November

Chapter 4

She had not seen him yet. Cole was instantly thankful for the eerie shadows that hid him from her piercing minty green eyes. The wind picked up, making her amber hair dance untamed in her face and get caught in near by branches. She shivered and started to climb down.

Cole watched carefully as she jumped from a high branch and landed cat-like on her feet and disappearing over the ridge into a line of hedges. Their dark green leaves reached for her as if she were water for their parched roots. The brambles caught on her sweater as she hugged her arms to her, and silently slipping trough the thick foliage.

Cole hummed to himself the three lines she was singing just a few minutes before. That song sounded familiar. He knew it from somewhere, but couldn't quite put his finger on how he recognized it.

"What are you doing here Quinn?" a small voice whispered behind him. Cole jumped, and stumbled backwards until he lay on the damp ground staring up at the beautiful creation of November Eve Kendra.

The pale yellow and white starry light made her long eyelashes cast long shadows over her soft cheek bones. Her pink lips were no longer pursed as they were before, but were slightly open. They looked innocent and untouched. Her hair framed her face, making her look like a baby deer. Fragile. Frail. Young. Beautiful.

"Quinn?" she asked again, a note of worry in her tone. November shifted her weight to her other leg before reaching her hand down to help him up. He refused it, and shyly stood up.

"I was visiting someone." he said quietly. November tilted her head to the side, and scanned his face to see if he was being honest. Her eyes darted to every facial feature, making Cole feel exposed like he had done something wrong. He couldn't help but noticed how her eyes wrinkled at the edges as she examined his reactions. Her brow furrowed. Her lips parted. She took slow even breaths.

She hummed and backed away, leaning against a little tree. She examined his posture. She hummed again noting every single little move he made. Cole felt like she could spot his flaws as if they were red stains on a white shirt, and in a way she could. She could see the acne on his forehead, and the tiny scars on his cheeks. She spotted the little tattoo on his wrist (although she couldn't make it out) and mentally jotted down the fact that he used his left foot to lean on most of the time. When it was Cole against November, he couldn't hide anything. Her minty green eyes could see through him and had the power to unravel his secrets.

But she refused to waste her time on something as cocky and rude as Cole Quinn.

November let her gaze linger one more second before focusing on her shoes. Cole sighed relieved that the silent interrogation was over. He looked away from her, and thought of something to say.

Hey I liked your singing. No that was too creepy and stalker-like.

Why were you in the cemetery tonight? No, that was too personal.

You look nice? No. Just plain no.

He looked back to the tree where November was standing, but she wasn't there. She had vanished without a trace, and without a sound. She was like an entity: silent, and graceful, and mysterious, like an unfinished puzzle.

Cole wanted to finish that puzzle.

Wait? What? No, he couldn't think like that. He wasn't supposed to think like that because he didn't like her. So why did he want to touch her, and smell her scent, and hold her until she spilled her secrets? It was a foreign feeling that Cole didn't know how to handle. He wanted to run his fingers through her black hair. He wanted to chart the galaxies that were her mind. He wanted to sail the deep seas that were her eyes. He wanted to learn about the magic that was in her smile whenever her lips parted and displayed her slightly crooked teeth. But he coudln't.