured her heart with is goofy remarks and his adorable smile. Even at age nine he had had an adorable smile. He still did. Little did she know that he felt the same way for her. When she had found out all those years later her heart had lept to heights that until then she had thought unimaginable.
But the reality was Bobby wasn't really around anymore. And the way he talked about all those other girls on the other territories. Aja, Kasha, he'd even said Wu Yenza was pretty. And especially Loor, he talked about her all the time. She sometimes wondered if Bobby felt more strongly for Loor then for herself, more strongly then he let on. It wouldn't surprise Courtney. They had been through a lot together. If she was honest with herself, probably more then Courtney, and Bobby had been through together.
But it still didn't change the way she felt for him.
Before Courtney knew it, the class was over. The bell had rung and saved her from her hopelessly confusing thoughts. When she walked out of the classroom she bumped into Mark Dimond, one of her best friends in the whole world. He was the only one who knew bout Bobby's adventures, and his quest to save Halla.
And standing next to mark was, to her surprise, the boy with the amazing green eyes. Involuntarily, she blushed.
"So, Mark, who's your friend?" she asked, trying to keep her voice clam, and get her face back to the color that it usually was.
"Oh!" said Mark, as if he'd forgotten he was even standing next to the boy with the green eyes.
"He's my cousin!" said Mark, excitedly.
Courtney's eyes grew wide. She had never in her wildest dreams imagined that this… amazing guy could be related to Mark. Mark was, no offense to him, but he was kind of geeky. She loved him for it, but he was an all out nerd. The boy standing next to him was… he was anything but nerdy.
"Yea," Mark continued, "he's gonna be staying with me and my family for the rest of the school year, and all the way through the summer." Mark sounded like an excited little kid.
"I'm gonna go to the bathroom." Announce Green-Eyes. Courtney felt her heart beat at a quicker pace. This was the first time she had heard him speak; He had a nice deep voice that sounded like he was really shy. He headed toward the direction of the closest bathroom as if he'd gone to this school his whole life.
"So what's the deal?" asked Courtney. "There must be some reason this kid just came to spend so much time at a place that he's not even familiar with."
"Yea, well Skyler has some issue at home. And that's all I'm gonna say about it." Said Mark.
"Oh, I get it. Like parent issues." Said Courtney. She had this all figured out.
"No, more like friend issues," said Mark "and that's that. Don't try to talk to him about it. Please… I know how you can be." He pleaded with her.
"And how is it that I am, exactly?" she asked. She wanted to see how he would get himself out of this situation. Or if he would even get himself out of the situation at all.
"You know… you're overpowering, and stubborn, and determined. Not that all of those things are bad. But they certainly can be."
"So, does he talk a lot?" asked Courtney. She was eager to learn more about Mark's cousin. Well, she knew his name at least. Skyler… it was a nice name she thought. Original… cute, too.
"Naw, he's pretty shy, but we have our fun times, too. When you get to know him, he talks a bit more."
"He's cute." Said Courtney. Mark wouldn't think she was being unfaithful. Bobby said girls were cute, and even beautiful all the time.
"You think so?" asked Mark, in an amused voice.
"Definitely." She grinned. It felt good to say it out loud because she had been thinking it all day now.
"But what about Bobby?" At first Courtney thought he was angry, but a smile was playing at his lips.
"He's cute too." Said Courtney. She smiled at Mark. He laughed.
The Skyler walked up. Apparently he had found the bathroom just fine.
"Skyler," said Mark, "I'd like to introduce you to my friend, Courtney." Courtney smiled at him, and extended her hand so he could shake it. When their hands met, a tingle ran up her arm, and all the way down her back. It felt good.
"Hey." Skyler said.
"Hi." Said Courtney. Her "hi" had sounded more enthusiastic then his "hey" but his "hey" had sounded incredible cute and appealing. She hadn't thought that a "hey" could do that to someone. Apparently it would. Cause it just had.
Then he smiled at her. Courtney's heart did a flip.
HGG