The Second Tour of 44West

ch. 6 - dinner

Rion

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~ Twelve Years Ago ~

    I was sitting in my fifth period journalism class, trying with everything in me to focus on the words that were coming out of Mrs. Vega's mouth. She was speaking on the importance of a good headline or something like that, but I don't really know. It was hard to focus when Elizabeth was sitting right next to me.

    She had long, dirty blonde hair that always had a nice, natural wave in it. I wanted so badly to run my fingers through it, but I didn't know her and she didn't know me so that wouldn't be socially acceptable on any level.

    She also smelled so damn good. It was like a mixture of vanilla and florals and it was absolutely intoxicating. Her hands were slender, always with multiple rings on them that she seemed to like to switch in and out. Her fingers moved with a deftness across her keyboard as she typed her notes and wrote various ideas down in a small, leather-bound notebook that she took with her everywhere.

    I always wondered what she wrote in it. I had one that looked exactly the same, but mine was filled with little poems and song lyrics that popped into my mind at any given time.

    I briefly turned back to Mrs. Vega as she moved on to the subject of captions, and how they should be brief and accurate and blah blah blah. I know she was only doing her job, but journalism is not where my passions lied, and I just didn't care.

    Pulling my own notebook out, I unraveled the leather string that kept the book closed and started doodling little pictures in the top corner. However, my attention was pulled to the side as I heard Elizabeth sigh and rest her head on her palm, to where her face was now angled towards mine. Even under the harsh, fluorescent lights of the public high school we found ourselves in, she was beautiful. Ethereal even.

    Then I caught a glimpse of her eyes as she looked up towards where Mrs. Vega stood, glancing at what she wrote on the board. But just like me, she didn't seem to care all that much about the given lesson. I was enraptured by the depth of green her eyes held, and how the colors seemed to swirl as different lights hit them with the slightest of head movements.

    The most beautiful emerald eyes.

    I tore my gaze away, not wanting to get caught by the older student, and wrote 'Emerald Eyes' at the top of the blank notebook page, shutting it quickly so she wouldn't see.

    The bell finally rang, so I threw my things into my book bag without looking back and quickly walked into the steadily crowding school hallway. Even though there were more and more people surrounding me, I somehow felt like it was easier to breathe out here now that she wasn't right next to me, sucking the air out of the room with just her presence.

    I rested my back against the lockers and took a few calming breaths, watching the students of East Tampa High filtering past me and into their sixth period classes.

    "Hey!" I heard, coming from a voice down the hall. But kids were yelling in every direction, so I didn't pay it any attention. "Rion!" Okay, that was definitely meant for me. Turning my head in the direction of the voice, my eyes widened as I saw Elizabeth jogging up to me. She knew my name? "Shit, I'm glad I caught you. It was hard to get through all of those people."

    "Yeah..." I mumbled, eyebrows furrowed as I was very confused why she came running after me. We stared at each other for a moment before she cleared her throat and reached into her bag slung over her shoulder.

    "You forgot your notebook." She revealed as she grabbed the item and held it out to me.

     "Oh, shit, thanks." I replied with visible relief. I had so many personal anecdotes and songs written in this thing. I would die if I lost it. I reached my hand out to grab my belongings when my fingers lightly grazed her hand, sending sparks up my arms and into my neck. I looked up to see if she had a similar reaction, but couldn't find any evidence of it. If she felt it too, she was good at hiding it.