The New Girl

Who's the new girl?

That was the question on everyone's lips that Monday morning, when a girl they'd never seen before walked into the school. 

She was beautiful, with tan skin, and short hair that she had dyed blue. Unlike most girls in the school who wore miniskirts and frilly blouses, this girl was rocking a pair of jeans torn at the knee and ratty old converse sneakers. Her baggy sweater said "Take me home" with a UFO beaming up a cow. 

When she walked, students parted a path for her like she was some sort of goddess in human form. 

When I saw her, I was in lunch period. She looked around with uncertainty, no idea where she should sit. Everyone was inviting her with open arms except me. I was too scared to invite her, because she seemed too cool, too interesting to hang out with a computer geek who played video games.

I kept my head down, focusing on my Pokemon Yellow in my Game Boy color. If I wanted to catch this Abra, I had to be fast. 

"Hurry, hit it with a Pokeball." A voice said behind me. I jumped and spun in my seat. She was standing behind me, her smile gentle and her blue eyes shining beneath thick eyelashes. 

She plopped into the seat beside me and leaned in close to see over my shoulder. "It took me forever to catch my Abra, he kept teleporting away." She muttered. 

I was incredibly conscious of her presence beside me. She smelled like a rainy day mixed with sandalwood, tranquil. I had to force myself to move my thumb, and throw a Pokeball. As if because of her, the Abra was caught and I stared open mouthed at the old fashioned handheld game. 

She smiled triumphantly and took a bite of her chocolate pudding. She carried most of the conversation. What started out as a discussion of Pokemon (her favorite is Vaporeon), soon turned into an entire anime chat. 

She loved to watch Magical Girl anime even though her favorite was Death Note, and she was enthusiastic about my feelings about Sword Art Online and how the show could have had so much more potential if they didn't go too crazy with it.

It amazed me how easy it was for her to bring me out of my shell. We talked like old friends who had been separated a few years back, and just reunited. She knew how to hold my attention, and made me want to share my input on all topics she brought up, even aliens!

We were interrupted by the bell, and she stood up. She offered me a napkin. On it was a phone number. I looked up at her and she winked. "Give me a call sometime." She grinned. 

As she walked away, I sat there debating whether I was imagining her flirtatious attitude.  But the butterflies told me it was no imagination, and I smiled.

Who was this New Girl?