If I can make it to Arduo

Chapter 2

Hours later I opened a squeaky metal door with an almost broken handle, and stepped into the old art room that no one used anymore. It was dusty and filled with broken desks, chairs, and the old mascot head that someone had spilled soda on at a softball game. One of the windows was cracked and I kept the other open most of the time, no one ever seemed to notice. This was my usual place to eat since I was socially blacklisted. It was quiet though, and I could draw, so it wasn't so bad. Sitting cross legged on the farthest table was the Chime girl, absorbed in a book as always. My heart skipped a beat.

"uh, hey" I managed to stammer.

She tensed suddenly and sucked in a sharp breath at the sound of my voice, she hadn't even noticed I was there! Her eyes looked misty, like that book had taken her thousands of worlds away. She scanned the room for a moment before her eyes landed on me. I attempted a friendly smile, and she looked relieved.

"Hi", she half whispered through the dusty air.

"Sorry if you waited long," I said, "my locker's all the way at the end of the hallway, and my lunch was in there." I held up my brown paper bag that my mother insisted on packing for me like every other day, My name scrawled on it in her loopy writing. It was more boring than embarrasing in my opinion.

"It's fine," She fidgeted with her hair, "do you, um, do you always eat here?"

I made my way over to the table across from her and dusted it off a bit before sitting down. "well, yeah. I do. I'm not the biggest fan of people, err.. the people here don't really like me."

She looked at the floor, "tell me about it."

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Crap! "I didn't mean to- uh- I-"

"Don't worry about it." She made a waving motion with her hand and glanced up with a slight grin. "I prefer the people in story books anyway, normal people are so... boring."

My stomach was beyond butterflies, more like vultures!

I smiled at her, she smiled back, and our gazes met. For just that moment I felt like the air around us could shatter if I moved, I was absolutely lost in those golden eyes. She looked down and brushed her hair behind her ear, reaching under her left horn to do so. As she leaned down to fish a plain black lunch bag out of her light blue backpack I noticed her stealing a sideways glance at me. My breath caught in my throat and my hand flew to my mouth as my body produced a forceful cough, it came out like a croak. Emberrased, I opened my brown bag and furiously searched the contents. At the very bottom, where I knew it would be, I found a hershey's kiss. Same as always. Thanks, Mom. I clutched the candy like a lifeline, pulled it from the bag, and held it out in front of me, presenting it to her.

"chocolate?" I could feel sweat forming on the back of my neck. Girls like chocolate, right?

She glanced down at the treat, and then looked at me. She seemed surprised, but in a good way. "uh, sure" . She plucked it from my hand and began to unwrap it. "So, why did you invite me here?"

I shrugged,"I dunno, you just seemed interesting. I thought we could hang out, ya'know? It'd be nice to have a friend around here instead of eating by myself all the time, and I heard you eat your lunches in the bathroom?"

She sighed and her smile faded, "yeah, they threw food at me when I tried to sit in the cafeteria, and the library doesn't allow food and drinks." She said and popped the candy into her mouth.

"Oh, I'm sorry... Is that why you went home early the other day?"

"yeah.."

We sat in silence for a moment, hating the mindset of the people around us.

"Well you can eat here!" I said, grinning at her. "nobody ever comes in here, so you wouldnt have to worry about anyone bothering you except me!" I made a funny face at her.

A tiny giggle bubbled its way out of her mouth and she covered it with her hand, "I'd like that."

So we finished our lunches casually, just making small talk. Over the next week and a half, we would meet in the abandoned art room, eat, and talk every day. We were both tentative about it at first, but it was so wonderful to have someone to talk to. Very soon she started to warm up to me, and every day I found something new that I loved about her. I was getting to know someone new for the first time in years, it was overwhelming in the best of ways.

She told me about her fancy three story home and her two mothers who had been delighted to have a horned child, about her retarded corgi dog named Emi who only ran in circles, and about her aunt who danced burlesque in Los Vegas and had taught her how to style her hair around her horns.

I marvelled at her stories and reluctantly told her my own. How could I interest her when I was so basic? I hated myself for it, but I told her all of it. I told her about my boring suburban style house with my boring mom, dad, and little brother, our golden retriever named Scooter, and I told her that I liked to draw.

I knew I had to be careful with the subject, but when the conversation shifted to art her eyes sparkled with interest. I opened my latest sketch book and she sat next to me as I flipped through it, stopping now and then for her to stare in wonder at the ones she liked. As I turned the page to reveal a snowy owl, she turned to me with curious eyes and said, "so you draw things you find unusual?"

Crap!Crap!crapcrapcrapCRAP! There were Chimes in this book! How could I answer a question like that to a person like her?!

I acted without thinking, and slowly turned the page. Revealing one of my best works, a pencil and pastel portrait of a hippie woman and a Chime man, standing hand in hand, signs raised and mouths open in shouts of protest. In almost a whisper, I told her the truth.

"I draw things that I find beautiful."

That whole week I had been asking over and over again for her name. Over and over again she would say, "I'll tell you when I want you to know". It frustrated me, but at the same time, it made knowing her all the more exciting. And it made the moment even more sweet when she looked from the long white pastel horns to me, and her eyes shined with joy before she gently rested her head on my shoulder and whispered to me the one thing I'd been waiting to hear all this time.

"Renna"

I left the art room that day with the most stupid grin in the world plastered across my face, and I didnt care who saw. She had told me her name and she had seen my art.. and liked it. I wanted to jump for joy. I wanted to tell her I loved her.

What I hadnt told her was that the couple in my drawing had been gunned down by police mere minutes after I had finished the rough sketch. And no one had told me how cruel this world could truly be.