Morana Barnes: Murderous Love

4. May Barnes

August 30th, 2022

Meet Cute:

I walked out of the classroom, with two notebooks in my arms, one textbook, and a binder with all my important papers. My earphones hung from my ears and were connected to my phone where music played and drowned out everyone around me. I walked toward the cafe so I could sit down and eat while completing the rest of my notes.

Today was one of the easier days for me. I didn't have a lot of work because we were gonna take a quiz soon so Mr. Hannard wanted us to get all the notes down and I only had three classes to attend which meant I got to go home and rest for a couple of hours before going to do the rest of me homework from other classes.

If I let it pile up I would be drowned in work and would never have a life because I was always doing said work. I focused on my notes, my eyes glancing back and forth between the textbook, the notebook, and my binder. I was looking for the important information and not the filler. The filler information never helped anyone it also barely explained anything anyway. My finger ran under the words so I could focus on what I'd been reading in my head while my music played in my ears.

I was so focused on my work I hadn't noticed the boy who sat in front of me. When I felt something tap my shoulder I jumped, quickly snatching my headphones out of my ears and looking at the person in front of me. He was a cute boy. He had big bright blue eyes, and small freckles that went from his right cheek to the bridge of his nose, then to his left cheek. He had a couple more freckles just dotted along his face but they weren't as noticeable. His lips seemed to curve downward as though he were upset but the inviting smile on his face said otherwise. "Hello?" I smiled while looking at him.

"Hi," he said awkwardly while avoiding eye contact with me. It was pretty cute. "Um, I'm....I'm Jace, Jace Lorn, we have the same first period together,"

"Really?" I questioned. I had never seen him in that class before. Maybe I just wasn't paying attention. I was probably focused on getting my work done and completing so I didn't have time to look and see who was in my class. "May, May Barnes," I said introducing myself to him.

"Yeah, I'm usually in the back," he was awkward and it appealed to me. I liked the awkwardness and the nervousness he had when speaking to me even though this is the first time we'd spoken to each other.

It was understandable that he'd be awkward but it was just really cute. I waited for him to say something but he was staring at the table as though he was in deep thought.

"So, Jace, what are you studying?" I was trying to ease his discomfort and just strike up a conversation.

"Criminology," he said simply.

"What made you want to study that?" I'd only ever heard a couple of people say they were studying criminology. I know when you study criminology you're studying the behavior of criminals trying to figure out why they behave the way they do. I have a criminology class.

It's a requirement for what I want to be so I take it. Plus in court, it would help if I could understand the behavior of the criminal depending on what they did. Whether that be murder, robbery, or even joyriding to make sure it doesn't happen again.

"Um, I just think they're really interesting, especially serial killers. The way their mind works when committing a crime is fascinating because some do regret their decisions and then others have no remorse for what they've done and it's interesting to see why. What made them do it..."

Listening to him talk was oddly comforting to me. His voice was like silk. With all the nerves gone he seemed to be more confident and I could tell he was passionate about what he was studying.

"So you want to be a Criminal Psychologist?" I asked. You didn't have to want to be a Criminal Psychologist to be studying criminology but with Jace, I was starting to put two and two together.

He wanted to study the mind of a criminal, he wanted to sit in a room with them and ask them questions, listen to their responses and try to understand why they were they were whether that be a murderer or someone who did something more simple like steal from a convenience store.

"Yeah, it's just a really interesting topic. I could go on and on about it but what about you? What made you decide to study criminology? Do you want to be a criminal defense lawyer?"

"Oh no, I want to be a prosecutor. I cross-examine evidence presented by the leading detectives on a case, make plea bargains, and I represent the community as a whole, not just one individual like a defense attorney, " I chuckled slightly. "It was actually my sister who made me want to do this,"

"Is your sister a prosecutor?"

"Oh no, she's a homicide detective, she goes out there and investigates the crime scenes and stuff but I just liked that she was making a difference and it made me want to make a difference as well." I have looked up to my sister for as long as I could remember. We weren't biological sisters. She was adopted when I was four years old. She's three years older than me but we're practically inseparable.

We did everything together, and told each other everything, even about the stress of school and work. Sometimes she would talk to me about an old case she had and ask me how I would go about presenting the evidence found and we'd act out everything with her being the defendant's lawyer and presenting the evidence to the jury while I cross-examine it as the prosecutor. I did pretty well and it was fun for both of us.

"That's inspiring. Your sister sounds like a great person,"

"She's honestly the best sister anyone could ask for," I smiled. I noticed Jace staring at my lips and I felt my cheeks heat up as a light tint of pink spread across them. "

Um," Jace chuckled nervously again and I just waited patiently for him to say what he wanted to say. "Originally I planned to...." There was a long pause but I said nothing. I just stared at him attentively with an encouraging smile letting him know I was listening and wasn't rushing him to spit it out. "Do you wanna, I don't know, maybe like grab coffee sometime."

I could tell that wasn't exactly what he wanted to say but it was the best he was gonna do at the moment because of his nerves. He bit his bottom lip anxiously as he waited for my reply and I gave him a bright smile, my eyes scrunching up just a little. "I'd love to go and grab a coffee,"

"Ok, ok," I could see the excitement in his eyes and it was infectious.

"Here, let me see your phone." He pulled his phone out and handed it to me. I went to his phone app and put in my number. I stored my contact before shooting myself a small text just reading the simple word 'Hi' with a waving hand. I handed him his phone back and mine vibrated in my pocket.

I stood up and gathered my things still giving him a genuine smile, a pink tint across my cheeks. "See you around, Jace," I liked the way his name sounded coming from my lips. And with that, I left the small cafe leaving Jace sitting at the booth with a huge grin on his face.