She was beautiful.
Mira Simpson, whom everyone warned me not to approach, was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen.I couldn't understand what was so bad about her. She looked normal. The only thing I found strange was that her hair was an unnatural shade of black, but she dressed normally and looked like a normal human.
I must have been staring for a long time because she suddenly looked up to meet my eyes.
I think I've just been hypnotized.
They were so dark and filled with mysteries I wanted to unlock. Her gaze pinned me to the spot, and my heart—why did it hurt so much all of a sudden?
"Jake?" Clara's voice infiltrated my ears, forcing me to take my eyes off Mira.
"Yeah?"
"Don't stare at her," she said seriously, and I found her sudden change of behavior alarming.
"Why? What's so bad about her that everyone keeps saying I should stay away from her?" I finally asked, and Raphael finally returned with our food.
He had two trays in his hands, and one balanced perfectly at the top of his head. Now, that, ladies and gentlemen, was talent.
"Hey, Jake, could you get this for me?" He spoke, using his eyes to point at the tray on his head, and took it off his head. He handed Clara her tray before sitting down and grabbing a sandwich. "So what are you guys talking about?"
"We don't have a ruler fervour project." Clara started.
"Yeah, but I want to get one from her." I pointed towards Mira, and Raphael followed my finger.
He looked back at me with wide eyes and said, "Can't we just fail it? "Failure isn't that bad, you know."
"No!" Clara practically screamed. She grabbed her head like the thought of failure terrified her.
"Okay, the both of you tell me who the hell that girl is right now," I demanded, staring them down with my eyes.
Raphael and Clara shared a glance before Clara said, "That girl is cursed."
cursed with beauty.
"Okay, what makes her cursed?" I inquired.
Raphael met my eyes; his face held so much seriousness I almost thought we were in a business meeting. "Anyone that has ever gone near or tried to mess with her dies."
"Excuse me?" Please tell me I didn't hear him correctly.
Clara nodded affirmatively. "It's true. She came to this school when we were all in seventh grade, and there was this boy who had a crush on her, and his name was Jason. "During the school Christmas party that year, he kissed her; that very same night he was killed in a car accident."
I almost wanted to laugh. Is that why they avoided her like the freaking plague? My eyes went back to Mira. She appeared to be drawing something on her book. I wondered if she had a crush on Jason. I didn't want to imagine what she might have felt after his death. And with people pinning his death on her, it would probably make her feel worse.
"Jake! Stop staring!" Clara snapped.
"Sorry, but that's just a coincidence. It doesn't make her cursed."
"Yeah, that's what we thought. But there are others," Raphael said before taking a bite out of his sandwich.
"Like?" I asked. My curiosity was at its peak.
"Teachers who have threatened to fail her or put her in detention either die, have a family member that dies, or end up insane," Clara said, and I couldn't stop my head from tilting to the side.
"There is some other creepy stuff about her too. "Look, just don't go anywhere near her; one F won't be that bad," Raphael said, and I saw Clara shiver at his last statement.
I released an unbelievable sigh before rising to my feet. "Well, I'm not ready to fail my first class just because of some fairy tales."
And then I was walking up to Mira Simpson and ignoring the pleas of my friends.
I stopped at her table, and for the first time that day my lips lifted to form a smile. "Hey."
I expected some form of acknowledgement, maybe a hello, or for her to look at me, or even for her hands to pause her drawing. But she did nothing but continue with it like I wasn't there.
Ouch.
"Umm, do you mind if I borrow your ruler?" I asked, hoping to get a response, but she only pushed the object towards me with her other hand. I picked it up and gave a small nod. "Thank you."
And I was heading back to my friends, who had been watching the whole thing with wide and terrified eyes.
I pursed my lips and three my hands up in the air, "See, I'm still alive!" I exasperated.
I wasn't sure whether I imagined it or not, but I could have sworn I heard Clara say, "For now."
I decided to let it slide, and we quickly got started on our project. Since neither Clara nor Raphael wanted to touch the ruler, I was the one who did all the measuring. Three minutes till the end of our break and we were done. I looked at our project in approval and, I have to say, I was pretty proud of it.
"Now return that weapon!" Clara screeched, quickly packing up her things.
I wanted to roll my eyes at her behavior but decided against it; a part of her understood her fear. But I didn't believe in the cause of it.
I walked back to Mira's table, but she was nowhere to be seen.
New ruler for me.
A piece of paper lying on the table caught my eyes; it must have been the paper Mira was drawing on. I walked closer towards it to get a better look at what was on it, and my jaw hit the floor once it did.
It was a perfect, identical drawing of me.