School is winding down so I finally found time to continue the story of Rachel. Thanks to all who showed interest in my story! Now here we go in 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1.
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I hesitated before I opened my eyes, unsure of what to expect this shadow to turn out to be. Maybe my mother or father, but they both seemed to be preoccupied when I left them last. I took a breath and opened my eyes; the figure was definitely not either of my parents. This figure was young and male, and his voice was stern, "Ms, this section is off limits. So I'm afraid you're going to have to leave."
I jolted up right and got on my feet, "I'm sorry, I didn't see a sign."
His stern face broke as he chuckled and pointed to a small white sign that was located near my resting spot. His frame was tall and a bit skinny, but he did have a small amount of muscles that rippled under his skin. "Its fine, they just want the grass to be perfect. Hope you enjoy it here." Then he strolled off, with his red polo making him stand out in the crowd.
He seemed like the most normal human being I've met so far in Sleepy Hollow, I was happy that I know that the town wasn't full of crazy people.
With a sense if satisfaction, I wandered down the clearly marked path. I found myself passing through rainbow colored flowers, bushes of many shapes and sizes and an array of birdhouses that happened to house all the same species of birds. My mind began to wander and the interesting garden boy was the only topic it stuck on, I scolded myself for not glancing at his name tag. It's not like it was such a big if I happen to see him again there would be no mistaking his face amongst the sea of elders that seemed to rule the town. It wasn't long or maybe it was I wouldn't have noticed either way because I wasn't keeping tabs on the time, but I ran into my mother. She was subconsciously drilling an innocent worker about the type of stones and woodchips that use here, apparently they were the reason the plants grew.
"Mom," I said to get her attention.
She glanced at me and looked back at the confused worker; Mom almost looked torn between spitting out more questions of giving up to talk to me. She chose to actually talk answer me. "Hello honey, having fun?"
The worker chose to make a quick escape while my mother was temporarily preoccupied. "Yeah sure, I don't think Dad is though, maybe we should go find him." I suggested.
She rolled her eyes, "Your dad can suck it up sometimes," she paused to glance at her watch, "well I'm sure he's itching to get to that seminar at four."
The both of us reran the paths looking for my father, we found him later slumped on a bench with his hat over his face.
"Dad," I said, no response. I looked at my mother, she rolled her eyes again.
"Walter!" She yelled, causing the old lady on the other side of the bench to get up abruptly and leave. My father then got up also with sleep lingering in his eyes and a driblet of drool hanging on the corner of his mouth. "You ready to go to that seminar?"
My father's face perked up and he was off like a torpedo.
At the seminar they talked about the Headless Horseman, Washington Irving and Sleeping Hollow. I was beginning to wonder if the people in this town were as conceded as they seemed. The mayor of Sleepy Hollow talked about their annual fair coming up next week and that's when I stopped listening, because there was a younger boy standing next to the mayor.
He was mysteriously withdrawn from the activity around him and he was staring the mayor with an over eager smile on his face, but his eyes said otherwise. I was contemplating his role in the community, why was he out of all people the one to stand next to the mayor. Not even the president of the bank or the head doctor was up on stage.
Then something happened that made my jaw drop, his eyes flickered to mine and held my gaze. A small smile took over his polite attentiveness, but soon disappeared when everyone started clapping. The moment was over, the mayor finished his speech and all the attendees got up from their seats and retreated to the snack table.
My father no sooner striked up a conversation with a graying man in a tweed jacket and my mother absently fell in step beside him. I, however, lingered by the punch bowl like a lone water buffalo.
But then my water buffalo musing was interrupted, "Hello."
I looked up from the swirling pineapple pieces in the punch, it was the mysterious boy. His eyes weren't withdrawn anymore; they were intensely dark and staring at me with keen interest. "Hi," I replied, my hand growing sweaty on my plastic cup.
He smiled sweetly, "I noticed you were the only young one in the audience and I thought I should introduce myself, I'm Scott, the guy with the fancy suit is my father."
What sounded like a puzzle piece clicked in my head, he was the mayor's son. "Oh, it must be great to be invited to all these things." I said, somewhat sarcastically.
"Well I don't really don't have a choice, I'm the youth representative for the small youth population in Sleepy Hollow." He explained, he sounded so intelligent and I was suddenly self-conscious about my shorts and t-shirt compared to his pressed shirt and black dress pants.
"How many people are in your class?" I asked, finding something that I could compare to.
"Just fifty or so, it's not as bad as it sounds."
"Don't you have homecoming or any sports at all?"
"No, but we make up for it." We he said that a sly smile lit his face; I decided not to press any farther.
"Well I better go find my parents, we have reservations for dinner. Nice talking to you Scott." I set down my cup but he spoke before I went to turn around.
"Wait, what's your name?" Scott asked earnestly.
I scolded myself for the second time today to forgetting to remember the etiquette of names. "I'm sorry, I'm Rachel."
"Well Rachel, it was nice to have met you. I'm sure you and I are going to be seeing a lot of each other." And with that he walked away through the sea of people.
What do you think?!?! Please I would love to hear :D