At the crack of dawn, rays of sunlight pierced through Gar's bedroom window. A gentle breeze wafted the purple curtains, their silky form rippling in the placid wind. Gar could not explain why, but he was always strangely fond of the colour purple. What he was not fond of however, was the loud and monotonous blaring of his alarm clock. Its digital screen read 8:00 AM: the first day of senior year was just one hour away. After enjoying a long, lazy summer, the realisation that his days of luxury had ended was most unpleasant. With his body being a mess of limbs strewn across his mattress, he unenthusiastically raised a tired arm to silence the vociferous device. Slowly lifting his eyelids, they eventually revealed his striking emerald eyes. As his body slowly awakened, he felt the soft blanket against his skin. The enticing nuzzle of his bedsheets was hard to leave. Grudgingly, he stretched his limbs and let out a tired grunt.
"Here we go. One more year and that's it. I'm free from school forever. Just one more stupid year." The teen thought to himself.
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After rushing to shower, dress himself, and maybe quickly eat some breakfast; Gar's damp green hair drooped lazily down his forehead, the occasional bang poking him in the eye. His body was adorned with a white T-shirt featuring the logo of his favourite band, blue jeans, purple stripey socks and green converse sneakers. However, his skinny frame was running on empty. The green-haired teen burst through the door on an empty stomach, about to run down the street to catch the bus. His swift actions were fruitless however, as the bus drove past him long before he could reach the nearest stop.
"Have a good day at school, sweetheart!" called Gar's mother: Rita, unaware of her son's tardiness.
"Will do, Mom. Love you!" he yelled, trying to hide the disappointment and frustration in his voice.
Gar gripped the straps of his backpack: his first day of senior year was not off to a good start. He perked up however, upon hearing the honking of a car horn driving up behind him. He turned to see it was none other than his best friends: Victor and Dick.
"Yo, Green Bean!" Yelled Vic from behind the wheel. Pulling over in front of Gar's house was a white and blue open-top convertible. Dick rested his arm on the side of the passenger door, his face lined with his always-confident smirk.
"Woah, hey guys! Where did you get this?" Gar asked in amazement of the splendid machine before him.
"Somebody got their license over the summer. Booyah!" Vic stated proudly.
"Yeah, and that same somebody's rich scientist dad 'put in a good word' with his instructor." Dick jested.
"Knock it off, Spiky. I don't see you driving me around!" Vic retorted. Dick's smirk turned to a frown. "You need a ride?"
"Yeah, if that's cool with you?" Gar inquired.
"Hop in short stuff!" Vic exclaimed. The so-called 'Green Bean' buckled himself in the back as Vic slammed his foot down on the gas, only just obeying the speed limit. Only just.
"So, last year of School huh guys? Any idea what you're gonna do once you're out?" Dick asked his two friends. "I'm thinking of travelling, seeing what's really out there, ya know? Japan, Switzerland, Australia, you name it."
"I'm probably gonna start by helping out my dad at his lab, repairing stuff, being his go-getter, that kinda thing." Vic replied.
"What about you, Gar?" Dick asked, turning his head to the back of the vehicle. Feeling the rush of the wind flow through the locks of his green hair, Gar's expression went from one of elation, to sheepish.
"Uhh… honestly I don't know. I haven't really thought about it…" Gar admitted, nervously rubbing his arm.
"Ahh, still mulling it over huh? Don't worry about it. You've got a whole year to think about it." Vic reaffirmed him.
"Yeah, you've got the rest of your life ahead of you! Who knows what might happen? Maybe you'll meet someone…special." Dick hinted, raising an eyebrow at his skinny friend in the back seat. Gar started to blush.
"Uhh…" Dick's words had shaken him; he was not prepared for that.
"Ooh, somebody's nervous back there! I think he's got his eye on somebody, Dick." Vic teased, noticing his friend's cheeks reddening.
"So…what's her name? She cute?" Dick pried.
"Knock it off guys, there's no girl." Gar stated.
"Maybe not yet, but like Dick said: who knows what might happen?" Vic reinstated.
"Yeah, maybe." Gar responded, weakly. He dipped his head and looked at his feet, thankful they were finally here. Vic parked the car in front of the tall, imposing school buildings. With some buildings being 5-stories high, it was a big place and easy to lose yourself and one's individuality in. The three guys went their separate ways.
"Thanks for the ride, Vic!" Dick yelled, running off to his classmates.
"Yeah, same here, man." Gar said sincerely.
"Don't mention it. Alright I'll see you around, dude. I gotta' get to class!" Vic replied, darting into the main building. Now on his own, Gar tightly grasped the straps of his backpack and wandered to his first dreaded class of the day: math.
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After a long and boring first class, filled with calculus, letters being interspersed with numbers for seemingly no sane reason and an awkwardly loud stomach rumble during a moment of silence which garnered him some funny looks, The new senior's trials for the day continued at lunch. A large bully going by the nickname 'Mammoth' tripped him and stole his lunch money whilst he was on the ground. The green-haired teen wondered how he could still behave in such a cruel and childish way at his age.
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Hours of torturous classes later, Gar was thankful he was finally at the last one of the day, his favourite subject no less: Biology. The science labs were lined with desks, interspersed with sinks and the occasional emergency eye-wash station. On the desks, various plastic baskets of used test tubes sat with unknown chemicals within. Gar took a seat on one of the tall stools, characteristic of the science labs. Once everyone had sat down, it was no shock to him that the only unoccupied seat left was the one next to him. He was never the most popular student.
"Ok everybody, I have an announcement to make. I would like you all to meet your new classmate..." Gar's teacher proclaimed to the room. On the brink of passing out, the exhausted teen's eyes shot open upon seeing this new person walk through the door. "…say hello to Raven!"
In walked a fairly small, slim girl with short purple hair, deep purple eyes, a black t-shirt and skirt, dark grey tights and black slip-on shoes. She held her textbooks flat against her chest with a black leather shoulder bag hanging at her waist.
"Umm…hi." Raven spoke softly to the class, clearly uncomfortable with all the attention she had had thrust upon her in this moment. Her body language screamed 'I don't want to be here right now.' Her head was dipped down, her eyes shifting across the many new faces to her. They all seemed fairly disinterested, all except for Mr Garfield Logan. The green-haired boy couldn't take his eyes off her, so much so he barely noticed she was walking straight towards him. He then looked down to his side, remembering the only available seat was next to him. Gar immediately looked down at his notebook, trying not to look weird in front of the cute girl who just sat next to him. His nose picked up an unfamiliar scent: was she wearing perfume? Was it her shampoo? Did she just naturally smell this amazing? From somewhere within him, Gar summed up the courage to talk to her.
"Hi." He said weakly. The girl's eyes glanced over at him; her head remained dipped down. Her lack of a verbal response made Gar question if she had heard him. Now he was faced with a difficult decision: should he assume she heard him but chose not to reply or did she not hear him, in which case should he risk repeating himself and looking foolish? Suddenly, her lips parted.
"…Hi." Raven replied. With only one word, Gar's mind had been sent into overdrive.
"Umm… my name's…Gar." He stated, as if lacking confidence of his own name.
"Uhh…nice to meet you." She responded awkwardly, keeping her head down and her eyes on her notes. Now that she'd responded, Gar took this opportunity to think up a topic of conversation. He took note of how her short purple hair drooping down in front of her face resembled his bedroom curtains. It was pretty. She was pretty.
"I... uhh.. I like your hair." Gar stuttered, nervous but sincere.
"Oh umm…thanks." The seemingly shy girl replied. The pair made eye contact for one moment. It was for only a split second, but upon noticing this contact, however brief it was, Raven instinctually looked away with haste. She never received compliments, as such, she fought awfully hard to hide the small involuntary smile gracing her petite face.
"So, do you like Biology much, or?" Gar asked, hoping he would get a clearer read on her personality from her next response.
"Uh, yeah I do, actually. I think it's really interesting." She explained. Bingo! That was what Gar was after: an opinion. Gar took a mental note: "Raven likes Biology." For now, he would refer to this when speaking to her.
"Oh cool! Is there a certain aspect you really like?" Gar inquired, genuinely interested to hear her answer. The reclusive girl's body language subtly shifted: she was slowly turning to face her contemporary, as if gradually becoming more comfortable with her surroundings.
"Uhh, honestly I just find the interactions between things in life to be fascinating." She stated nervously, but clearly with passion. Gar had not missed how his newfound obsession appeared to be coming out of her shell. Somehow, with only a handful of words spoken, the green-haired teen was even more infatuated with this girl than he was a few moments ago.
"Dude, that's so cool!" Gar exclaimed enthusiastically. His zeal did not go unnoticed. Raven was very appreciative of not only his question, but his seemingly genuine interest in her response. She was practically never asked about her interests; people dared not ask, either from fear of her goth-like appearance or from a shear selfish lack of interest in her. Unused to this kind of positive reinforcement from her peers, Raven grew cautious. Opening up to others was not her strong suit. Coming across too passionate may push people away, thinking her strange for having such enthusiasm in a topic that was almost never reciprocated. As such, the purple-haired girl approached the conversation carefully: deciding to keep her interest in the subject on the lighter side. "Personally, I love ecology. Just all the different organisms hanging out, doing their thing, it's pretty beautiful." The green bean added.
Raven took careful note of his word choice: 'beautiful'. She had never heard someone her age, describe biology in such a way. This strangely calmed her. Perhaps this green-haired guy was not like the others she had come across in her school life. He wasn't disinterested in the subject, he wasn't actively avoiding her, and he seemed like he genuinely cared. The vibe he gave off was also light-hearted and calming to her. It was comforting, as such, she hazarded adding some more passion to her response.
"Really? That's… that's pretty cool." She responded softly, hoping she wouldn't regret these words. She was shocked to see that her words had made the boy in front of her smile. It had been a long time since she had made someone smile.
"I'm…I'm glad you think so." Gar stated awkwardly. "It's nice feeling like someone finally gets it, ya' know?" he postulated, hopefully prompting an agreement from the cute girl. Something about his words struck a chord with the not-quite goth. Raven thought to herself "Yes. I think I do get it. Maybe he gets it too."
"Yeah, yeah it really is." She said aloud. Within only a few moments, this boy she had just met had engaged her more than anyone else she had met up to this point. Never before had she felt this strange amount of comfort with someone her age. As such, she felt confident enough to give Gar more of an insight into her mind. "It might sound silly, but I honestly find it kind of…inspiring in a way. Seeing everything work together to become something more. Something greater." She confided. Gar's mouth would have caught flies had he not caught his jaw hanging slightly open, utterly in awe of how interesting this young woman was.
"Wow, that's… I… huh. I guess I never really thought about it like that." Gar admitted. "I just really like animals." He laughed, realising how silly it sounded compared to the deep and passionate reasoning of the pseudo-goth before him. Raven let out the slightest giggle, quite the juxtaposition of her more serious and even intimidating demeanour. He nervously rubbed the back of his head and closed his eyes from slight embarrassment. When his eyelids opened again, he saw Raven was now fully facing him with a smile on her face. Her lips looked so soft and were graced with a dark purple lipstick.
She couldn't remember the last time she had smiled this much, never mind laugh at something or someone. For just a brief moment, the pair met each other's gaze again, this time however, they both noticed something: the other had gorgeous eyes. They each had such a deep soulful look to them: both individuals looking like they possessed a deep understanding of a person's emotions. This moment was broken however, by the sound of the teacher's voice.
"Alright everyone, let's talk about gross squishy, living things!" she announced enthusiastically.
The green-and-purple-haired teens swiftly turned away from the other, focusing their attention to the front of the class. Whilst both were enthralled by biology, the pair were both guilty of sneaking looks at the other during class, each accompanied by a petite, secretive smile.
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With the ring of the bell signalling the end of the school day, Gar and many of his peers felt a wave of relief that they were now free. However, the green bean could not help this small feeling of sadness, at the realisation he would now have to wait for their next biology class to see his new friend again. As the students poured out of the room, the last two were none other than the colourful-hair pair. Raven instinctively walked with her head pointed slightly downwards, tightly gripping her books to her torso. In doing so, she unwittingly bumped into her new acquaintance, dropping her heavy books to the ground.
"Oh gosh, I'm sorry!" she apologised, kneeling to retrieve her fallen paperwares. "I wasn't looking where I was…" she froze in place when she saw a pair of hands that weren't her own, picking up her books. She also spied a pair of green converse. When she raised her head, she was taken aback by the sight of Gar's smile. He held out her heavy books in his arms, his skinny appendages trembling from the mass of paper in his hands.
"Oh…I…thanks." Raven stuttered, quickly relieving the load from his person. Nobody had ever performed such a small, yet kind gesture for her.
"Don't mention it. So uhh, see you Thursday?" he asked quietly, happy his arms no longer felt like they were going to snap at any second. How did such a small girl carry so much, so easily?
"Yeah, I'll…see you Thursday." She replied awkwardly, before accelerating out the door. On her way out of the building, a deep blush and a smile had adorned her facial features. Gar paused for a moment, just outside the classroom. Her sweet smell lingered for a mere few seconds as she walked away. Gar couldn't help but have the slightest grin at the experience. It was at this moment he snapped out of his daydream, realising if he didn't get a move on, he would miss the bus for the second time today.
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Gar made it on the bus just in time. He noticed the only available seat was next to a rather corpulent sophomore. Gar just about sat on half a seat, but he didn't seem to notice. When the bus set off, so too did his mind. His head was filled with thoughts of an adorable, fascinating, and adorably fascinating girl he had only just met. The journey home went by in what seemed like milliseconds. When he returned to reality, the Green Bean was walking through his front door. Upon walking into the kitchen, Gar's nose was struck by the familiar smell of pasta.
"Hi honey, how was school today?" Rita asked, cooking dinner on the stove. She was a skilled chef, but preferred making 'simpler' meals. Despite the numerous trials and tribulations he had been through earlier in the day, his last class made it so all he had to say was:
"It was great."