RED

15. Orchid

Love is when the other person's happiness is more important than your own.

by H. Jackson Brown, Jr

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The cafeteria bustled with chattering teenagers, a few laughter here and there; whereas, Enrico stood in front of the displayed dishes holding a tray in both hands. He stood still as he waited for the person on his left, right next to him to take up his order on food before walking away. Meanwhile, his consciousness of who stood on his right, quite close to him made him a little on edge. Unable to contain his urge of taking a look at her, he slightly turned his head to her. Their eyes met, a simple smile drew up on her face. He reciprocated it with a smile of his before shyly looking away from her, then taking the next step to his side to occupy the space the last person who walked away occupied. Food was dished unto his tray before he walked away, giving space to the next person.

Eventually, he came to a standstill. He stared straight ahead at the cafeteria which now seems like a jungle of animals, each animal mingling with their own species and staying within their class. He should walk right up to his species, right? But the problem was that he belonged to none of that. Well, he was actually way too shy to belong to one. No one wanted to be his friend for some odd reason he knew nothing about, so he stuck to staying by himself. That has been the order of his life in this school for the past few years. Did it bother him at all? Yes, yes it actually did but there was nothing he could do. Presently, he scanned the cafeteria for somewhere safe for him to sit but unfortunately, he really couldn't find a table without a single soul at it.

He sighed. Perhaps, he might have to have his lunch by his usual spot out by the field.

"Scary, right?" She asked, as she stood beside him. He took a slight look at her, caught quite unaware of her presence. She stared ahead as her eyes scanned for somewhere to sit.

Eventually, Enrico withdrew his eyes away from her and unto his tray. Nervousness overtook him. He tried his best to take control of his breathing and not make a fool of himself each time she speaks to him. The day Kiana stepped into his class, almost immediately, he became smitten by her beauty and to top it all up, she spoke to him. She was very kind and if his perception wasn't mistaken, she spent quite a few times trolling around with him. Sometimes, she's his seat partner at practicals, other times she walks home by his side as their homes were in the same direction from school.

She smiled at intervals at his replies and honestly, he couldn't recall one outstanding thing he ever said to her. All he ever does when she's around is stutter his replies, lower his lashes quite shyly away from her and trembles a little each time their hands brush. Sometimes, he spends the entire night staring up at the ceiling of his room and wondering why Kiana was being so nice to him.

It was quite obvious his classmates and the rest of the school found him a little weird. A kid who rarely talks, walks around with head bent, has on these huge metallic braces as well as large cylindrical glasses and it was obvious he took to the liking of dressing in something quite different from kids his age. Perhaps, it was for the decency feeling it gave him or the fact that being all covered up made him feel secured and protected. He couldn't tell. It just felt okay at that time.

He gulped down as he held the tray in one hand while his other hand pushed his glasses to rest properly on the bridge of his nose. If she really wanted to be his friend, he wasn't going to push her away. Truthfully, he had grown a liking for her and would be devastated if she was to look away from him.

"Oh, I found somewhere!" She exclaimed a little before taking steps further. He stared at her walk away, not quite knowing if he was allowed to follow her. Perhaps, she has finally found her own species. Suddenly, she came to a stop and turned to him.