Hello, dear readers. How are you this fine day? Yes, I did have an amazing amount of coffee and cake for breakfast. Does that not explain it?
Sorry I've been dragging my heels, tres busy summer. But I'm here now, and that's all that matters…
Raindrops on RosesThanks to my dear, wonderful mother, I look like a low-class hooker. You see, I was in one of my rebel stages when I was supposed to be packing and told her to pack for me. She decided to pack all my clothes without washing them and, just my luck, she decided to pack one outfit clean…A tiny tank top and a miniskirt.
Not a good thing to wear on your first day of school.
Normally, I wouldn't care, but when boys are staring at you and attempting to look up your skirt down the hallway, not so fun.
To my credit, I tried my best to ignore them and focus on my book of poetry. Too bad boys are complete and total idiots.
One sidled up to me.
"Hey, hot stuff, you wanna come somewhere with me?" I frown and step to the side so I can keep walking. He steps back in my way.
"I said-"
"I would advise, if you want to have children eventually, that you get out of my way."
"Oh, come on, baby, you know you want me." I snap my book shut and glare at him.
"I'm warning you one more time; get out of my way." He didn't move. I started to bring my knee up when another guy came in.
"Hey, the lady said leave her alone." I blinked in surprise. Out of anything I would have expected, this was one of the last on the list. The guy who was bugging me got a scared look on his face and backed down.
"Sorry, man," the guy muttered, his face bright red. He turned and ran down the hallway. I turned and stared at the other guy.
"Woah, thanks," I told him. I started walking again. He was right there at my elbow. I finally turned to him.
"Can I help you?" I asked, straining to be polite.
"Yeah…I was thinking…You owe me one, right?"
"Yeah…I replied slowly, wondering where he was going with this.
"So…Would you maybe wanna go have dinner or catch a movie sometime?" I stop and stare at him.
"Are you serious?" I ask. He raises his eyebrows.
"You do owe me one." I frown.
"Fine, but I'm going to haggle. You can't take me to some sappy, romantic movie or a horror movie in hopes I'll hold your hand. Also, I'm not going with you to dinner."
"Fine, but I'm sitting with you at lunch."
"Fine. Friday. If Jamie doesn't need me."
"Jamie?"
"My sister."
"Oh. 7:00"
"Fine. Bye."
"Bye." I watch him walk the other direction, grin on his face, hands in his pockets. I think of something.
"Hey! What's your name?" I yell. He turns.
"William. William Dunbar." I nod and turn into my classroom. Then it hits me: I'm going on a date! How did that happen. I stop, realizing what I've said I'll do.
How will I get out of this? Fake being sick? Stand him up.
You do owe him one…He saved you from that guy…I think
He didn't save me from anything…I could have taken care of him myself…I answer back.
You told him you owed him…You have to go. It answers back.
Make me, I think
"Hey, could you move, please? I need to get in." Someone says behind me. I jump.
"Oh, yeah…Sorry…" I reply. I step to the side of the door and let a girl dressed in head-to-toe black past. I bite my lip.
"Um…I'm sorry to bother you, but do we have assigned seating or do we sit wherever?" I ask her. She turns a little.
"Are you new?"
"Nope, I just felt like asking. Yes, I'm new." She smiles a little.
"We just sit wherever. D'you wanna sit with me? You seem more interesting than the person I normally sit with." I shrug and drop my bag next to where she sits. It's then that I realize my book's gone. I dive into my bag and try to find it with absolutely no luck. Finally, I pull my head out, scowling. The girl sitting next to me is messing with her cell phone. I tap her shoulder.
"Hey, you seen a book by Edgar Alan Poe? It's black with a picture of a raven on the front."
"Nope. Sorry." She goes back to whatever she's doing. I sigh and prop my chin on one of my hands, chewing on a strand of electric blue hair. A very short man waddles up to the desk and raps the board with a ruler, making half the class jump. I let my hair fall out of my mouth and yawn.
"Students!" he yells. Gawd, this guy is loud. "We have a newcomer in our midst! Miss Genevieve, would you please stand up!" I stared at him and raised an eyebrow.
"Genevieve, stand up!" I sighed and stood, putting my hands on my hips.
"Thank you! Now, young lady, would you tell the class why your parents decided to send you to us!"
"Because my half-wit mother knew my father wouldn't notice if we were gone and wanted to get rid of me and my sister." Scattered laughter. The teacher frowns.
"Well, then, what's your sister's name?"
"Why, do you want her to tell you, too? She doesn't speak in front of people." More laughing.
"I think it's best if you just sit down now, young lady."
"You're the one who told me to get up in the first place…" I reply, sitting back down and slumping in my chair.
He glares at me.
"Now, today we're going to begin with…" I tune him out, yawning. It's not like I don't know this already. I mean, I've read about this stuff and had practical experience already. Why take notes when you've memorized the dictionary?
The rest of the day goes fairly quickly, until lunch. Oh, what a disaster.
I take the lunch the lunch lady offers me and head for the back table I sat at this morning. I stop in my tracks.
There, on the table, sits my missing Poe book. Black cover, raven silhouette and all. I blink, set my tray down and open it. There's a note taped to the inside.
'You dropped this in the hallway, and I just thought I'd return it to you. I can't do the whole lunch thing, but don't think you're off the hook. I'll discuss the detail with you in a few. –William' I shake my head and sit down. Possibly, that boy is the most irritating one I've ever met…And the most interesting.
I hear footsteps and glance up. It's Jamie.
"Hey there!" she grins. I blink. Woah. She's normally depressed on first days of school, not this chipper.
"Happy much?" I'm startled into saying. I admit, I'm curious as to why she's so bright.
"Yeah. Guess what?" I sigh and slip a bookmark between the pages.
"What?" I watch her. She's almost glowing with happiness.
"I actually talked to someone!" she says happily. I blink again. Jamie, talk to someone on the first day of school? Again, woah.
"Wow…Who?" I ask. She stares at her hands.
"A boy." She winces. I heave a sigh.
"Jamie, boys are rotten scum that mess with your brain. Couldn't you have talked to a girl?" she shrugs.
"I know, but I was lost and he sort of helped me to class…and in class, too." She smiles. I open my mouth to reply when a boy and the girl I'd crashed into yesterday walk up.
"Hey, Genevieve," the girl says, smiling. I nod at her and lean over a little to study the rest of the group at the table. The kid with the hair sticking straight up says something. I ignore him and stare at his hair. How could he possibly get his hair that pointy? It could be fatal to the person hit with it! I notice something red in the corner of my eyes, and glance over. Jamie's blushing bright red. Oh, man.
"Um…Odd…" she says. I blink. What'd he say that was weird? I really need to pay attention to these things.
"That's okay, you can stay! Just come whenever you want." They turn and leave. I frown at Jamie.
"You could've gone." She mutters some excuse, but really I know she's just trying to protect me.
"Sure, you do." I tell her.
"No," she starts. I wave her off.
"Go."
"Genevieve?" William's back. Oh, my Gawd. Not now, I'd almost had her convinced!
"Yeah?" I ask, making my voice as icy as possible.
"I was wondering if we could study later. My friend was going to, but she can't, and you're new, so…" ah, this is his great excuse. And I'm stuck with studying, because I know Jamie doesn't like me arguing in front of her. I feel heat rise to my face.
"Eh…Sure." He nods for a few seconds and spots Jamie. I shoot him a warning glance, saying 'You mess with her, you die.'
"You must be Jamie. Genevieve mentioned you. I'm William. Pleasure." I see Jamie's eyes start to twinkle with laughter as she shakes his hand.
"Genevieve…" she begins. I groan. Here I am lecturing her, and he shows up!
"Don't say a word," I tell her, grabbing my book to hide behind.
"So guys are rotten scum that mess up your brain, eh?"
"Yes, they are," there's a slight pause.
"Shoo." I tell her. She blinks.
"Huh?"
"Shoo. Go sit with them. Make friends. I'm not doing anything special, and we're both better off if you have friends. Shoo." I repeat. She frowns a little, but stands with her tray and walks over to their table. I see the pointy-haired guy move a kid in green over to make room for Jamie. She's blushing like mad. I laugh and shake my head a little before going back to my book.
-------+-------
Only two classes left before school's out for the day, and they seem freakishly short. It's like the whole world's conspiring against me to make me spend time with this William kid. I head straight for my room to do laundry. There's no way I'm going to study with him wearing my current clothes.
I stuff my clothes into a pay washer and hit the start button. Then, I grab my book and hop on top of it to read. I'm deep in a poem when I hear someone talking to me.
"We can't keep meeting like this." I lower my book slightly to see William leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. I glare at him.
"Aren't you supposed to be on the boys' floors?" I ask him pointedly. He grins.
"There's one room to do the laundry in, so we boys get to go to the girls' dorms to do our laundry. It's a pity, really. One time, three of the washers broke down and there was this huge line for the washers. Stunk like no other." I raise an eyebrow.
"Do I look like I care?"
"Why are you so rude to me?" The question throws me off balance. "I mean, I saved you from that guy trying to get you-"
"Shall I remind you that you forced me to go on a date with you right afterwards?"
"And all you do is give me funny looks and barely speak to me."
"And then you confronted me during lunch, in front of my sister, might I add…"
"All I wanted was for you to give me a chance." I stop and feel my mouth drop open. What! He shakes his head.
"You have no clue how beautiful you are, do you? And all you do is detach yourself from being alive! I just wanted to get a chance with you, which I know some guys here would kill for, by the way!" I stare at him and set my book down. What now?
"You don't even care, do you? I should've known better." He shakes his head and stuffs a handful of black and red clothes into a washer and starts to walk away.
"Wait." I tell him. I hop off my washer and walk over to him.
"Would you mind helping me study tonight? I'm really new and don't know anything." He stares at me.
"Also…I'd love to go on a date with you." His jaw drops. I grin.
"See you around." I turn and grab my book. I hear him leave and grin to myself, slightly perplexed. Once again, I can't register what just happened. It's like I can't control myself around him, unlike everyone else.
Well, he was pretty cute. His hair was a cool color, and he had awesome eyes. And his lips-
WOAH, don't go there! I tell myself.
Before I know it, he's back to collect his clothes and put them in the dryer, like me.
"So, um, we never agreed on a time and place." He says. I blink.
"Um…How about 5:30 at one of the benches outside?" I ask, embarrassed. He nods.
"Yeah, that'd be great." I smile. He smiles a little, too and leaves again. I shake my head to myself.
…:…
I grab a faded green t-shirt and some loose black pants and pull them on. When they're completely on and pulled down, I sigh in relief. These clothes are sooooooo comfortable!
Unlike the clothes I'd worn today. I frown a little at the memory, and put my earrings in. There's a knock on the door. I frown and pull my shoes on as I go to the door.
"Okay, we were supposed to meet at the bench, why are you-" I open the door. It's Jamie. Her eyes are red and puffy looking. I immediately drop my other shoe and pull her in.
"Jamie, what happened? What's wrong?" I asked. She shrugs and sits on the bed.
"I don't want to talk about it. But…Could I just hang out here for the night, please?" I nod.
"Yeah. I can stay here with you. It'll be great, I hooked up a TV, and I can go check out some movies at whatever rental place is convenient, and we can have fun." I trail off, waiting for her reaction.
"No, it's all right. You…You were going out, weren't you?"
"Well…"
"It was William. I just remembered."
"He told you!" I pull back and cross my arms.
"I ran into him in the courtyard below. I asked him what he was doing, and he said waiting for you."
"Lovely"
"He really likes you, Gen."
"I know. He told me. He also told me how beautiful I am."
"Wow. And not even to the first date yet."
"Uh-huh, and right after that he told me how stuck-up I am." Jamie laughs, and sniffs. I frown again.
"Okay, tell me."
"No. And that's the only 'no I'm going to say, so don't expect me to start a 'yes' 'no' match, cus I'm not really in the mood for it right now, 'kay?" I cross my arms. For one, it really bugs me when there's something bugging Jamie and she won't tell me. And it really bugs me to think there's something she can't or won't tell me. Does she want to have friends and ditch me.
I feel panic starting to blossom in my chest. I swallow it and frown.
"Fine. Well, I have to go." I reply coldly, and grab my backpack.
"Gen, don't be mad." She says behind me. I pause slightly at the door, grab the handle and close it behind me.
Okay, not the most I could have done with this chapter, I know, but I have to leave lyokolady with something to do! Plus, it seemed like a good place to stop.
Long lost sorrow out!