Look Before You Leap-Ch. 2

More character and plot introductory.

On the Monday that Molly moved, I sat, alienated, in science class. Molly always sat next to me, but now her seat was empty, and so was my heart. I had no one to talk to, no one to share my secrets with, no one to listen when I needed to vent. The rest of the class gossiped and chattered as Mrs. Hammond got her lesson plans together. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Mrs. Hammond opened the door, and into the classroom walked a boy. Something about him seemed vaguely familiar. I couldn't quite think of where I'd seen a face similar to his. "Class, this is Xenophin," Mrs. Hammond announced as she introduced the new student. "You have the permission to refer to me as Phin," the new guy said. It suddenly dawned on me where I'd seen a face like his before. He looked just like the attractive yet mysterious man I'd seen coming out of the mysterious new house, except that this boy was slightly shorter and more youthful-looking. "Take any seat you'd like, Phin." Mrs. Hammond told him. The boy's mannerisms were unusual. He maneuvered himself like a robot. Marching mechanically, he seated himself in Molly's old spot, next to me. Like the man I'd seen the previous day, Phin had the same icy stare that had made me feel intimidated.

Mrs. Hammond began to drone on about the components of the digestive system, but all I could think of was the awkward being residing in the desk next to mine. My mind was overwhelmed with wonder and curiosity. I decided to write Phin a note. "Hi, I'm Carolina," I scribbled onto a piece of looseleaf paper. Slipping it onto Phin's desktop, I pretended to be absorbed in Mrs. Hammond's lesson to avoid getting in trouble. Soon, my favor to Phin was returned. He set the paper on my desk. I opened it to find a note that looked as if it had been typed, rather than quickly etched onto a piece of paper during class. It read, "Greetings. In what condition are you?" I didn't comprehend what he was asking, so I wrote a question mark on the sheet of paper and passed it back to him. "Perhaps I should have inquired, 'How are you?' instead," he wrote back, in the same uniform, professional handwriting. "Good. How about you?" I wrote back. "Neutral," he wrote in reply.

We sat together at lunch. "Where do you reside?" he asked me. "Park Street," I replied. Upon my response, Phin showed the most emotion I'd seen him show all day. His icy eyes seemed excited and intrigued all of a sudden. "I reside on Park Street, too," he stated, "My parents and I just set our house there and settled in." I nodded and said, "I've seen a new white house with a garage and a porch. Is that yours?" Phin nodded. I asked, "Where are you from?" He looked baffled for a moment, as if he didn't know the answer or was struggling to answer. "Missouri!" he finally shouted, as if answering a question on a game show. "Why did you move?" I asked. For a minute he looked to be in deep thought, and then he said, "My family and I desired a higher quality life."

Our conversation was broken by the school bell's toll. "It was nice talking with you," I professed. "Our conversation was indeed pleasurable," Phin agreed. He then offered to carry my books. I allowed him to do so and found that he was headed to the same class to which I was headed. I came to the conclusion that, although Phin's ridiculously sophisticated word choice and hard stare were a bit off-putting, they had nothing to do with who he really was. So far, he seemed like a genuinely kind person. And he was cute to boot.

Author's Note

teen, scifi, lesson, book, teenager, love, depression, loneliness