Dainty and Dauntless

The Dawn:

"Once upon a time" gives promise to a tale. It could be an exciting one, mystifying truly, terrifying so, boring or outrageously non-existent. Whatever comes next after this statement has been said and cannot be unsaid. On that note.
Once upon a time a girl was a girl.

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"School...Urgh!"

She wanted it to end, forever. Boarding school was the worst, spending time away from the people you call home. That sucked always, but in a way, it did help too.

"High school is fun dear," Mrs. Simmons had said and went on to tell her how she loved those years.

She, Mrs. Simmons, one of the cool girls and her besties were the happiest girls back then. Their school yearbooks rubbed it in her face. She smirked at the thought that she would have never engaged with them, or they with her. Their difference, personality-wise was so evident. Mrs. Simmons was a cool extrovert, loved the attention and listened to classical love songs.

On the other hand, her only daughter, Natalie R. Simmons, was peacefully introverted and took pleasure in art, good music, literature, entertainment, family and minding her business. The distance between the apple and the tree couldn't be farther.

Natalie found the beauty of art mesmerizing while music allowed her to live beyond the physical world. Her black hole of curiosity was fed by literature and entertainment and family entrusted her the duty to protect and love. For everyone's sake, she minded her business, keeping them safe from her honest opinions.
Mrs. Simmons found them triggering. She could never un hear them, and that did give Natalie a good laugh. Mrs. Simmons was so ordinary, and many other people she did listen to.
They felt at ease with the world they found, left behind by their ancestors and walked in their steps blindly.
For this world, Natalie had her eyes gawking out at everything that they missed. Her adventures were not so fun solo.

This big world was too immense for one curious girl.
                                      ....

So much for a good start!
Vacation turned into a nightmare when Natalie was attacked by acne, and the small bumps made her feel insecure. She had never felt less beautiful.
What an oily way to start high school!
Adolescence sucked on all levels.
Natalie could feel the suckers protruding off her face. She hated the thought of having to hold a conversation only for the other party to be distracted by the shiny and painful bumps on her forehead.
She had pleaded with Mrs. Simmons to get her an instant cure, anything that could make pimples vanish. This made her mother laugh so hard which was quite rude, if you asked Natalie.
This was a crisis. Why was she laughing in the face of a catastrophe?

"They will be gone, honey. Just a few years and your beautiful skin will get all better," Mrs. Simmons had tried to comfort her fussing teenage daughter.

"A few years is too long. These things are going to throw off my groove mum. Please do something."
Natalie had stressed on.
She still had to go to school despite her insecurity.
This was definitely a bad start.
The universe was not cool at all for this.

The next chapter finally caught up.
So, this was high school, she could survive with a bunch of her own or trail through it stealthily solo. It sure was interesting.
She noticed; tall girls owned the confidence while the pretty ones had the attention. The cool girlies had the friends, and the smart got the respect.

All Natalie got was the upper bunk bed, yay!
That was an instant win. There she would sit and watch from her high tower, the life down below. In her silence she caught a glimpse of reunited friends, ecstatic expressions, nervous stares and intimidating personalities.
She, small, quiet and blessed with an uninterested expression, was no fun to her audience.
It seemed quite a number of people weren't happy with her temperament.

"Yup, ordinary folks," she sighed as she looked around.
Natalie was disappointed at the possibility of trudging through another chapter of life alone.
No one could let her ask or give answers, no one spoke her interests.
Their fun wasn't hers.

She was still going to survive, and it was a must-do mission. Surviving was a piece of cake. The legendary tactic of "minding her business" was the most dangerous weapon against the crazy awaiting her. The gods had trusted her to master it, and she did make them proud.
She was not about to let them down.

Natalie's first year was almost to an end, not too bad a year. Her studies were fine, and she actually had at least two friends, Ramh and Garf.
It wasn't going to be so lonely after all.
The usual with academics, recognition for excellence was coming up soon. An academic assembly was called for the smartest students to get recognized. Natalie thought about the stage anxiety, and it made her belly flop. Good enough she wasn't one of the smart bunches.

Just as the names were beginning to bore her to the afterlife, a name, a boy apparently from her class year was called out in first position. It jolted her curiosity, then her intrigue. She couldn't tell who it was. Who was that guy?
"Ethan Valer" The name rolled off her tongue with ease.

Giggles caught Natalie's attention. They were from two talkative girls, probably from a year higher. One whispered to the other, obviously not whispering.
"Yea, I heard he is quite the smart one, very proud too."
"Oh! Well, that makes this batch more interesting then," the other had that to say.

Seconds later said guy walked towards the stage.
Natalie squinted her eyes to see him clearer. A tall figure, arms lazily swinging back and forth at his side walked on, his gaze directed forward but to the ground.
When he stood still, he faced towards the assembly but had his focus into space.
"Ethan Valer," Natalie smirked at his demeanor, "not so ordinary"

He squinted his eyes once in a while, bit on his lip a little and rubbed hands before shifting his body weight to the other leg.
He was so nervously uninterested in the proceedings but very accepting of the attention.
Natalie couldn't help scoffing. She rolled her eyes. Proud? Natalie thought him very proud.
And yet the more she stared at him, the more she found him so fragile.
Ordinary or not, he made her feel some kind of way.

Very interesting was this Ethan Valer guy.

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