4. The Encounter

MICHAEL

Fancy. That was the first word that came into my mind when I saw my new school. I've attended private schools my entire life and I don't think schools can get any fancier than this. The schools I've previously attended had uniforms and very strict rules but from the looks of this one, rules certainly don't apply here I guess. I won't jump to any conclusions and I'll find out things myself. I walk to my assigned locker amidst curious glances. Great!I'm the shiny new toy AGAIN! Can my teen years get any worse than this?The last thing I want for myself is unwanted attention and looks like I'm gonna get too much of it. I'm figuring out my way to my class but this place is like a maze. Damn, having a friend here would've been nice. And just when I thought.

"Oh my god, Michael? " I look at the kind of familiar looking face, this guy is taller than me, 6'2? 6'3? Ash blonde hair, honey colour eyes and I'm guessing a fake tan?

"It's me David" Ohh, David Roosevelt, yes he's related to the Roosevelts. He and I were friends before we relocated to Washington. We went to the same school and we were in the same class as well. We always topped our class but he was more popular than I was because he was into sports and other co curricular activities but me, I was a hardcore nerd and I still am.

"David?It's so good to see you man, you sure did grow up a lot " David was much shorter than I was back when we were children.

" Let's blame it on the growth spurt"

He said giving me a bro hug.

"It's been what 9 yrs? How did you even recognize me, I sure as hell didn't"

" Easy bro your bag tag"

My father gave me his bag tag the very first time I got a bag or shall I say, I stole his tag!? It has his name written on it. Robert.B. Carter. I keep it to all my bags ever since. It reminds me of my father and David here is one of the few people who know abt me and Dad here.

"I'm sorry man"

"Nah , it's okay, it's been a long time"

No it was not okay and no it always feels like yesterday.

" Did you guys relocate?"

" Yeah mom decided it was time to move back here and I just tagged along"

" How does it feel to be back? You guys moved to Washington right?"

"Yeah, it was great back in Washington, but transferring in the senior year of high school is not something I had in my plan. I guess I'm just rolling along with it" What was I even thinking? Transferring in senior year? What a mess.

" It'll be cool man, you've missed what, one month of school? It's gonna be more than okay and hey you shouldn't be worried about grades"he says slapping my back. I guess so. I smiled at him regardless.

"Are you lost or something, is that why you have that 'help me' look plastered onto your face?" David asks with a laugh

"That evident huh?My first class is English I have no idea where it is"

" Come-on I'll walk you there" and we start walking towards my class

" Do you know anyone here?"

" No one apart from you" not yet.

" It's okay I'll introduce you to some of my friends during lunch" yeah I could definitely use from friends I guess.

"Here you go, do you have your phone with you,"

" Yeah it's in my bag"

"Dude you're not allowed to keep your phone with you, that's like rule no 1 among the hundreds of rules here and trust me when I say the principal's a pain in the ass"

So this place isn't the jungle it looks like after all.

" Principal James doesn't like it when students lack discipline. I guess he's strict because most of the students don't have parents around to supervise since they're all very famous and busy and stuff" he says rolling his eyes

" Wow, I mean, yeah" his words only made me question my choice of transferring again and again

"Here hand me your phone, I'm headed to my locker and I'll keep it in mine meanwhile." and I hand him my phone with out another question.

"Thanks man, it's good to see a familiar face" I said meaning every word. As far as I know, David is a good guy, atleast he was back then, I don't know if he changed or anything but Im guessing that he pretty much remained the same. The all popular all rounder but secretly aloof, David Roosevelt.David smiled at my words , it was genuine, I could say that much.He seemed happy to see me too. I can spot a fake smile from a mile because that's what I do 90% of the time

" I got ur back bro, see you at lunch" he said and left. The class was half empty considering it was only 8:50. I took my favorite seat of any class. The third seat in the row next to the door. It helped me pay attention to the class without having any attention on me. I hope the guy or girl who usually sits here has no problem with it. I do not want to start my first day of school with a fight. I hate fights because I'm not a confrontational person at all. If anyone comes I'll definitely give up my seat or their seat, whatever. Slowly the class filled up and my English professor walked in to our class . I didn't pay attention to anyone but I was acutely aware of all the looks of surprise coming my back. They always made me uncomfortable, so I did what I usually did in situations like these. I stared at the floor. Interesting pattern. Our English professor seemed to be aware of my presence. Why not? I talked to Principal James on the phone yesterday, all thanks to my mother and he promised me that all of the teachers would be made aware of my transfer beforehand. He even had my schedule with him while he talked. I was used to this special treatment since I started school. T&C was huge and everyone knew about it. But I did not want to be known by my last name only. I wanted to live up to it. That's one of the major reasons why I studied so hard. I didn't want anyone to assume that my grades were what they were because of my last name. No, I'm a straight A student because I study atleast 6 hrs a day and to be honest I actually love doing that. I love learning new things and acquiring knowledge. Subjects like math, biology and physics fascinated me. I wasn't really good at art or sport, that's not my forte at all. But other than that I've always been top of my class and I was in fact most of my teachers' favorite student. The professors in my last school got so sentimental about me leaving.Another thing that I am absolutely the worst at is talking. Interaction, communication, anything that requires socializing. I cannot hold a conversation if that doesn't involve math or science. So that means I cannot hold a conversation with many people, period. I get awkward, I don't know what to say, if the other person tries to keep the conversation going it makes me feel guilty and it only makes me even more awkward. So I despise short talks or casual conversations. I guess I should introductions to the list of things I despise.

"You must be the new kid in town, I'm Stephen Blair , your English professor. Please step over here so that I can introduce you to the rest of the class"

I hate school I thought to myself and reluctantly walked over to where he stood.

"Hello Professor Blair, I'm Michael Carter" I said shaking his hand and he did the horrible task of introducing me to the class. I kept my eyes down the entire time and looked everywhere except at my fellow teenagers. The ceiling , the window, professor's shoes, the interesting pattern of the floor,all in a matter of 5 seconds? 10 seconds?

"Please take your seat son" he said and I practically ran back to my seat "Your grades are great Michael, watch out Isabel, he's gonna come for you" he added playfully.God the last I want is some random chick feel threatened because of my good grades. Geez, I have a feeling the day is not going to get any better. I should've stayed back in Washington. This was a big mistake. My thoughts were interrupted by Professor Blair's shrill voice.

"Elizabeth I told you to come sit in the first chair in my period, I don't care what you do in the rest"

"Seriously professor!? I thought we were in high school not middle school!?" Who was this girl and where was she talking from?

" You are still in school young lady! I don't have time for your tantrums, just do as you say. And why didn't you submit your assignment? This is the third time you've done that and I already warned you-

.He was cut off mid sentence by the paper produced by this Elizabeth , wait what , Elizabeth ? The Elizabeth Taylor aka Lizzy ? I could only see her back , geez she was tall. Was she wearing heels? I looked down to check if she was wearing heels. Nope , just sneakers, I lifted my eyes up to look at the person my mom seemed to be obsessed with for the last year and that's when I got the wind knocked out of me. I could not believe what I saw. She was Lizzy? Was she even Elizabeth Taylor or any other random Elizabeth. I hope she is because Jesus Christ! I've never seen any person male or female that beautiful in my entire life. Not even celebrities or models on screen. Oh my god. My mind captured everything it can in the seconds that she handed her paper and sat down in her chair. I could only see her back and her side profile as she sat in the first seat in the middle row. I think I forgot how to breathe. Wow. Brunette hair, golden skin , the features of a I don't know.. a mythical figure? A goddess?And the first thing I noticed about her, ( Most guys my age would tell you a different answer but ) was her eyes. The shade of green I've never seen before. And her skin was shining. Literally. It was reflecting off of her high cheek bones, her straight nose and those perfect full pink lips . Man, she could definitely match the golden ratio with a 100%. She was wearing a black t shirt and blue jeans, they fit her perfectly.I was still reeling with this .. feeling of... admiration that I've completely muted out the banter between her and the professor. I stared at her for the rest of the class. She sat with her legs outstretched and her hands folded across her chest .I don't think she paid an ounce of attention to what the professor was saying. Even I didn't but I had a very very convincing reason not to. How can someone be this perfect? God I hope she's not the Elizabeth mom was going on about because I don't know how I'm gonna behave around her. As I said earlier I'm usually the epitome of awkward when it comes to engaging in a normal civil conversation with anyone male or female. It's usually worse with females. And if they're flirting I immediately make them regret that. But a conversation with someone who looks like that, I might not even get a word out of my mouth. What my mind thinks Hi would be interpreted by my voice as a squeal because I think that's what's gonna come out of my mouth when , IF at all I was gonna have a conversation with her. Do people actually talk to her without staring or drooling at her? I genuinely want to know.Before I knew it the class was over and Elizabeth was not in my rest of the classes until lunch but she was definitely in my mind. The mental image of her sitting with her hands folded and her legs outstretched got glued into my mind. Her hair was wavy and had a shine to it just like her skin. It looked like waves in an ocean. I wonder how it felt like, was it soft? I bet it was soft and her skin, it was like molten gold. I've never met someone with that skin tone before. I kept thinking about her and before I knew it was lunch break, just like in the morning. I never lost track of mind. God what was she doing to me and I haven't even met her yet. I did met David though and we headed to the cafeteria to get our lunch . It was huge like the rest of the campus and it was crowded. I secretly looked for her in the cafeteria effectively tuning out David's rant about his grades. The guy was always smart& I don't know what his concern was because I was not paying him any attention.

"Hey are you listening to me?"

I muttered a uh huh" and finished filling my tray with food, I don't even know what I've filled it up with but it was very very full.

"Dude for someone who's lanky you sure do eat a lot!" David was not lanky, in fact he was muscular, not buff but muscular , exactly how I wanted my body to be.

" I guess I just kept one of everything"

"I can see that"

" Hey do you hit the gym? Your body's cool man"

"Thanks man, I'm working on it, if you want we can hit the gym together, you be gym partners, motivate each other, you know"

" Yeah definitely, let me know when and where " I really need exercise.

" Yeah later, first let me introduce to my friends ,there are a lott of them haha, let's go come-on !" My eyes were scanning the cafeteria for brunette hair and black t shirt.

David Hey-ed almost everyone in the cafeteria and my eyes kept searching for the one girl who has taken her seat in my mind for the last three hours. Nope. No sign of her.

"We're gonna sit with my favorites today since it's your first day and all of that"

"Uh huh" Did I imagine her this morning?How come she's not in the cafeteria ? Are there many cafeterias in this place?

"Hey is there another cafe-

" Michael, meet Isabel and Elizabeth, my favorite friends"

My eyes immediately landed on the ladies sitting infront of us. Elizabeth, the Elizabeth , was sitting there casually, sipping on her drink and the thing I've anticipated and dreaded the most happened. I froze.