Element

✯ Chapter 18

It's six in the morning, and I'm already dressed. Am I crazy? Probably. Today is the coldest day yet, and it's only October. No, seriously. It's thirty-six degrees fahrenheit. It's freezing! I'm wearing a gray v-neck long sleeved shirt, with a tank underneath. Over my shirt, I'm wearing a dark blue knit sweater, hoodless, and also v-neck. My blue denim jeans keep my legs from freezing off. My feet are clad by thick wool socks, and my tan leather lace-up boots enclose them. I grab my tan leather jacket, with padding in it, and put it on. I step outside. Almost immediately, the cold bites at my ears, nose, and hands. I sigh, and turn back inside. I scrounge through my dresser, until I find what I'm looking for. My grey beanie and scarf. When I move to put the beanie on, a pair of gloves fall out, also gray. Wow! This is perfect! I look in the mirror, and see another thing I forgot. My hair. It's a disaster. I take my brush, and comb through my hair. It actually looks decent for once. It's now perfectly straight. I slip the beanie on, and wrap the scarf around my neck. I take another look in the mirror. Hey! I actually look really decent! Hm... I guess that blow to the head must have knocked some fashion sense into me... I'll thank Yvette later... Or not!

I step outside, once again. I shiver, and slip my gloves on. The campus is eerily quiet at this time. I decide to take a walk to the willow. The grass crunches loudly under my feet, as I tread on the frozen ground. When I reach the willow, someone else is already standing there. I gasp when I realize it's Rhodes. He's wearing blue jeans, and white sneakers. He turns, and sees me. I can see his white shirt beneath his black zip up sweater. His maroon puffy winter jacket is open, and he has his hands in his pockets. I can tell he spent a long time on his hair, because no one's hair looks like that when they wake up. It's perfectly styled so that little spikes seem to come out of the black beanie he's wearing. He smiles that smile that just makes me want to melt. He walks over to me.

"Hey." He says, with a small, but sincere smile.

"Hi." I say, breathlessly.

"I didn't know you came out here this early."

"I could say the same about you, you know." He chuckles. "I love mornings like this. To be honest, I love the cold!"

"Really? I don't think I could ever like the cold."

"Well... It's not the cold itself, it what you do when it's cold. You know, like drinking hot chocolate, cuddling up in a blanket. I love the feeling of getting warm when it's cold."

I smile. I never would've guessed. I think about it for a second. I do like the things he mentioned, but I guess I'd rather be outside, moving about. "Hey Rhodes?"

"Yeah?"

"What's your favorite color?" I ask spontaneously.

He looks up, and points at the sky. "That. That is my favorite color." I look up. I'm amazed. The sun had just recently risen, and the sky is a beautiful mix of pink, orange, and blue.

"Wow. That's beautiful." I sigh.

"Yeah." Rhodes says, smiling. We look up and marvel for minutes. Then, Rhodes reaches over, and takes my hand. I look at our hands, intertwined. Rhodes looks at me, and gives me a soft smile before turning back to the sky. I can feel the warmth of his hands, even through my gloves. The tingly feeling is still there.

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It's seven 'o clock, and the alarms are just now going off. Rhodes and I have been walking around campus for about an hour now, and ever so often, I catch him sneaking glances at me. We're still holding hands.

I spot Ms. Benting with Mr. Farefax. And, they too, are holding hands. I pull Rhodes behind a tree, so we can observe them. Ms. Benting is wearing black jeans, and high heeled boots, that raise her exactly to Mr. Farefax's eye level. She also has a red pull-over sweater, and is wearing a black messenger jacket over it, and the gray hood is covering her hair. I can see Mr. Farefax say something to her, that makes her blush. Mr. Farefax is no longer dressed as preppily as the first day, on which he wore a suit. Now, he looks like a young adult, possibly in his mid 20's. He is wearing blue jeans, with hiking boots, and a black and white plaid button down long sleeved shirt. With his white winter jacket, and white hat, I have to say, he looks quite dashing. I study his physical features. His eyes are a pale blue, but I can still see the golden specks dancing around the center. He has medium fair skin, and his hair is the darkest brown I've ever seen. It's swooped up into a curve, so that it's out of his face, but sticking up a little. They walk down the path, just as Rhodes pulls me out on to the path, not seeing them. Ms. Benting raises her eyebrows, looking down at our hands. Quickly realizing, we spring apart, blushing. Then, Ms. Benting realizes that she's still holding hands with Mr. Farefax. They, too, pull apart, blushing.