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Thursday: "Pretty is as Pretty Does" By Mandatory Volunteer

(Part Three) 

This school system ran on blocked days. There was an A day which consisted of four classes, and a B day, which had four more classes. So there were eight classes total, one more than I was used to, but that’s okay. The only thing I was worried about was that I’d go to the classes for the wrong day. My mind always wandered like that. 

Today was an A day, which consisted of two core classes, Calculus and English, and two electives, my language class, Latin, and Choir. 

My B day would have History and Physics, and my elective Art History and a free period. 

I met a very nice girl in my Calculus class, her name was Nina, and she said that I didn’t seem like a snob. We helped each other in the corner table of the classroom. I remember her saying that it was nice to have someone help her for a change instead of her helping everyone else in the class. And by ‘helping’ she meant giving the answers so everyone could copy them. 

Turns out she was in my Latin class too, right before my English and Choir class in that order. Lunch was going to be in between Latin and English, and was about forty-five minutes long. 

That’s where I met him. 

I drifted my way into the cafeteria after bidding Nina goodbye and bit my lip looking around for a place to sit. It was entirely too crowded inside, so I walked outside under the awning between the school buildings and looked around for a place to sit at the tables. 

They were all full except for one, where one lone guy was sitting, staring at a cookie on a tray. I wanted to leave him alone, but then I shook my head and was determined to be more confident in myself. 

I walked over to him with my hands in the pocket of my jacket. He looked up and tilted his head to the side. I tried so hard not to drool. 

He was beautiful. Gorgeous. He had pale skin, and was wearing only a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbow, a black tie, and a pair of torn jeans over worn converse. He had two lip rings on both sides of his lip and black hair that fell over his face, accenting the angles and bringing out the grey in his eyes. 

“H-h-hi. Do you mind if I sit here?” I tried to pump my voice full of authority, but it didn’t work too well. 

He tilted his head to the other side and smiled. “You talk funny.” He continued to smile at me as I debated whether or not that was a yes or a no. My face must’ve been deep thought or something because he looked back down and let out a little giggle. 

“I don’t mind if you sit there. I wouldn’t mind having someone to talk to.” He sounded so much like a little kid right then that I pretty much melted into a little blob that just wanted to hug and squeeze him until he felt better or told me to let go.  

I laid my bag down next to my seat and pulled out a sack lunch I made that morning in the kitchen, despite the cook’s protest. He wanted to make me something much more sophisticated than a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, but I told him that I probably wouldn’t finish it and that I’d rather not waste food. He left me alone, but pinched his nose as he put away the utensils I used to make the sandwich. 

As I was eating the sandwich, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that he was watching me. I stopped chewing for a few second and swallowed before I looked back up at him and his uneaten cookie. 

“Are you new here?” He was swinging his legs from side to side and staring curiously at me. 

“Yeah. I just moved here…” He smiled and moved his eyes somewhere else. 

“I can tell… normally, everyone just leaves me alone…” He looked back at his cookie again and gingerly pushed it over to me like the cookie was very fragile. 

“Here. You can have my cookie. I don’t really want it anymore.” I blinked at him a few times before I swallowed the last piece of my sandwich and picked up the cookie. 

“Are you sure? I don’t wanna eat it if you want it.” He stared at the cookie in my hand before he gave me a genuine breath-taking smile and nodded. 

I took a bite out of it and freaked out a little bit when he gave me such a curious look. 

“How does it taste?” 

“… Like a cookie. Kinda like bread with a lot of sugar and some chocolate.” He sat there and took in my words with such absorbed interest. I didn’t even say anything worthy of that much thought. 

“Wow. I wish I could have eaten it…” That’s when I started panicking a little bit. Well, more like a lot actually. 

He seemed to sense my distress as he laughed again and shook his head. “It’s okay. I couldn’t eat it anyway.” Then he looked around and leaned across the table, his perfect face seemed even more beautiful up close. Do you describe guys as beautiful? He wasn’t feminine really, maybe more delicate? But masculine! Oh, I dunno. 

“My name is Riley. And I’m two hundred years old.” I snorted a little bit before I replied back with my answer. 

“My name’s Anne-Marie. Call me Anrie. And I’m sixteen. Though, I wouldn’t mind being older sometimes…” While he mused over my answer, I thought back about what he said. Maybe he told me he was two hundred because he didn’t want me to know his real age. Maybe he doesn’t enjoy my company at all and he’s just being sarcastically mean to me so that I’ll leave him alone.

I was so lost in thought that I didn’t even notice it when a shadow began to loom over me. I did notice, however, the rush of freezing cold that descended on me from above in the form of spilled soft drink.