A Short Story

Please do tell me how you found it!

Her gaze silently fell on me for quite a while before I turned to look away. Never had I noticed how she would always watch me intently from there since I first arrived, and for some reason it creeped me out. Were her blue eyes trailing me from the start? A voice was telling me she may just be daydreaming since there was nothing to be done, but another crept in with the words: "She pines for you!"

I cursed under my breath at that thought. Perhaps I was thinking too much till I've come up with such an excuse. Perhaps not, but I've just arrived here as a new student transferred from my old place in Boston. It still feels hard to settle into my new surroundings here, an irony to my usual boisterous nature. It's hard to understand my sudden transformation when I came here. I was never an introvert, really, but I just found it difficult to mix with the crowd here.

I do have a few new companions here, but they aren't what I call 'friendly'. Sure, they were polite enough to introduce themselves to me when I first came in, but soon after that they left me to my own devices (well, apart from kind-hearted Phillip, who still treats me like a buddy). So much for New Yorkers, I'd thought. As much as NYC was a famous name in the East Coast, I never did expect something like this from its inhabitants. Wonder why Dad never complained about his new job.

My thoughts suddenly came back to her, wondering if she still watched me from her seat. I risked a glance, but she wasn't there anymore. I breathed a sigh of relief, though I can't explain why I did so. Was it relief because she had left? Maybe so, I thought.

"She pines for you!" the voice echoed again. I flinched at the thought, batting it aside. As if I'd the time to look for one...

The bell tolled. That meant classes are about to start once more. Silently, I packed my books and finished the last piece of sandwich I held in my hand. I made a quick sprint to my locker, opening it to switch between my books for the next few lessons. I heard the locker next to mine swing open, though I couldn't tell who it was as my locker door blocked my view. Perhaps it was Phillip's or just another student.

Closing the door, I fumbled through a stash of leaflets I held in my hand before my hand just suddenly let go. The papers scattered to the ground, and I cursed silently at my ill luck. Students passed by ignorantly as I tried to pick them up, but a kind soul came to my aid. When I had collected all of my leaflets, I thanked my rescuer...

...only to find that it was that very same girl who had watched me closely at the canteen!

I stood there transfixed, too stunned to say a word. It had to be fortuitous that she was here. My view noted the open locker next to mine, and the notion hit me. All this while her locker had been next to mine? Another stroke of sheer coincidence?

She looked back at me with her blue eyes of hers and raised her brows in curiosity.

"Are you alright?" she asked. Her voice was like a melody, almost like the voice of an angel. My mind went blank again, still leaving me standing there like a fool. It took me a few seconds to snap out of it.

"Err...yeah, I-I-I'm alright-- I'm OK..." I stuttered. I felt like an ass when those words crept from my lips.

Her gaze still lingered into mine. I can't help but just... look back. There was something in her eyes that made it difficult for one to look away. You just felt like you wanted to look into them for all eternity. It was almost like a place you couldn't escape from so easily.

Eye contact broke off in what felt like forever. She smiled softly, and it made me feel nervous. Wait a minute: me, nervous? With a girl? Never has something like this happened before! Good grief, I thought, what's going on within me?

"I'll see you later," she said in that voice of hers. She walked away - confidently, I could tell. I however stood there like a mannequin as I watched her go, until Phillip spooked me from behind. He noticed her in the distance before she turned a corner and disappeared from sight.

"Man, are you a lucky dude," he then spoke in a whisper.

I gave him a quizzical stare. He grinned widely when I did so.

"That Caitlin is a real introvert, she is. Everyone knows that she doesn't talk much, and if she does she says very little. Believe me, the boys like someone like her but they just hate the fact she's so darned silent. Penny tells me that Caitlin's been like that for a very long time, though no one knows why.

"You, however," - here he jabbed me playfully in the chest, still grinning - "you're probably the only dude she's ever spoken to first! I'll bet the other guys are gonna drop their jaws when they hear this."

"I don't want to be famous, Phil," I told him sternly as I made a move.

"Hey, I won't tell anyone, Mike," he assured me, his grin unyielding. He put his arm around my shoulder as we walked for our next class. "Besides, sooner or later everyone'll know."

I rolled my eyes. Never did I expect something like this to start. And I told myself I wouldn't make a name among the entire student community, like back in my old school in Boston. But now with this Caitlin in the picture...

"She pines for you!"

I shut the notion away and thought nothing about it. But even so, the memory of her clear blue eyes floats around my head even till now. What's in store for me now?