Generation Infinosil

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven - Shane

2050

I got to school early that morning, just like I planned to. But no amount of planning, I soon realised, could prepare me for our encounter.

I knew exactly what I had to say, "hey, I swear I recognise you from somewhere, have we met?" But when the time came, the words just wouldn't come out...

I sat there all lesson admiring her, observing how she fiddled with her hair when she was thinking, how she kept looking up ever so slightly to see if Mrs Anderson was watching, how she tried sneaking a peek at other people's work; I got the feeling that it wasn't because she didn't know what to do, but it was because she had little faith in her own potential.

At some point she dropped her pencil, I instantly reached to pick it up for her- anything to get her to look at me, anything to look into those beautiful eyes again.

When she saw my hand scooping it up, she looked at me for a second and blushed. "Why is she embarrassed?" I remember wondering. But after a split second she looked away. Well, we both looked away.

I chickened out.

That was my chance to discover who she was and I blew it.

I could have whispered the question that I was dying to ask and I doubt Mrs Anderson would have been able to hear. Her eyesight might have miraculously still been in tact but her hearing probably died along with the dinosaurs!

But then I realised, I still had another chance; at the end of the lesson I could confront her while she was packing her books back into her bag. I had my mind set on what I had to say and how I had to say it, now all I needed was the courage to take action.

I have never longed to hear a bell for the end of lesson so much, not even in Mr Pittford's lessons from my previous school, in which we literally just sat copying up words from a Spanish dictionary, in silence, every lesson.

But I was equally terrified. Terrified that she might think I was a freak, terrified that I might not get the answer that I wished for.

What would I do if she had no interest in getting to know me?

Would I move on or would I be bound to this constant need to know who she was, forever?

There's only one way to find out...

When the bell finally rang, my heart thudded violently against my chest. Faster than when I woke up in hospital surrounding by unfamiliar people, faster than when I walked into my "home" for the first time after the accident and had no idea where I was, faster even, I imagine, than when I was plummeting down an icy slope on the day of my fatal accident.

I crept over to her silently, my book covering my chest in a hope that it would shield my heart from any harm that may come to it.

At first, I don't think she realised I was stood there but when she noticed my shadow on her desk, she looked up and smiled- a shy smile but an honest one. A smile that had a hint of question in it, like she didn't know why she had grabbed my attention or why I would even consider talking to her. A smile that I can still picture to this day.

I panicked and forgot everything I was planning on saying but it turned out I didn't need to worry, I got an overwhelming feeling that I could just be myself around this girl. No hiding, no pretending and no need to plan every word I should or shouldn't say.

"Hey," she said, "you've just moved here, haven't you? I've been meaning to say hi but I didn't know whether you wanted me to approach you or not."

"No worries," I replied, "I'm Shane."

"I'm Kaitlyn."

At that, we walked out of the classroom and into the courtyard where the sun beat down on our smiling faces.

Kaitlyn. I had her name, at least that's a start.