seasons. : a fireafy fic

chapter two

Leafy had boarded the train today much earlier than she usually did. She wasn't exactly sure why, but she wanted to see if the boy was there again.

Okay, so she did know why. What was the point of pretending?

She was smart enough not to expect anything, though.

So when the train slowly passed the area she saw the maybe-orange-haired boy last, all she saw was his tag, the word carefully spray painted in big, red bubble letters, accompanied by a flame motif: "BURN"

Leafy smiled slightly. Edgy, much? She felt like she was getting to know him, at least a little. Even if she never got to talk to him.

Obviously, the boy was not there.

She silently congratulated herself for the lack of expectation.

The green-haired girl sat back in her seat and watched the rooftops go by. She immediately sunk into thought: that BURN tag. She's seen it before. Under overpasses, on street lamps, and maybe even on a semi-truck. It's usually seen in orange, but it's occasionally spray-painted in red. She's surprised she'd paid that much attention, but there aren't many delinquents in the Goiky to begin with. It seemed like the boy was a type of person who was very, very angry with the world.

The train jolted when it reached the stop of the university campus. The doors immediately slammed open and let the cacophony of a rushing crowd into the quiet. Leafy was startled from her thoughts. She picked up her books and her bag from the seat beside her and hurried out of the train car.

She checked her watch, curious for the time. It was 9:12 am. The girl grinned softly, realizing she had some time to kill before going to her 10:00 am genetics class. She usually never gets here so early. She vaguely wondered why she was so eager to get to campus on time.

She vaguely wondered why she wanted to get on the train so early.

She took a step, and stopped, her grin faltering. Leafy didn't really know what to do before class started. She had almost 45 minutes to herself before the pain of a genetics lecture, and she had no clue what to do with herself.

Sit in the classroom? No, she didn't feel like being in an actual learning environment at the moment.

Go to the university cafe? No, she wanted to save her money.

Head over to the library? No, but that felt strangely comforting and familiar...

She opted to head over to the Student Union.

She had never been there before. Because Leafy is a commuter, she doesn't really go anywhere other than her classes. She had no reason to, anyways. She didn't live on campus. She didn't need to eat her meals here. She didn't need to meet with other students.

As Leafy headed over to the Student Union, suddenly, she saw him.

David.

Leafy grimaced and looked away.

The Student Union was in sight now. The heels of her black boots clicked faster against the pavement, eager to get to their destination. Leafy didn't even know what she would do in the Student Union. She wasn't interested in the fast food restaurants, the clubs, or the mail room.

Was this a waste of her time?

The late summer breeze picked up suddenly, and in the moment of chills, Leafy shuddered and quickly ducked into a random building to avoid the cold.

Wow, she wasn't ready for winter at all. Her cheeks already felt frozen from the little gust of air. It looks like she wasn't going to the Student Union now. She looked around. This place seemed much more interesting, anyway.

She checked her surroundings once again. She had never been to this building either. Her green eyes met with the board on the wall.

There were some names of professors, their smiling pictures, their office numbers lined neatly next to them on the bulletin. At the top, in bold lettering, spelled, "Engineering Department."

Huh. That's why she'd never been here. She wasn't an Engineering major.

She was mostly stuck in the Science Department, because she was a Biology major. She never had a reason to be here. The only time she wasn't in the Science Department was when she was visiting her... her ex in the Mathematics Department.

Leafy frowned. The interior was oddly beautiful, for such a notoriously difficult major. She briefly thought about the amount of tears that must be shed in this area. The lobby was tall, the wood walls stretching towards the skylight, which, in turn, illuminated a small tree. An array of plants twisted around the roots of the tree, along with some flowers, blooming and thriving in the cascading beams of light.

And then there was an ugly ass cardboard cutout of the university mascot- the angler fish. The green-haired girl sighed disapprovingly.

The sound of brisk footsteps down the corridor roused Leafy from her thoughts, and she subconsciously turned towards the noise.

When her eyes met the source of the footsteps, her breath hitched in her throat.

It was the boy.

The boy with the lighter.

His hair really was orange.

He had been looking down as he walked, but the boy seemed to figure out someone was watching him, because his eyes snapped upwards and met hers. He had some damn good instincts. 

The spray-painted fingers on his right hand twitched.

Her eyes went to his hands. He was messing with his lighter. How was that allowed on campus?This guy was a walking fire hazard.

Leafy was silent.

The boy with the lighter was somehow even more silent.

He didn't stop walking though. He quickly broke eye contact and brushed past the green-haired girl without even a greeting.

He pushed open the double doors.

And just like that, he was gone.

Damn. Rude.

Leafy let out a breath she didn't even know she was holding. It was almost like being in his presence was suffocating. She's absolutely ridiculous. There's nothing special about this literal criminal.

The chimes of the bell tower signaled that it was 9:30, almost time for class. Not entirely. Leafy just had to walk all the way back to the Science Department, and she didn't remember if she knew the way back.

Who knows, it may take her half an hour to get back across campus. At this point, she was crazy enough to be looking forward to her lecture.