Spirit

Chapter 1: Bright and Lively Summer

It was a bright, summery afternoon when I first saw him sitting on the branch of an old, broken down tree...

I stared down at my hands on the table in front of me as a group of girls chuckled. Small pieces of scrunched up lined paper surrounded me.

I could feel some tangled up in my hair.

Stellar laughed maliciously as she looked down upon me with ease, "Thought we should share our thoughts with you."

She spun and returned to the rest of her friends as they sat together and continued to giggle.

I don't know why, but I felt the need to open up one of the screwed up papers, even though I knew it wasn't going to be anything good. The feeling of their eyes burning holes through my body, the feeling of being overpowered; it was almost like I had no choice.

Or maybe I was just curious.

I could hear whispers of my classmates saying 'We should tell a teacher,' or 'Someone should stop them,' but of course, none of them ever did.

I opened one of the balls of paper; 'Loner' is all it said. I took a glance towards their direction.

They looked back at me snidely and continued to giggle to one another like a pack of vicious hyenas waiting for their chance to attack their next prey.

Looking back at the piece of paper, I couldn't help but think, 'they could've at least written something with a bit more impact'

The teacher returned back into the room and took a look at me, 'Why is there paper all over the floor?' he asked in a commanding tone.

I couldn't be bothered explaining. It would only cause a fuss that I'd rather not go through.

In answer to my silence, he simply sighed. "I suggest you stay behind after class and pick it all up," he ordered and returned to teaching.

This caused the group of girls to laugh even harder.

****************

After picking up all of the little, scrunched up papers, pulling some out of my hair and throwing them in the bin, I headed outside into the yard looking for somewhere quiet to sit and eat.

As I was looking around I came across an area full of trees, surprisingly with no one around.

It was at the side of the school that was rather narrow and not really suitable for large groups of people, which is probably why people only walked through the area instead of hanging around.

Perfect for my lonesome self, however.

Part way down the path I came across an old, broken down tree with a boy sitting up on one of its branches.

You could tell the tree was rather old since its branches were starting to droop and break away with its brown and grey bumpy trunk. Even so, it still had a few green leaves that swayed lightly in the wind.

I couldn't help but think it looked sad, since unlike the other trees, it didn't seem to be reaching for the sky anymore, like it had given up on trying.

The boy continued to sit on one of the sturdier branches, looking at me intently.

For some reason, I felt intrigued enough to walk a bit closer towards him, warily at first, until I came to a halt in front of him, slightly dumbfounded; I had no idea of what to say or what I was even doing.

He continued to stare at me, and then he smiled.

It was so bright and lively, matching the beautiful sunlight that managed to escape through the leaves.

He acted like he had been reunited with a long, lost friend, or that he really wished for my company.

I smiled back. As I did, my lips twitched. They haven't curved this way in a long time.

"What's your name?" he asked as he gripped the branch on either side of himself with his hands.

I hesitated for a second. "It's Leah," I finally replied.

He smiled again, but this time he was showing all of his teeth. "Cute name."

I paused, not knowing how to respond.

He pushed himself off the branch and sat down with his back leaning against the tree trunk and then he patted the ground next to him, beckoning for me to join him.

I sat down nervously not knowing what to say or what to do.

I hadn't talked to anyone in such a long while that I had forgotten how to create social chit chat. Luckily he did a lot of the talking, mentioning the hot weather and how it was starting to cool down as we headed for autumn, while I ate away at my usual sandwich.

I would reply appropriately where he paused expecting an answer of some sort.

I took a better look at him.

He wore a pale green shirt with dull brown shorts.

I couldn't help but find myself staring at his deep hazel eyes or at his hair and how it changed to all sorts of different shades of brown in the sunlight.

Soon enough, the bell rang indicating the end of the lunch period. "Well, I guess I had better head off to class," I mentioned as I slowly got up.

He stayed seated, "Yeah."

An awkward pause followed.

"Well...see you!" I exclaimed and started to walk off.

"See you tomorrow, then!" he yelled out as I was approximately three metres away from him.

My body halted. 'When was the last time I had heard someone say that to me?'

I couldn't help but turn around and smile a large, toothy smile, "Yeah!" I replied back happily.

I ran back to class too nervous to look back.