first interactions

Chapter 3

       The next morning was a blur.

The day started with a prayer and conversation with my heavenly father, a prayer I desperately and indubitably needed.

It was a Tuesday morning, the morning of our long-awaited group play competitions. The day of my, MY long-awaited victory.

 I got to the center, filled with excitement and fear, ready to win back all I had lost last year. I settled down and waited to hear my name from the loudspeakers placed at the corners of each room.

 I was to act the role of belly from the summer I turned pretty, and was assigned to prepare my teammates for the parts they had to play.

"Angelique! Angelique Mahrez!" I heard from the speaker. 

She was to act in the role of Taylor. I got up to call her in the class where she and the rest of my casting crew were. I walked into the class and yelled "Angelique! Angelique!" then proceeded to tap on a person's back, someone I thought was Angelique, he turned to face me and went on to introduce himself

"Hey, you need anything?" he asked with a rather deep voice.

I looked at him and was suddenly overwhelmed by a feeling, a feeling... of love, love that I knew I could certainly not show, well, not to him of course, no one ever shows love to someone they love. Thats absurd.

"Hi," I said.

The word left my mouth but pondered in my mind as I wondered so deeply about the flaws embedded in such a little word. Did I stutter? did I sound bad? was hi too short of a word? Those thoughts dashed through my mind as he stared at me.

It wasn't the first time I spoke to him, but it felt like it could be the last.

"I'm Damien.... not Angelique," he said as I looked at him half aware of what he just said

"oh! I'm ezrella" I said as I snapped back into reality.

"I'm sorry... I thought you were... never mind.... pardon me" I said as I desperately searched for more words to express my uttermost regret.

I recognized his face from the cafe yesterday, but I don't think he remembered mine.

"It's okay," he said as he leaned close, a bit too close for someone I barely knew.

"Is everything okay?" he asked, with an American accent, I couldn't tell if he was faking it or perhaps he was too far for me to hear it before.

"I'm okay," I said, now with my accent... it was a British accent, an accent I was sure I never had. "Are you American?" I asked as it was the only question I could find to keep the conversation going.

"A bit" he answered as he leaned back abruptly and walked away.

I stared at him unable to understand how someone could be so attractive, for no absolute reason.

He was a magnet and I was the metal he so obliviously attracted to himself.