Specks Of Dust [Kaylor]

An Unexpected Invitation

I was in school early.

Mom had to get to a museum on the other side of town around half past seven, so, being the generous mother she is, she drove me to school.

I didn't mind getting up too early. I was motivated to do....well, something.

I wasn't alone in school.

One other person was there.

As fate would have it, a girl in a white vest and jeans was sitting in her space in the middle of the second row from the front.

I went up to my own space behind her, squeezing between the packed chairs and desks to get there.

As soon as I sat down, silence ensued. I couldn't quite tell if it was a calm one or an awkward one, as if one of us was supposed to say something. Then I heard a page turn; she had gotten out a book.

A book.

She came prepared.

I had nothing of the sort. I wanted to use my phone, but I had forgotten to charge it overnight and I wanted to conserve the battery as well as I could.

"What're you reading?" The words flew out before I could stop to think before I acted.

Of course, she whirled around, and I was certain that when she turned around, she saw a sixteen a years old brunette with no idea why she just said what she just said.

She looked surprised, maybe she didn't even notice me come in. She smiled as soon as she recognized me. Tidal waves rippled the oceans.

"Hey, you scared me, curly." "Funny, I'm usually the one who gets scared by what I say."

She laughed a tiny bit. "So...the book?" I asked. "Oh, right, the book!" She showed me the cover.

The Hobbit, by JRR Tolkien, it read, on a forest green background.

"Oh, I read that!" I exclaimed, before snapping my mouth shut. Outbursts seemed to be barely containable this morning. I felt it was a bit justified, though. I loved the Tolkien books.

"Yeah, me too. It's my third time reading it." She paused, as if she was thinking of something to add. She seemed to come up with something rather quickly. "Have you seen the movies?" She asked to stir up a conversation.

"Yeah, I saw the last one back in 2014. It was alright. How about you?" "Oh, I loved the movies. They were so well made!" She gushed. I raised an eyebrow. "Aren't you a little disappointed by the inconsistencies?" "Are you crazy? I loved them! Why make a movie if it's exactly like the book? Why watch it?"

I wanted to say something back, an argument like "Because the source material says so!", but she had a point. Why look at something if it was identical to something before it?