She found herself in a dimly lit garden barefooted. This wasn't a place she was familiar with, yet she found herself walking forward. As if something was pulling her. The ground was covered with silver mist and it curled around her ankles as she wandered through rows of withered trees and flowers. It looks scary and devoid of life, yet she wasn't scared.
As she kept walking she saw someone. The person was standing by a broken fountain, his back facing her. His shoulders slightly hunched, as he stared at the rose in his hand. The moonlight spilled across his silhouette, turning his presence soft. He looked like a sad painting.
Though she couldn't see him face, she knew who he was. It's that boy.
That annoying boy from the hallway who had teased her from the moment they met. But here, he looked and felt... different. Not smug or arrogant, but sad, quiet and... lonely. she couldn't explain the pain she felt seeing him like that.
She took a step closer to him, then softly called out, "Hey."He didn't seem to hear her.
"are you okay?". She said softly taking a step closer. Slowly, he turned and tilted his head, staring at her.
"Oh, it's you," he said with a smirk, like she'd just interrupted a private moment. "Are you stalking me now?"
His voice, rich and teasing, broke the silence like glass. And just like that, he was himself again, infuriating, unreadable and effortlessly smug.
She rolled her eyes, but there was a faint smile tugging at her lips. "Why would I stalk you in my own dream?"
He took a few steps closer to her, hands tucked into his pockets. "Because you're clearly obsessed with me." He said with that annoying smile on his face.
She scoffed. "In your dreams."
He looked up and said." Well...this is my dream." he murmured, voice dropping just a bit. "and it's not safe for you here."He said staring at her. " and..."
She gave him a puzzled look, unable to understand what he was saying.Then all of a sudden the mist around her swirled violently, rising like smoke. Her knees buckled, her vision blurred and the next thing she knew she was falling.
Her eyes flew open, heart pounding. The ceiling of her room stared blankly back at her, dimly lit by the early light of dawn seeping through her curtains.
The memories of the dream flooded into her mind. She couldn't understand why she had dreamt of him. Why Him if all people? She didn't even know his name and yet.. She sighed. Then she got up from the bed and went to take a shower. Maybe some cold water would push out all those thoughts of him out of her head. She reasoned.
Later in the afternoon She decided to go to the library. She wanted to distract herself with a good book. The school library was extremely huge. It was a magnificent 3 story building filled with all manner of books. She felt like it was a paradise.
As she made her way through the stairs to the first floor, she noticed that the library was unusually empty. But then again it was Saturday and many students wouldn't really come here.
She walked slowly between the towering shelves, trailing her fingers along the spines of the books until she got to the isle of fantasy. She smiled as she went through the names of the books, picking a book titled "The fox's bride." She was satisfied and happy that the library had it. She loved fantasy stories and this is one of her favorites. She walked to one of the reading tables and started reading.
She was so immersed in the book that she didn't notice the person standing right behind her until he spoke.
"What an interesting book you got there." The senior said.
It was him the senior she had bumped into at the entrance three days ago.
She recognized his brown hair and green eyes and that friendly smile. Though they had only spoken for a bit.
She straightened. "You startled me."
He tilted his head. "Really? I'm sorry." he smiled.
She narrowed her eyes slightly because he obviously didn't mean it.
"Don't look at me like that." He said taking a seat next to her.
There was an awkward silence between them and she felt a bit uncomfortable.
"Uhm, did you find what you were looking for that day?"She asked, half out of politeness, half because she wanted to break the silence.
He glanced at her. "Not exactly. But sometimes you find more interesting things when you're not looking for them." He said with a shrug.
She gave a neutral nod. "Well. I hope you find what you're looking for."He smiled.
" 'The fox's bride', what an interesting book you got there. Do you like these types of books?" He asked.
She nodded.
"Do you mind telling me about the book." He asked politely.
"Well..." She drawled. She didn't want to tell him about the book. It will be embarrassing if she does. She pressed her lips and said. "I can't really tell you about it cause it's something you'll have to read yourself."
"Oh really?" She nodded. "And what if I've already read the book and just wanted to hear your thoughts on it?"He said.
"If you've already read it then there's no need for me to tell you about it." She said politely.
He nodded and said, "Your smart. Ok I'll leave you to it then."Then he brought out his phone and started playing a game while she went back to reading.
After a while he got up to leave, but before leaving he asked." What's your name by the way?"
Skylar raised her head." Skylar, my name is Skylar" She said politely. " What's yours?" She asked in return.
"Cy." He said with a grin.
"Cy?" She asked.
He smiled and said. "it was nice seeing you again." Then he left.
"Cy... uhn". She wondered if it was his full name or just a nickname. Oh well she didn't think deep into to and went back to her book.
Outside the library. Cyrus walked through the courtyard and headed to the his favorite spot. He smiled. 'I was right about her... I wonder if her sister is the same.' he thought to himself.
Back inside the library Jace sat at a reading table not too far from Skylar. He has been watching her for a while now.
When he walked into the library this afternoon with Cyrus, he never expected to see her. He had been thinking about her and wondered if he would run into her again. He smiled, thinking about her flustered face. Though he wondered how she met Cyrus. They seem to be well acquainted, seeing that she could actually speak a bit freely with him.
He watched as she sighed and laughed blissfully over something she read in the book. 'The fox's bride.' How ironic he thought her choice of book to be. She was reading about something that she'll soon become. As he kept watching her his phone buzzed. He had gotten a text from Bella. He glanced through the text and smiled. Something interesting came up and he left.
In the evening Kira went to her favorite spot in school. A bench under the old Oak tree in the school garden, right where the shadows fell soft and the breeze always smelled like flowers. It was always cool there.
She had stumbled upon it two days after she arrived. The place was always quite and students didn't seem to go there. So she decided to claim it has her spot.
So as she got there, with a book in one hand and her iced tea in the other, she didn't expect to find someone already sitting on her bench.
Scratch that. Lounging, with his shoes kicked off, head tilted back, arms spread across the top like he owned the place.
She stopped dead in her tracks. "Seriously?"
He opened one eye lazily. "Oh. Hello. Can I help you?"
She raised an eyebrow. " Help me? You're in my spot."
He blinked. "Your spot? I wasn't aware the school assigned personalized benches."he raised an eyebrow.
"They don't. It's an unwritten rule." She said puffing her cheeks. "Everyone knows this is mine."
"Well," he said, sitting up slowly with a wicked grin, "looks like someone didn't write it down fast enough."
"I did but it's seems like your eyes aren't working and you can't see that " She said.
The grin on his face widen. "Maybe.... or maybe you're the one who couldn't see that this spot already belongs to someone and that someone is me."
She folded her arms. "Do you always act like a this, or is this just a today thing?"
"And how I'm I acting?" He asked, curious.
"Like a seven year old brat." She said will all the sassiness in the world.
He gasped, clutching his chest in mock hurt. "How dare you say something like that to me?"
She scoffed. "You're so dramatic."
He leaned forward, giving her a lopsided smile. "And you're bossy."
"Over confident."
" You're loud."
" You're immature."
" You're annoying."
"You're persistent." Kira said.
He tilted his head. "Persistent, huh? Sounds like someone's trying to flirt with me."
She choked. "Flirt with you? I'd rather eat my shoes."
He looked down at her sneakers. "Hope they're flavored. Maybe mint or vanilla?"
She rolled her eyes and turned to walk away. Then she stopped, turned back and sat right next to him with a dramatic plop. Practically sitting on his side of the bench.
He looked down at the sudden proximity, surprised. "Cozy?"
She smiled sweetly. "You didn't say I couldn't share with you."
He grinned wider. "I think I like you."
"Pity," she said without missing a beat, "I was hoping you were smarter than that."
"What do you mean?"He asked.
"You're declaring your likeness for someone you don't even know." She said with a smirk.
He laughed, like really laughed and tilted his head toward her. "What's your name?"
She considered him for a moment. "Why should I tell you?"
"Like I said, I like you and I'm gonna haunt you and keep show up everywhere."He said grinning.
She stared. "You would keep showing up?"
"Absolutely." He said in a heartbeat.
She sighed. " Are you sure?" She asked. And he nodded. "It's Kira."
He repeated it, testing her name on his tongue."Pretty. Just like you."
She shot him a glare. "Back off, smooth talker."
He winked. "I'll try. But I'm slippery."
"You're ridiculous." She said in disbelief.
"And you're stuck with me now."He said grinning.
"I'm walking away the second I finish my tea you hear me." She said pretending to be serious.
"You'll miss me when you leave."He said.
"I'll recover." But even as she said that she was smiling.
When she finished her drink she got up to leave as it was getting late. He wasn't happy about that.
"Before I leave, what's your name?" She asked.
"Hmmmn... I'm not gonna tell you."He said.
She frowned at him. "Why? I told you mine right? So it's only fair if you tell me yours"
"It is... But I won't." She pouted at his words. He found it cute." Okay, how about you guess my name?"
"I'm not good at guessing people's names." She said bluntly.
"You'll have to guess mine. And you have to guess it by Monday." She gave him a questioning look.
"I won't be here tomorrow cause I have something to do, and I want you to think about me till then." He grinned. Then he grab hold of her hand and kissed it.
She was stunned and couldn't speak.
He got up, gave her a wink and left her standing there. Shocked.
He walked quickly like he was trying to run away from her. And as he did he took deep breaths to silence and control that annoying wolf in his head..