August 29, 2008

The new girl had arrived.

Yuuki had already decorated the entire living room with pink balloons, streamers and a homemade cake that didn't look half as bad as her chocolate puck last year. The bubbly brunette was elated from the idea of having another girl - from Europe! - living in the same building as her, Zero and the Chairman. Yuuki was going back and forth in what Zero thought was mentally volatile behaviour. One minute, Yuuki would be squealing in unimaginable octaves, "I'm sooooooooo EXCITED!" to being curled up in a ball and biting on her fingernails, whimpering in nervousness. "What if Noelle doesn't like pink? What if this is all too much for her? Oh god, I overdid it, didn't I, Zero?"

Too keep a sanity, Zero spent as much time as possible outside in the five days leading up to Noelle's arrival.

His and Yuuki's adoptive father had nervously announced to his children about a new French girl coming to Cross Academy who would also be living in the main building as them. Chairman Kaien feared that his kids would be apprehensive about the idea, and he was 50% right; Zero hated the idea of another babble-headed teenage girl living in the same building. Yuuki, on the other hand, who never had a girly sleepover in her life due to her prefect duties, started crying tears of happiness in the office. Both the men didn't know what to do and they let Yuuki's emotions flow that afternoon one month ago.

Zero didn't know much other than the fact that she was French, had parents who found work in Japan and wanted to send their daughter to a boarding school. Zero grimaced at the idea of Noelle discovering the true purpose of Cross Academy. The purebloods better be on their toes to erase Noelle's memory if she ever learned what vampires were.

He sulked around the building until about dinner time, when he was sure Yuuki had calmed down from Noelle's arrival. He had been out of the building since 8 in the morning, finding other activities to keep him productive on a weekend day, such as napping in the grass and learning multivariable calculus while relaxing in the stables.

Zero checked his thin watch. 6 o'clock precisely meant it was time to go back and make dinner with Yuuki, possibly with Noelle. He really hoped this woman will not explode stuff on the stove like Yuuki.-

A brunette with her hair in a high ponytail exited the building to crisp winter air and a path that definitely looked appropriate for a nice jog. Wow, le Japon gets cold early in the year, Noelle grumbled to herself as she started with a quick pace. A catchy rhythm flowed from her ears to her legs and she soon found herself in a steady pace.

When she was stressed, tired, or overwhelmed with moving halfway across the world, Noelle found refuge in 2 activities: reading or running.

Noelle looked around at her surroundings - the gardens were beautiful. All the beauty was found in the delicacy and details, like the intricate edges of the benches along the path and the perfect sphere of fertile soil surrounding the small trees. There was definitely a different kind of refinement in this surrounding that Noelle could not find in France. There, beauty is boasted, not kept in the background.

Her eyes were still glued in amazement at a blooming rose bush beside a bench when she nearly knocked something over in her fast pace. She caught herself before meeting the dirt. Noelle spun around to meet the obstacle - a boy with silver hair, muttering possibly profanities in English under his breath as he straightened out his uniform disturbed from the collision.

"Zero?" Noelle inquired. "C'est toi?" She was warned by the chirpy Yuuki and chairman that a sulky silver-haired boy might be in the gardens. She wasn't prepared to get a glare from the lavender eyes. I thought les japonais were very cordial - maybe these students are different. "I'm sorry, Zero - I guess I was running trop vite." Noelle held out a hand. "Enchantee. Je m'appelle Noelle. You must call yourself Zero?"

Noelle was far less anorexic and child-like than the young girls Zero saw daily. Her curvy but still slender frame was a relief to see - maybe women can look more mature than 17 after all. But one thing made Zero thrilled in silence - a mouth that didn't automatically blabber. Noelle seems perfectly calm to absorb Zero's presence after just a few succinct phrases.

Her hair looked messy, although a rich chocolate colour that had a stronger golden undertone to it that Yuuki's. Her eyes where in that grey-blue-green genre and Zero really couldn't say which colour dominated. Her eyes commanded attention, as they were complemented by thick lashes and dark eyebrows, but so did her lips - salmon-red, a sharp cupid's bow, and radiant as they were pulled into a smile. Her skin was tanned golden and smooth, with an obvious flush from her exercise. She was probably a sliver over the average female height - 5'6" ? - but with obvious curves and well-defined limbs. He couldn't describe her honestly using the adjective "cute," but perhaps "striking."

Zero took her hand; while he was only expecting a brief handshake, the space between the two young adults closed as Noelle swiftly pulled her weight forward and gave him 3 pecks on the cheek, as if it was the most normal thing in the world to do.

Left.

Right.

Left.

Noelle stepped back from her introduction to soak in the sight of the tall young man she knew she would soon call a classmate. Zero was lanky, stern-faced and handsome in a very bizarre way. In Europe, Noelle had never seen real silver hair and lavender eyes before. It was kind of eerie, actually - Zero looked a bit alien. He had a lazy slouch and a dip of the head no matter which direction he looked at, allowing the magically moonlight-coloured to shuffle in front of his eyes. Mon Dieu, ses yeux… Noelle's heart quickened as if on command at the sight of such lavender, opaque irises. They were framed with thick dark eyelashes and a pair of furrowing eyebrows.

It took five seconds before Noelle registered Zero's question: "What are you staring at?"

Blinking herself out of the trace, Noelle straightened up. "Ouh, je suis étonnée to… tomber sur… people avec cheveux d'argent." Categorizing the handsome Zero in the general category of "people" just based on his appearance seemed very inappropriate.

Noelle couldn't tell if he looked embarrassed or angry at her comment. Or confused. Damn, what's that word in English? "Sorry, je n'ai pas dit comme ca - I'm still trying to s'adapter to a different environnement, different people, suddenly using japonais… sorry if I'm trop blunt les jours prochains."

Zero raised an eyebrow - he didn't really understand half of what Noelle said. She must have had a hell of an experience meeting a squealing, blabbering, Japanese-rapid-fire Yuuki this afternoon.

He pointed to the main building, then pointed to his watch. "Dinner time. Come." Finally! A word Noelle understood!

Noelle tugged Zero's sleeve before breaking into jog again. "I run," she huffed. "pour un douche before the dinner. See you!" Zero blinked a few times too many.

Did she just call me a douche?