Play Pretend

7: That Girl

7: That Girl

Connor Rogers

September the first.

The big day known to students all over the world – except for students in Australia, I guess.

I remembered how I’d always dread this date. And how I was still dreading it.

The team was waiting outside the school gates, and as the clock struck eight, students seemed to start to pour through the corners of the streets, approaching the school in a slow, zombie-like trudge. It struck me that they seemed tinier than us, and we towered a little over them.

Instantly I could feel eyes on us; a lot of eyes. People were obviously wondering why a bunch of weird people were standing outside their college, grouped together next to a red car.

But no, as I took a second look, I realized most of the girls were staring at TJ, Jason, Max and I, while Leila was the centre of attention of the boys. She had a scowl on her face though, moving to stand a little closer to us.

“We should probably go,” Jason muttered softly; he obviously wasn’t a fan of the attention he was receiving. The rest of us nodded, and we started to move into campus grounds, but a girl stopped us not long after we’ve started walking.

She placed herself in front of Max, who was staring at her as though she was some strange creature. The girl fiddled with her long auburn hair, her eyes darting here and there and her feet shuffling on the concrete pavement awkwardly.

“Um!” The girl squeaked, her face blot red, “I’m–”

“Sorry,” Max was quick to answer, “I have a girlfriend.”

The girl gaped, her eyes growing wide, and I saw all the hope of being his potential lover being squidged out like a pathetic flame. Her head drooped in defeat, and she moved out of the way. We passed her, and I could just see the slight glistening of a tear as we moved into the building.

“Dude, that was harsh,” I heard Jason say to the man.

“I don’t want to give her false hope,” Max returned.

We approached the office, where we all received our timetables. My first period was free, while Leila and TJ had Art, Jason Physics and Max Finance. We made our separate ways, and I found myself wandering towards the direction of the library.

The library was gigantic, just about the size of a public library, if not even bigger. There were aisle after aisle of books, and here and there I saw people dotted around the room, either leaning against the shelves reading, or sitting down, or just wandering from section to section.

Having nothing better to do, I decided to head for the fiction section, where books were split into even smaller genres, so I moved into the crime fiction aisles.

It was much emptier here, compared to all the other non-fiction sections, where studious people were clustered together. I strolled down the aisle, unconsciously heading towards the Sherlock Holmes series. But just as I was approaching it, something – or rather, someone – stumbled into me and I stepped back hastily.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered, helping the girl to steady herself. I heard a mutter of ‘S’okay’ in return behind the mountain of books stacked up in her arms, and decided to help her out. Slipping my palm beneath five books, I picked it off her pile, allowing the girl some breathing space.

“Oh! Thanks,” she murmured, looking up at me. And that was when I realized that I was staring.

She had amazing green eyes, so green that it slipped into the category of amber. Her brown hair fell around her shoulder in a natural state of curls, slightly messy, but presentable. She hadn’t any makeup on, and her sweater top was baggy and covered her shorts, only showing her black leggings underneath. I took my time gazing at her sweater; it was really warm in the library, yet she was wearing wool and long-sleeves nonetheless.

“S’no problem,” I muttered, sidestepping to allow her through. She nodded her gratitude and hurried out of the crime sections into the reading area, where she ushered me to stack the books next to hers.

“Thank you,” she whispered, to which I answered with another ‘no problem’. Then she took her seat and started reading through a particularly thick book, and that was when I realized that I was invading her alone time. I took the cue to leave.

I returned to the Sherlock Holmes section, but every now and then I couldn’t help but peek through the gaps of the shelves at the girl, who remained seated at where I had left her. She looked so beautiful, it seemed like she stood out among all the other students, but blended in at the same time.

Her head twitched towards my direction, and I quickly turned away, my gaze piercing into the book I wasn’t quite reading. I couldn’t tell if she was still staring; or if she was even looking my way at all.

Figuring I was acting like a stalker, I slipped the book back in its place and retreated from the library.

“Oh my God, I totally forgot how Art was such a pain in my ass,” Leila was complaining at the lunch table, “the professor wasn’t helping either.”

“In what way?” Jason interjected.

“He’s French, and that accent of his,” the girl gripped at her blonde hair, “argh! And he wouldn’t stop complimenting about my work. Magnificent!” She mimicked in a rich French accent.

“What about you guys?” She changed topics, before allowing her gaze to fall on me, “Con?”

“Hm?” I mused, not quite focusing on the conversation.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I muttered, my gaze still at the girl whom I realized was in the cafeteria as well. Just then, a brown-haired guy approached her and gave her a kiss on the cheek, and that was when I chose to look away and back at my teammates.

“S’sup?” I tried to start conversation.

“S’sup with you, you mean,” Jason said, “who’re you staring at?”

Just when I was about to lie, Max interrupted, “That brunette at the far corner.”

I scowled, while Jason craned his neck to look, “You know her?”

“Bumped into her in the library. Literally,” I muttered.

“Dude, cliché much?” Max sniggered.

“Shut up. What’s your next lesson?”

“Sports. Guess it’s yours too?” Max answered, looking at Leila and I.

“Yeah, let’s go,” we moved to stand up, dunking our things into the bin.

I was the last one to leave the cafeteria. Just before I turned the corner into the main hallway, I snuck a last glance at the girl.

Her amber green eyes held my gaze all the way until I disappeared around the corner.