6

Her face was inches from mine. Her breath was even, even though she must have ran to catch me that fast. I could feel her breath on my cheek and flushed as I felt my own speed up. I stared at her enthralled by her beauty; How could there be no pimples, no blackheads or any skin imperfection? She stared back at me, her green eyes narrowed slightly as if she was frustrated with me. I cleared my throat awkwardly as she closed her eyes, emphasising the contrast between her dark eyelashes and her pale violet eyelids. There was smudged black eyeshadow trailing from the corner of her tear duct in a thin line to just below her eyebrow. Thin dark blue veins spiralled out like fragile cobwebs decorating her eyelids.
It was frustrating and perfect how much beauty one girls eyelids could hold. She was captivating, every part of her. I'd already discarded my mothers promise of taking me home, I could never leave now. I wanted to be part of this.
I went to step back, moving my leg back, to find I wasn't on the ground. I'd been so focused on Aurel to notice there was nothing beneath me, she was holding me against her. She noticed my shift in posture and smiled apologetically, setting me down.
"I'm so sorry, I should not have frightened you like that" her tone was formal and reserved again, she didn't seem affected by how intensely close we were. Maybe it was just me reading into things, already becoming obsessed with meanings. I could already tell my fascination wasn't reciprocated, in fact she didn't seem to care about me at all. You know that's not true the commonsensical voice in my subconscious chided. She wouldn't have caught you otherwise. I sighed, my inner thoughts had good logic. Maybe she just felt guilty for making me jump.
She cleared her throat daintily, clearly wondering why I was staring at her. Again. I shook myself out of my wallowing and smiled.
"No, the apologies' on my part, I overreacted to it, honestly." No point in adding on that I'm naturally jumpy, I didn't want to look like I had a secret. She chuckled awkwardly, looking down.
"So.. You were looking for me?" She asked, almost nervously, as if for fear she was wrong. I nodded, her shy expression left me wordless and awkward, clearly a common theme running in our conversations. I shook myself out of it, I couldn't believe how foolish I looked.
"Uh, yeah. Cal... Are you okay?" I managed to ask her the main question, although it was a struggle to form a coherent sentence with her lavender scent filling my nose and the air between us. She looked down, her delicate porcelain skin slowly turned rosy as embarrassment creeped up.
"Oh, it was nothing, Cal and I... We never get along. You'll get used to it." She smiled, albeit it was a hesitant smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
"How come? It didn't seem like friendly rivalry or something we could get used to. He reduced you to tears, there's clearly a deep hatred." I didn't know if I was being forceful, yet I didn't care. I already hated Cal and I wanted to know why he was an a*****e.
"Trust me, it's a really long story," she smiled, that same indecisive smile although her eyes lit up as if it was an inside joke I wasn't part of. I smiled in defeat and sat down on the log, watching the pond again.
For what seemed like hours, but could only have been seconds, she stood there. Clearly deciding if she should sit down or leave. Luckily she was in a better mood than before. I heard her coat rustle as if she was taking it off, although it must have been 1am in the cold forest. But I was right, seconds later she flung her coat to the floor and sat on it, like a picnic blanket. She was just in front of me, leaning closer to inspect the water. Her pale shoulder blades stuck out of her back like wings about to rip through her skin. She was so translucent I feared there was every possibility of it happening. But her shoulders stayed put as she sat there, soaking up the moonlight as if she was sunbathing in it. Aurel threw her head back to look at me and grinned, the first true smile I had seen from her.
"I love it here, I love the sounds. If you focus really hard, you can hear the forest animals moving around." I held my breath as we listened in silence. Or, as she listened, I could only hear the faint bubbling of the stream, and an occasional owl hooting. My lungs burst and I had to loudly inhale more air, making us both flinch. I felt my neck slowly getting warmer with embarrassment but to my relief, she chuckled. It was melodic.
She turned to look at me over her shoulder and patted the empty space on her makeshift blanket.
"Why're you all the way up there? Come sit with me, I don't bite." She grinned again, flashing perfect teeth at me. I was momentarily stunned, but I quickly obliged and took a place beside her, though not as graceful as her decline had been.
"You said you like it here, does that mean you come here often?" I wanted to make conversation, she was so intriguing and I was so plain.
"Was that a pick up line?" She chuckled again, " yes, it's my favourite place. I like to read and write here." Reading, writing, both common grounds.
"What do you like reading?" I was praying for classics, something we could talk about together. She turned to me and smiled sheepishly.
"I read poetry.." She admitted with a tone not unlike someone who's admitted to kicking kittens. I couldn't hold back a chuckle, being ashamed of something like that is ridiculous. She smiled at me in bemusement, her arched eyebrows pulled together to create a worried crease in the space between them.
"Poetry? What's wrong with that?" I tried to keep the mirth out of my voice and failed tremendously.
"My friends say I'm ... Stuck in the old days, they often tease me about it. They say I should have stayed in the twenties." She smiled fully again, her eyes hinted at another inside joke I wasn't involved in. I hoped for a time I would be involved in inside jokes with the group. I didn't have a coherent reply and she didn't elaborate.
We sat in silence for an unmeasurable period of time. It could have been hours, or minutes. I lost track of time as I breathed in her lavender scent and listened to her even breathing.
After a while I turned to face her, to find she was watching me with a peaceful, content expression. She was so pretty, when she wasn't scowling, although even the melancholy expression she often sported hadn't yet marred her beauty. I felt heat rise up my neck and into my cheeks as I blushed humiliatingly. My blood always seemed to give me away. Her eyes skimmed across my cheeks and she sharply turned her head to gaze back into the water. Her peaceful expression remained, although there was something mournful in her eyes. I lowered my head and became absorbed in watching my hands play with the sleeve of her jacket. I was so absorbed I had almost missed it, until my hands felt the cold, damp patch on the sleeve. I brought it closer to inspect the patch.
It was blood.