The next day was so awkward my head still swirls. I was at the parking
lot when a black Mercedes approached. A spoilt rich teenager was my first thought. But everything spiralled when I saw who was driving. Mark Hannigal.
But something was peculiar about him this time. Oh no! He had worn all black and
gelled his hair backwards in a gorgeous style.
"Hot, Hot, Hot, Hot!" Leila gasped.
"Shut up, Leila." I spat on her.
Mark got out of the matte black car and saw me. He grinned. I gave back a fragile smile.
He winked and I pinched myself to see whether I was dreaming. It was not every day
that a guy winked at me, an ombre haired, dark-brown eyed person with unproportionate body features. I realised I was staring at him until he came really close.
He was inches apart from me and I could feel the shade of his body.
"Hi." He said with an evil grin, I got scared of.
"Hi. So you have a Merce?" I said in a squeaky voice.
He laughed in a warm but prickly manner.
"Yeah, it's my brother's. But he gave it to me permanently."
I nodded in a way of belief. I remembered the cold and mysterious way his brother
talked. I shivered with the memory.
"Are you cold?" He asked.
"No, I..." I was only halfway making an excuse when he pulled off his leather jacket and draped it on me. I looked at him with confusion.
"You can keep it. A souvenir from me." He was looking somewhere else I didn't care to see. From this side of his face, the sharp jaw line and the smell of after shave gripped me. Other people were watching, I didn't care. He looked at me and said something. I was deaf enough to hear it.
"...hand."
"What?"
"My hand. You have been holding it for quite sometime. Want me to cut it and give it to you?"
I blushed in an embarrassing way and let his hand go. Leila laughed this time. The
arteries in my face flushed even more.
"By the way, can you guys give me a campus tour maybe?"
Leila looked at me and then towards a big man on the helm of the stairs. Mickey. Her
boyfriend. Obviously, she would have left me. Nobody liked to stay near a sorceress
and her new assistant she did dark magic on. Besides, even in his new form, Mark crept Leila out anyway.
I saw Leila's hand slip into Mickey's and that was my cue to say with a sigh.
"Alright. Follow me."
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"Wow!"
He exclaimed slightly when he saw the terrace of the main building. I realised that if I
really wanted him to see everything, then perhaps I must start from my favourite place.
He was there, I beside him, and his dark eyes set on the horizon of the sky, turning
them into seemingly hazel. I was gaping at him.
"What?" he said and I slipped out of the trance.
"Nothing, you just look horribly gorgeous." I heard myself and flinched a bit. I am one of the people who lack in expressing deep things verbally. Surprisingly, he laughed.
"Oh, but most people think I am 'really' gorgeous. I never heard horribly. I am hurt."
And he made a puppy face. I smiled at him. He indeed was an idiot. He smiled at me
maturely as an anime character and turned.
"You liked the place?" I asked him.
"Well, indeed. The perfect flowers, their descending smell, the swirling world and the
aspiring sun merging its way through the sky. I loved it." His gaze, still stuck upon the
bright yellow and reddish sky. His hands slightly slipped into mine and I almost
jumped but his over-warm hands held me inside. I smiled. It was a romantically calm
and pleasant time. And then the bell rang. His grip loosened and he told me,
"I guess that's out cue to leave for class."
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Obviously, we had the same homeroom and he sat just beside me. I already had many friends. But the recent circumstances made me feel that they reduced to quite a number.
But you couldn't stay angry at Mark Hannigal for long. He was too gorgeous for that.
And with his sudden change of personality, he was the new gossip topic around the
corridor.
I heard many gasps and sighs while my way to my seat. Perhaps they still thought I can do black magic. I felt quite wicked and lonely at the same time. But then a hand pressed on my shoulder,
"Don't worry. I am with you." Mark said.
They are not coming near me only because of you, I wanted to say. But my voice was stuck in my throat.
It seemed like forever that I made him faint. I was just gonna respond when Madam
Frida entered. She greeted everyone and went back on the discussion of the story, 'A
tale of two cities.'
"So, yesterday we discussed about how love can be fatal sometimes. Today we will talk about how it can become a weakness. According to the content, Sydney died for the love of Lucy and respect for Charles. Can anyone justify or contradict this fact?"
Many hands shout up in the air. She pointed at Zara Nelson. A nerd. She apparently
said,
"The love between Lucy and Sydney was a one-sided one. Technically, Sydney might
have thought it would be a nice way to impress her."
"By giving up his life, Miss Nelson?" Mrs. Frida asked.
"Uh...yeah." sometimes nerds can be too casual.
The green eyes of the professor flickered to Mark and before I realised he was staring at me, she said,
"Would you like to share your opinion, Mr. Hannigal?" the squeal in her voice was
audible. She was annoyed.
Mark startled for a second. I knew he didn't hear the question, but then he gave the
answer, staring right in her pupil,
"Well, love certainly makes people crazy things. Juliet died for Romeo, Sydney died for Lucy. Another reason for his sacrifice was Charles, Lucy's husband. He knew if she
loses Charles, the happiness will be gone from her lips, the redness from her cheeks and the brightness from her eyes. He knew he would face a nightmare if Charles died. So, he volunteered to sacrifice himself to let Lucy cherish her life." He said in a monotonous voice.
The whole class was silent and soon a shocking wave of claps surmounted the whole
room. Every face had a layer of surprise except one. Mrs. Frida had an impressed
expression on her face as she said,
"Quite a correct answer, Mr. Hannigal. I am glad at least someone had some interest in literature." She glared at me.
Okay, I liked writing. But love stories are cliché. They have been the same from the
beginning of the time. Fiction is highly over-rated.
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The rest of the classes went naturally. Mark was impressing every teacher (even the
male ones.), I was getting bored in Calculus and Chemistry, and people constantly
being awestruck by him.
Lunch went probably interesting. Leila introduced her boyfriend to Mark and they
became good friends instantly. They even made a new handshake for themselves and
Mickey told him to meet him at the club in the evening to meet the rest of the boys.
Sarah Paul, a cherry cheerleader supposedly came to our table and intentionally slipped out of nowhere. Unfortunately, our new 'gentleman' held her tight as she breathed heavily, the chest part collapsing hard again and again. Sarah got up and started dusting her clothes off while her eyes stuck on the boy sitting next to me.
"Hey, nerdy." Her over-sweet voice said.
"Hey, cherry." Mark said, going close to her.
They started flirting, one of them inching closer to each other.
I rolled my eyes so that they can go at the back of my head and muttered,
"Get a room."
This time, both of them looked at me. Sarah with an eerie annoyed one and Mark with his super irritating grin. She turned back to Mark and gave him a piece of paper.
"I'm having a party tonight. And I would love if you come. You will, right?"
"How can I miss?" he took the piece of paper as she strolled back to her group. I have always hated blondies.
Mark turned to me with his obnoxious smile, and stared at me.
"What?" I asked.
"What was that all about?"
I gulped. I remembered him on my doorway telling that he was 'transfixed' by my
beauty. My face still flushed by thinking that he had a tiny crush on me. But I paved my way through courage to say,
"What? About your stupid public affection and me telling you to do it privately? It was a sensible suggestion."
He smiled with his eyes lit up like fire and slid his hand on mine which were situated
on my lap. Every single part of my body jumped with that mere touch.
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Mark drove me home. We just talked normally till I asked him,
"So, you are going to the party, I guess?"
He looked at me. This time, he had a serious stare.
"Do you want me not to?" He was direct, I realised. He never beat about the bush.
"How can I affect your choices? We are just friends, I guess."
At this his face was blank. Expressionless. He just leaned towards me and his lips
touched mine. Shockwaves and electricity circulated inside my body and I started
melting down. His kiss was tender but fierce, familiar but strange, soulful but missing.
And when he drifted apart, he stared at the view outside and said,
"Good night."
And I fell in love