Campfire - Chapter 2

Campfire

_2_

It is an autumn morning.

The Sun is shining bright and high in the sky. Soft warm rays of sunshine break through the blue sky, falling down onto the ground in golden flecks. The weather is nice: a perfect combination of heat and coldness that creates a gentle chill. Following the winds, the aroma of sunflowers and daisies and dandelions mixed with sun beams permeating the cool dry air, a scent that makes you want to close your eyes and lay down on a bed of green grass and fall as sleep in Alice’s Wonderland.

On that perfect day, he falls in love.

Not for her beauty.

Not for her voice.

Nor even for her wit.

Those traits only make him feel inferior.

He falls for her for different reasons.

Reasons no one is aware of.

Reasons that only come to him fortuitously.

On a beautiful autumn morning…

~o~

It is recess. The schoolyard is full of running students, brisk with energy.

He is walking aimlessly, not knowing what to do. He has neither homework nor any means of killing time. He is starting to get bored to death.

So he decides to come to his favorite spot in the school: the clock tower. It is an old, perhaps archaic place, where the air is cool and the atmosphere is peaceful. It has few wanderers, so it is the perfect hideaway to relax and to think in complete silence. He has come here many times during the years and it has become his own little haven.

As he mounts the wooden steps, his hands sweeping on the bare iron rail where the paint has fallen off, he discovers that someone has invaded his place. However, as he comes closer, his dismay fades into another ineffable feeling. Sitting alone on the wooden window still looking out to the yard is the girl. An opened book is in her lap, her hand skimming through the pages softly. A patch of sunlight is falling from the sky, onto the paper and illuminating her face. She is leaning down to read, locks of blonde hair flying in the autumn wind like strands of gold. She is so beautiful.

He stands by the door frame, mesmerized by the serenity.

He feels intrusive, like he presence is a horrendous violation to something inviolable.

So, he turns around and sprints back down the stairs, in his mind a glimpse of blonde hair and rosy smile.

He is blushing.

~o~

He is surprised to see her again.

It is at a voluntary campaign of tutoring children in orphanages.

She is teaching a tiny ten-year-old.

Her wavy hair, normally flowing down her back, is braided with a pink ribbon that matches her T-shirt. She is wearing a blue jean skirt with straps and a pair of white sneakers with pink laces. The outfit is different from the school uniform she’s used to wear and makes her look younger and more adorable.

He is quite taken aback by her presence and more impressed with her appearance.

But then he realizes that she is more than meets the eye.

He has always thought of her as someone out of his league, a princess that only princes can court. Even when he sees her on the clock tower, he is blinded by her light and quickly runs away.

But now, she seems to glow. Not with blinding light of Helios but with warm, hearthy light of Hestia.

She is smiling. Though it doesn’t address him, the maternal expression gives the scene an extra sweetness. Pen in hand, she patiently and devotedly lead her little student through the jungle of knowledge. Her voice, high and powerful singing, sounds strangely melodious silently reciting lessons. The duo is so focused on the textbook they seems to neglect the world around them.

And he, he stands enchanted. The surrounding also seems to fade into wavy blonde hair flowing down pink T-shirt.

And he knows, he is a goner.

~o~

The world has endless possibilities.

Getting shot by Eros and falling in love is one of them.

Getting shot by Eros and falling for someone totally out of your league is one of them.

And of course, getting shot by Eros and ending up as a lab partner of your crush is also one of

them.

Some miraculous how, those chances befall him at the same time.

       ~o~

They both take AP Chemistry. Hers because she wants to study Psychology at university, his because he likes science in general. 

She sits at the front desk in the middle column while he sits two tables behind in the left column.  Therefore, they hardly ever cross path, and in fact never talk to each other before.

So when the teacher assign them as pair for an experiment, he internally jumps in shock and anticipation.

That, until he accidentally (or purposefully Seriously, no one is that ostentatiously clumsy) drops and breaks a test-tube, which causes a shard of sharp glass to impale itself on his palm when he tries to clean up the mess. He yelps out loud in pain and almost falls on his rear. She quirks an eyebrow at him like trying to say: “Seriously?” and he feels his face lit up like a boiled lobster. He is so screw. Why can’t no demon or angel or monster or anything appear and incinerate him right now? It would be so much better if he could just disappear and never present ever again.

But then, miracle happens. She crouches down beside him, picks up his hand and scares him nearly to death in the process.  She takes a white band aid out of her pencil case and puts it onto his wound. He looks down to see a face of a girl – he knows it is a girl because of the bob brown hair and the big pink bow on top of it – smiling back at him.

“No need to thank me” – She speaks as she stands up. – “Be careful next time, our school is not very wealthy.”

Don’t know why, but he thinks he see a little wavering in her voice. Then he finds out she is giggling.

Huh...

Great, now he is a laughing stock.

He silently curses himself.

He messes up. Big time.