Chit and Jake

Chit

I said hi to her. She spoke to me. These two seemingly simple facts were awfully hard to comprehend and accept as reality. People like her didn't mix with people like me. There was no law saying so but it was generally a given. It was rare groups mixed, and when they did it was usually for some common goal or one amazing person. I was not an amazing person. I tried to think of reasons but came up empty as I wandered through my front door and upstairs into my room. I dropped my bag at the foot of my desk and slumped into my chair. I let out an exhausted sigh and picked up Shiver, the first of the trilogy and begun reading.

I woke up disorientated. The constant beep, beep, beep of my alarm clock rang loudly in my ears as I jumped out of bed. I looked around at my surroundings and calmed down as I finally recognised that I was standing in my own room. Stumbling over to my alarm clock, I caught sight of Shiver and noticed that I was already halfway through it. The room became very silent as I hit the button on my clock to turn the alarm off. I grabbed my uniform and headed downstairs to start my day. It was only 7am. I took my time eating breakfast, washing the dishes, brushing my teeth, ironing my clothes to perfection and packing my bag because I wanted to catch the bus which left at 45 past. No, I didn't really want to catch the bus, but I wanted to see Levy, which meant I had to. I wanted to get to know her and I wanted to ask those random questions but mostly I just wanted to stop feeling lonely. It'd been one day without Jake and I was already lonely, especially at school. But at the bookstore, just that one syllable and an awkward smile helped so much. I suppose that's the reason I wanted to see her again. It was only 7:20, and I was leaving at 7:35 in hopes to catch her at the bus stop and talk before the bus got there. I had no idea how to spend that gruelling 15 minutes.

I found myself sitting on the narrow spiral staircase of my glasshouse which descends two stories from my room down to ground level. It was peaceful in a way many things weren't. The sprinkling system which came from above, simulating rain, often gave the plants most of the water they needed but I liked to tend to the plants inside the glasshouse myself, as well as the gardens outside. It was a relaxing pastime which I spoke little about, not out of shame but simply because I wanted to keep this vibrant serenity mine. As I watered my roses and the plants surrounding them on the first floor I checked my watch, it was 7:30. I picked up my bag which was by my feet and slung it over my shoulder. I then headed out the door after setting the alarm system and locking up. I took one single deep breath as I stepped onto the sidewalk and made my way casually to the bus stop.

She wasn't there. The one reason I'd spent my morning wasting time and possibly missing Jake, wasn't here. Nobody was actually and I was rather disappointed. I could've at least started conversation up with the bookworm but not even he had shown up. The loneliness begun creeping out from the shadows and expanding as the minutes dragged on. I couldn't take it anymore, it'd only been five minutes but it had felt like an eternity. I grabbed Shiver out of my bag and picked up where I left off.
"...ey...hats...boo...I...ding."
I looked up, confused. Where was I- oh right, the bus stop, going to school. I shook my head and blinked a few times. I looked at the guy who stood before me; masculine, tall, deep brown eyes, spiked hair, talented and fit. Every girls dream guy. Excellent. I rolled my eyes in annoyance, and well, a little bit of jealousy.
"What'd you say?" I asked with an undertone of something nasty.
"Oh um...I said 'hey, that's the book I'm reading'," see?" He said as he held up his copy of Shiver then nodded towards mine.
"Oh, yeah. When did you start yours?" I looked towards his almost finished copy.
"Like two nights ago. You?"
"Last night actually. I would've finished it but-"
"Family, right?"
"No, um-"
"Homework?"
"Nah-"
"Oh! Your girrrrlllfrrrrrrrriiieeennnd?"
"Phft, ahaha. Definitely not. I fell asleep."
"Well that's lame." Mr. Perfect/the bookworm was making fun of me, well that's two things crossed of my bucket list! God I'd reached a new level of low.
"Oh, thanks." I said while glaring at the ground.
"Ahahaha. Joking, joking, geez. Don't get grumpy. Oh, you said you got that book yesterday right?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. Don't take my mood personally. I'm not normally like this and yeah, why?"
"It's all good bro. No reason, it was just that my sister bought the series yesterday arvo as well so you might've seen her. I know she likes to read but she said that she didn't want to read that series because I was. We don't usually like the same sort of books."
"Oh okay, that makes sense. Your sister? You have a sister?"
"Yea, you probably know her. What grade are you in? Eleven or something, right?"
"Yeah, grade eleven"
"Oh so you are in her year, I thought so. I'm worried about her though. She's in this group with some of the popular chicks and we both know how that will end. I mean, yeah she's pretty and all but make up, nail polish and slumber parties? They're not really her sort of scene. Oh hey, the bus is here."
The bus squealed as it pulled up and opened its doors. Levy still hadn't shown up, I'd given up on seeing her this morning though. I followed Mr. Perfect onto the bus and sat the same way, in the same seat as I had yesterday. I noticed that the bus was empty apart from us, which was weird. As I went to open up Shiver to continue reading he whispered under his breath a, "Damn it. Where is she?" I ignored this and continued reading. As the bus doors started closing someone jumped onto the bus and landed with a heavy thud.
"That one was a close one miss," the lady bus driver said with a smirk.
"Aha. Come on! I had miles of room Ara!" A familiar feminine voice chuckled.
I looked up as she spun around and our eyes locked onto each other. Her eyes widened as a smile grew across my face. Mr. Perfect and I burst out in laughter as she turned bright red. She stormed towards us with her gaze pointed towards the floor and face burning the brightest shade of red I'd ever seen on a person. To my surprise she said nothing but instead punched Mr. Perfects arm with a surprising amount of strength.
"Owie. Good morning to you too. C'mon, what was that for? You did it. Even he laughed." He grimaced as he nodded towards me.
"Shut up, Chris!" Levy went a darker shade of red and tried to hide behind her loose hair. "...anyway, his name is Charles."
"What? Oh? So you guys do know each other! Your name's Charles? Whew, I'm glad someone told me cause asking names after having a conversation is just plain awkward."
"You...you guys talked? About what?" Levy said as she looked between us in disbelief.
"Well yeeeeaaahhh! He was reading Shiver when I got here. Such a weird coincidence Sis, he bought it yesterday, just like you! Isn't that a funny coinky-dink? I was telling him how you didn't want to read it but then you totally wanted to."
"Yo-you said what?" Her face went ghostly white the second those words left Chris' mouth.
"How you-"
"No! I get that but why did you say that to him? He's a complete stranger to you!"
"Well what else was there to talk about? He's not very talkative but once I got going, geez, we hit it off, hey Charles?"
"Um, yeah I suppose, you're pretty cool. Also it's Chit, call me Chit. Did you just call Levy your sister?"
"Yeah. This is my lil sister Levy. Ain't she pretty? Just like I told you right?"
"...yeah." I blushed and averted my gaze from them to the trees passing by outside. Chris saw this, smirked and began his rain of torment.
"Aye Chit, don't we look alike?" He quirked an eyebrow at me which was soon followed by a smug smile as he found his suspicions confirmed. As she slid in next to sit next to him he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and squeezed, it was a sort of side-hug. I looked between them and saw that they did kinda look alike. At the very least, they were both perfect. I compared their eyes; Chris' were more of a chocolate brown while Levy's were a golden caramel. The hair difference baffled me though. As if reading my thoughts, Chris said, "My natural colour's more of a dark brown, I dye it. Looks better this way though, right?"
"Yeah I suppose." I shrugged; I had no idea because I'd never seen him with brown hair. He'd probably suit anything though.
"Sis, you're kind of like ruining my shot with anyone who walks on this bus. I know we don't look similar so I don't want anyone thinking I'm dating you, my little sister. Even if they don't know that's what you are to me."
"Well, where do you suggest I sit then? My seat's been taken now." Chris' gaze darted to where my legs were resting on the seat.
"Next to Charles of course!" Chris chuckled deeply as he looked between us.
"I 'spose there's nothing wrong with that..." Levy said as she got up and sat where my legs had just been. We sat in an awkward silence with our shoulders touching.
"C'mon, you're both livelier then this!" Chris broke the silence as he leaned in behind us and wrapped an arm around one of our shoulders and squeezed us all together. He made sure to put his head between Levy's and mine though. It was in the simple gesture that I saw how much she meant to him.