Infatuation

Čhäpțēŕ 2 ~ Black Beanies

I'm walking up to the bus stop, my little sister running ahead, when suddenly I drop my pen, which makes me stop and bend down until suddenly I'm knocked over and something, or someone, is tumbling over me. My hands protect my face from the pavement, pressing into the broken gravelly sidewalk while the knees of my jeans are scraped by the dirt before lifting up off the ground and my backpack pulls me into a full-on roll. I do a full turn before I land, butt on pavement, legs on top of whoever just stumbled over me, and hands stopping me from rolling further.
I sigh before saying," Well, that was fun."
The person in front of me gives a laugh and responds," Yeah, thanks for the trip." The low voice seems slightly familiar to me, but I ignore that as I'm more focused on them untangling their earbuds from my foot. I notice I've been staring, and start to search for my beanie before I feel a finger poking my ankle. "What's that? It looks cool."
I look up at his face, which I can now clearly see, and notice that I just tripped Parker Dennis, who is looking at the heart tattoo I have on my ankle. My face blushes as he looks up at me, and I stutter," Oh, it's just a tattoo I did a while ago. It's bad."
"No, it's good," he replied. "You did that? That's cool. I have one myself, but I got it done at a parlour. Wouldn't have the steady hand to do it myself." He sits up and pulls up his sleeve to reveal a small quarter note on his wrist. "Why'd you get yours?"
"Oh, I don't know. I guess I just have a lot of love for the world." I notice he's started to tracing circles around my heart. "Why'd you get yours?"
" Music. It's helped with a lot of stuff, like dealing with the silence." We both go quiet, and we both focus on him making circles around my heart before I become aware that I still have my legs on him. "I guess we should get to the bus stop," he says, looking up into my eyes as we hear the screech of its breaks a block away.
"Yeah, I guess we should," I say as I reach behind him for my beanie.
I lean forward and pull it out from underneath his backpack while he reaches for one of his earbuds before we come face-to-face, only about an inch away looking into each others eyes. And then, we both burst out laughing, looking like maniacs as we both are sitting on the ground in a heap. We both stop laughing and stand up, dusting the dirt off our clothes. He looks at me as I lean to the side to look at the bus stop, where the bus has arrived. I open my eyes wide and instantly grab his hand as we both start running. I notice that his hand felt warm in mine and fit like a puzzle piece. We just barely made the bus, and I sit in my seat (I say my seat because I always end up sitting alone), except when I swing my backpack to set on the floor I see Parker sit down next to me.
" Why are you sitting here?" I say in a questionable tone.
" What, I can't sit with my new friend on the bus?" His mouth displays a cute side-smile, and his eyes seem to be swirling with sparks of colors. "And for a second I thought we were getting along." His red-and-black backpack swings as he holds it by the handle.
"No, I'm just surprised to see you sit anywhere but with Gwenny." Gwenny, his girlfriend, the blonde goddess who I could never hold a candle to with my white band shirt, ripped black jeans, and an emo hairstyle that was left in-
"Gwenny and I are taking a break. She hasn't really made any effort to change herself for the better, and she can't handle the fact that I do things that aren't with her."
"Like what?" I ask, flustered by him interrupting my thought.
"Like, go to parties."
"Well, she is your girlfriend. If you're going to a party without your girlfriend, that's pretty weird. Just ask if you can bring a plus 1, I'm pretty sure one person couldn't hurt."
"I guess you're right, but she has her own stuff. I wouldn't want to bother her."
"What could she possibly be doing besides hanging out with you, her boyfriend? She's not in sports or anything. I used to hang out with her all the time, and if she's not out with friends she isn't doing anything special."
"I guess you're right, but see I feel like it would be weird because she doesn't really know anyone."
"She knows you, isn't that enough?"
"Hm. I guess you're right. You're pretty smart. Smarter than me, at least. We didn't really properly meet, I'm Parker." He sticks out his hand, not like a handshake but more like a take-my-hand kind of thing.
" Charlie," I say as I place my hand in his. "Short for Lacharie Oliver Venus Everett-Rosalie."
"Wow, long name. You just get more and more mysterious, Lover." I suddenly open my eyes wide without meaning to, jerking my head back.
"Quoi?"
"Your initials. They spell out 'Lover.'"
I sit and smile as I lean back in my seat, looking down at my hands. I glimpse over without moving my head, see that he's still staring. We both look up as the bus screeches to a final halt, and everyone stands up.