Today was Christmas. And although most would be out with my friends and family, I just wanted to isolate myself.

CHAPTER TWO

       Song made it through half of her classes and was now on her lunch break. Unsure of what they would have to eat at the school, she packed a small sandwich to nibble on while getting used to the way things worked. The eating area was huge- hundreds of small tables inside, benches decorated the campus outside, and there were even squares of rock you could sit on near the fountain. She truly had no idea where to sit. Eventually she chose the chairs near the fountain because the water reflected the cloudy skies. She did love winter after all.

       She took out her sandwich and did as planned by nibbling on it. She wanted to make it last as that was all she had to eat in an hour lunch period. Seeing as how she hadn’t quite made any friends yet, she didn’t want to just sit and stare for 45 minutes. Song soon finished her meal, unable to make it last that long, and got up to throw it away. When she came back to sit down, however, a very noisy sound erupted from the area near her. She looked up and around to see why all the girls were screaming, and saw a group of boys walking down the brick walkway.

       Figures. She thought to herself.

       Song was fond of drama’s and all, but never in her life did she enjoy the idea of ‘Kingka’s’ at a school. And even worse, their fangirls. She sat on the square brick, admiring them from afar. After she got enough of an idea, she turned away, bored. Their footsteps loudened the closer they got to her, and it wasn’t long before they were only a feet away. Song, still irritated by the constant high-pitched screaming, decided to dig out her MP3 player and drown out the sound for the rest of the hour. Plugging it in, she switched it to one of the newest songs she was addicted to: Secret Love. She looked down at her fingernails as it played, and slowly began to chip off the latest layer of polish she had put on. A few moments later, however, she felt eyes on her. As if she was being watched. Acting on instinct, she looked up.

       And froze.

       At that exact moment, the boys had walked past her. Every single one of them was looking forward, but one of them had his eyes trained on her. When she looked up, they made eye contact. The boy slowly smirked and looked away, seemingly amused by the situation. A small brush of adrenaline pounced through her veins, unsure if she should be afraid or mildly flattered. Nevertheless, she decided to just dismiss it. He probably just had something in his eyes.

       Right?

       After a long, boring wait, the bell to next period finally rang. Song slung her bag around her shoulder and began walking back towards the Science building. Most of her classes were lab classes that involved a certain amount of biology, chemistry and physics. Honestly, she didn’t know what she wanted to do as a career, so she signed up for a lot of classes just to see which ones would peak her interest. This time, she successfully got there before the bell rang. And to the right classroom. She scanned the room when she walked in, and immediately noticed how empty it looked. There were four, maybe six at most, other students in there, and it didn’t look like it would be filling up anytime soon. The science building was made of red brick, giving it an old feel, while the inside walls were painted an inviting ivory color. Chairs were lined up in rows in between the lab stations, giving students extra space to spread out and listen to the lecture. Miscellaneous posters decorated the room- some inspirational and others telling about the circle of life’s food chain. It felt like high school again.

       Song took a seat in the front corner, not near any of the others. Her eyesight was good, so she could truly sit anywhere she wanted, but all of the good spots were already taken by the other students. She sighed quietly and waited for the lecture to begin.

       Ten minutes later class had started, yet if anyone had asked her what the professor was saying, she wouldn’t have the slightest clue. Her mind had begun to wander to what had happened not even thirty minutes ago. Those boys walking through the campus. They were just handsome male students. What was the big deal? It wasn’t the fact that they were handsome that made her mind wander, however. It was the way that one had looked at her. As if expecting her to look up. Expecting her to scream for him too.

       Or maybe he was expecting just the opposite.

       Said boy had her mind occupied the entire day, those few seconds of glances threatening her future career as she could not think about anything else. If she kept this up, she was going to flunk out of college for the simple lack of paying attention. Song decided to walk home that day; the weather was nice and she lived an okay distance away from the university. Getting some fresh air would help clear her mind. Or, so she hoped.

       The bright light from the sun was hidden behind white, fluffy clouds, creating a mystical aura in the sky. What rays were able to escape the barricade reflected off of the skyscrapers and cars that drove by. There was even a nice breeze to accompany Song as she headed home. She walked down the sidewalk, blending in with all of the other pedestrians. There were tons of little stands nearby too, advertising and selling all types of cute keychains and lanyards and such. She looked at all of them, and saw one she liked. It was a panda bear domo keychain. In all honesty, she was dying a little inside at how cute it was. It was only three dollars too.

       Song purchased the little chain and went onto the next stand. Not really expecting to buy anything this week, she had only put about ten dollars in her wallet. A tiny panda-print first aid kid caught her eye. It wasn’t really a necessity, but she didn’t have any bandaids at home and she was so clumsy she was bound to hurt herself in the future. She bought that too, shoved it in her all-purpose bag and decided to take a detour to her house. It was maybe 5 more blocks away, but since she had stopped to buy a few things the car and foot traffic was starting to pick up. The detour would shorten her travel time home, feet beginning to hurt and stomach starting to grumble. It consisted of miscellaneous turns behind hidden buildings. Some would consider it dangerous, but Song could defend herself if anything happened. Five years of taekwondo bid her that luxury, and her school bag held a bottle of pepper spray and a mini tazer. She was prepared.

       Song turned at the next corner, treading down a pathway between an old breadshop and candystore. Slow steps enabled her to survey her surroundings and watch what was happening around her: a stray cat looking for a meal, stranded puddles of who-knows-what, and someone sneezing off in the distance. The sun was beginning to lower, still hidden by the clouds, and the breeze turned a little cooler. The briskness caused her to move a bit faster, wanting to get her blood flowing to get warmer since she didn’t have a jacket.

       She was halfway there when she heard some mysterious sounds coming from behind a shop. Song trailed down yet another alleyway and stopped immediately when she reached the end. The sounds became louder, causing her to peek her head over the edge of the brick wall and gasp at what she saw:

       Two men having a fist fight.

       It wasn’t the fact that they were fighting that struck her, but the fact that one of the men was that very one that had occupied her mind the whole day. The one she had looked at, and he had looked back. She instantly ducked back behind the wall for cover, not wanting to get caught nor involved. Sounds of flesh hitting flesh, gruff grunts emitting from throats, and scattered cuss words filled the air. Her heart rate increased, wondering why in the world this boy was in a fight in the first place. From the looks of it, he was winning, but she just wanted to get home and had no interest in watching. To do that, however, she had to literally walk in front of them. With these circumstances, she would rather wait it out than risk some type of situation happening.

       Out of curiosity, she looked around once more just to see what had happened so far. Song then heard the one she knew say something odd:

       “Don’t you dare follow her again.” A deep, gruff voice emitted from his throat.

       A chill ran down her spine. Who had followed who?

       Song returned to her safe position behind the wall and waited for something to happen. It sounded as if the fight was over, but she didn’t know if it was safe to move out yet. As if on cue, a deep voice interrupted her thoughts.

       “You can come out now.”

       The voice came from around the corner, startling her. There was no one else there, so he had to have been talking to her. Song put her hand in her bag, wrapping her fingers around the bottle of pepper spray just in case. She began walking out into the area said boy was, taking tentative steps as she had no idea what was going to happen. Her wide eyes examined the body on the ground, undoubtedly noticing the unconscious man a few feet away from the one speaking to her. There was blood splattered on his knuckles, but he himself did not go uninjured. There were scratch marks all along his face and arms, some bleeding, and bruises already beginning to develop under his –what looked to be- smooth skin.

       “You had no idea he was following you, did you?” His deep voice billowed through the cooling air, both of which giving her another shiver.

       Truthfully, he was right. Song thought it was completely safe. She hadn’t the slightest feeling she was being watched nor did she hear any strange sounds that would suggest such a thing. She hastily shook her head.

       A sound came from his throat, a cross between a scoff and a laugh. Song scowled. She didn’t need to be mocked at. Frustrated, she turned 180 degrees on her feet and began to walk off.

       “Wai-” The boy behind her began to speak, but a sound like something falling interrupted him. Curiosity took the best of her and she turned around only to find out that said boy had collapsed on the ground. At this point, he wouldn’t really be a danger, so she decided to take her chances and go see what was wrong, even though he had just sort of indirectly insulted her.

       She lowered into a squatting stance next to him and stared at his seemingly unconscious form. His lips hung open, and he had chubby cheeks. She couldn’t resist the urge to poke them. Reaching out her finger, she did exactly that. Without warning, the guys’ eyes suddenly opened, scaring her to death. Song screamed and fell backwards on her , causing the man to break out in a laughing fit. After a while, however, his laughing turned into coughing, and he brought his hand up to massage his head.

       “I just lost my balance. No need to poke and prod like I’m roadkill.”

       Song was about to get up and walk away again, as that was another insult that had come her way, but stopped in her tracks when the boy did something.

       He smiled.

       It was a minor thing, but it captivated her. The way he smiled was absolutely beautiful. It was gummy and happy, and although she didn’t even know this boy, it dramatically warmed her heart.

       She smiled back.

       It wasn’t as prominent, gummy, or happy as his was, but it was enough to make him pause. His expression held a look of awe as the corners of turned up. After a few seconds, Song had noticed that one of the scratches on his head had opened up and begun bleeding. She doubted the man knew, as he was still in his state of who-knows-what, yet began digging in her bag for something she had bought earlier: the first aid kit.

       She had bought it for herself, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t use it on someone who needed it. She just hoped he didn’t mind having panda print bandaids decorating his face. Once she found the little box, she took it out and looked at everything inside. There was gauze, bandaids, a little bottle of hydrogen peroxide, wrap, cotton balls and qtips. Why the last thing was in there, she did not know, but picked up one of the cotton balls and the bottle of peroxide. The boy watched her curiously, wondering why she had just pulled out a box of medical supplies. Song put the ball up to the bottle and tipped it, causing the fluid to soak into it. Putting the bottle back down, she scooted closer to the boy and slowly brought it up to his left temple. Surprisingly, the boy didn’t back away. It was as if he wanted to see what the girl would do. She still hadn’t said a word despite the boys attempts to get her to talk.

       Song traced the line of blood with the cotton before moving to the actual wound. When she did, a strained grunt erupted from the boy. He gritted his teeth and squinted his eyes, but made no attempt to stop her. He got used to the sensation after a while and relaxed, beginning to simply watch her work. His eyes studied her young face, trying to figure out how old she was. Her skin was pale, but it worked perfectly as it matched with her jet black hair. Her fingers were medium length and graceful in their movements. He could see her thighs, as they weren’t covered from her socks or skirt, and noticed how long her legs were. He closed the mouth he didn’t realize was gaping open, and stared one last time, imprinting her image in his head. This boy wasn’t a creep, stalker, or any of that. He was just truly captivated by her beauty. He was also beginning to think she was mute since she hadn’t said a word to him.

       After finishing cleaning the gash, Song pulled out a big panda print bandaid and began to take the sticky part off. When he saw, he immediately gave her a ‘really?’ look that pleaded ‘are you really going to put that on me?’. She noticed and giggled, slightly shining her teeth for the first time, captivating the boy even further. He gulped. A light flood of crimson began to fill his cheeks, but he couldn’t figure out if it was a late response from the fight or because of the angel in front of him. Although he didn’t care for the pattern, he didn’t stop her when she started to put it over his wound. Her fingertips used such gentle pressure that he barely even knew she was there.

       Apparently there was another cut on his cheek, because she dipped another ball into the peroxide and brought it to the right side of his face. His eyes watched her as she peacefully helped him. Yet, he began to wonder why she was helping him. They really didn’t even know each other. He had spotted her near the fountain at lunch, and he couldn’t deny that he was instantly interested. His smirk was impossible to hide as he got caught staring by the exact one he was staring at. The boy sat there and began to wonder what her classes were. Without moving, his eyes wandered to her bag, and saw her schedule sticking out.

       Mostly science classes. Huh. He thought to himself.

       They didn’t have any classes together, but at this rate, he wished they did. After a few thoughtful seconds, he decided that it wouldn’t hurt to add some science classes to his schedule.

       He felt the sticky material adhere to the skin of his cheek, and watched her eyes wander over his body. He knew that she wasn’t checking him out- she was checking for any other open wounds. Apparently he didn’t have any since she began to pack up the kit. All of a sudden-

       *BABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

       Song jumped back, completely startled by the thick, tremulous thunder that shook the sky.

       Now if there was anything Song actually hated in this world, it was thunder. She stood up so fast the boy blinked and she was already towering over him. Song immediately zipped up her bag and frantically began running home- the only place she felt safe in situations like this. The boy jumped up and started to run after her.

       “Wait! What’s your name?” He quickened his strides, but it was no use. Her long, slender legs made her quicker than anything.

       What’s her name? He asked himself quietly, stopping in his tracks and disappointed that he had just missed the biggest chance to get to know her.

His fingers went up to touch the bandaids on his head, wincing when his fingertips brushed against the still sensitive wounds. The boy walked back to his earlier spot and made sure the man was still unconscious. He had just happened to be walking in the same direction as the girl, and noticed the sketchy figure imitating her every turn. He got a sick feeling just watching, and his suspicions were confirmed when both the girl and guy disappeared into a very unknown part of the area. He followed the guy and tackled him behind a building to give her time to get away, but she didn’t even know she was being followed. They fought it out in the alley, and in the corner of his eye, the boy saw her head peak around the corner. He was happy that she didn’t get hurt or kidnapped, but then his mind wandered to what had happened not even 5 minutes ago. Another echo of thunder rumbled through the skies, sending him wondering if she would be okay. Considering the way she violently jumped and scattered off told him that this was one of her crippling fears.

Will she be okay? He wondered, worried. No, he didn’t know her, but he also didn’t like seeing people anxious or in pain.

The boy looked at the floor and noticed spots were becoming darker than others. It wasn’t even a second later he felt spots on his skin become wet. He looked up and found that raindrops were forming and coming down harder and harder. He was about to leave when something on the ground caught his eye: a panda keychain attached to a flip phone. Considering the fact that there was a giant panda sticker on the front, he figured it must have been the girls. Shoving it in his pocket, he ran off and headed towards his home.

He’d just have to return it to her later.

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I heard some ringing coming from around the house, but I neither knew what it was coming from nor had the energy to find out.