"Then it's settled, this is our first meeting."
The man leaned closer to her, his hand fell from her waist and to her hand.
Coraline took one more look at him before ultimately following along with his words.
'This truly must be our first encounter.'
His tall figure shadowed her as he bent down to kiss the back of her hand. She quickly pulled her hand back and gazed at the floor before looking up once more.
As the man stood before her, Coraline eyes never left his and neither did his.
The night was far from being over, so-
'Why is he in such a hurry?'
A lump started to build itself like a boulder in a dam—she felt it hard to swallow back anything.
Coraline could sense that down to his movements, it was like he wanted to leave immediately. When he pulled her close to him, his heartbeat was brisk, his breath was haggard, and he looked in every other direction when she stared at him too hard.
She looked at him with concerned eyes, yet the man seems to brush off her discernment.
He shook his head at her, "Good day miss," he waved at her and left.
Leaving her to watch his back as he left the dance room, other partners that glided the ballroom surrounded the companionless Coraline.
Her hair had floated to her right shoulder and her collarbone ached with lonesomeness. No matter what she did—she was always left behind.
Left to fend for herself on her own.
Coraline bit down on her tongue trying to keep down the swarm of emotions. She left by herself that night, the harsh cold wind sobered her and her flimsy cheap mask no longer covered her face.
Coraline stuffed her head further in the pillow, 'I was supposed to be resting not miserable."
Her love life never had any success, neither was she good at making friends.
Even with her being open-minded, protective, and kind to those close to her—no one stayed long enough to know her more than what the streets informed them.
It made her think she was designed to be isolated.
Besides Vivianne, other girls dared not to be seen with her because she was a 'bad influence,' or would corrupt their minds.
"How cruel this world is Mr. Teddy," Coraline took a small hand-stitched teddy bear and brought it close to her heart.
The color in her face had been drained out entirely like she was about to become a ghost.
Coraline did admit that she wasn't perfect but that didn't give enough of a reason to be ostracized the majority of her childhood.
And it wasn't like she asked for the wrong attention either.
Coraline played with the black buttons for eyes before slowly ripping them off the teddy's face.
Its legs had already been ripped off and showed the careless stitches made by her to fix the amputee bear.
The boy who had gifted her the bear was a son of a toy merchant. He asked his mother to make him a bear to secretly give to Coraline on her birthday.
She still remembered being dressed in the pale pink dress her aunt gave to her as a hand-me-down from one of her older daughters.
The dress was overgrown on Coraline's small frame like vines hanging off trees. Yet this was enough to appease her and make her feel pretty.
Vivianne was the one to split her hair in two, she woven it until it became braids then tied it closed with red ribbons.
She was used to the odd stares from strangers and since it was her day—Coraline paid less attention to it.
However, when she was seated in class she could feel a burning stare at the back of her head from a window in the building nearby, it was a separate academy that was had frequent mixes of the students from Coraline's and its.
When she turned around to meet eyes the boy immediately looked the other way.
'Owen?'
Occasionally Coraline would speak to him when it was needed. Like school projects or asking for assistance on schoolwork. Besides a few exchanges of passing phrases, she never really knew Owen outside of that.
She decided to confront him after school about his sudden strange behavior.
Coraline noticed he was more dressed up than usual on her day as well, "Is it your birthday too, Owen?"
Her cheeks flushed.
If she had forgotten that there was someone else who shared the same birthday as her. Then her being confrontational only made her look like the one in the wrong.
Owen wore overalls that covered his bare chest and dirtied near his boots. Papers were tucked into the front pocket with big handwriting covering them.
Coraline was only able to make out a few letters upon seeing it and gave up on trying to decipher it.
The boy had an extremely low cut like a gone wrong buzz cut. Though Coraline still admired the shin his dark brown hair had under the sun.
She had to refrain from grasping the skull of his head with the palm of her hand.
"Then what is it?"
Owen shyly answered to her, "For you," he held out a small paper bag.
'A gift?'
Despite her popularity for her outward appearance, it was unusual for Coraline to be on the receiving end when it came to gifts.
It was like she was unworthy of preoccupying another's mind for once of it not being ill-mannered.
When she opened it a handmade teddy bear dressed in a red suit the same color as her eyes was now in her hands.
Clipped to its ear were a pretty hairclip with red jewels engraved into it and small beads wearing down it.
Coraline held up the bear in astonishment, "Did you make this?"
She could hardly contain her excitement and flashed a smile to Owen.
"No, but I gifted it with you in mind, my mother made it," His head lowered—he was the type that had trouble with reading other's emotions or expressions.
This is what led him to only be met with empty seats like Coraline. When Coraline looked more closely at him she remembered there was one memory they had shared.
That being-
'Sitting a few seats apart while eating lunch,' she quickly recognized Owen's expression, 'Was this his way of bringing me out to confess his feelings?'
She lowered the teddy bear away from the sky's admiration and looked straight at Owen for him to finish his lingering sentence.
He held his hands up in defense waving them quickly about, "This isn't like...that," he was harsh on his pronunciation but quickly stammered to finish his words, "I just want to be friends with you."
A swift but noticeable breeze picked up and Coraline's braids began to have more fun with the wind than her shoes that started to press further into the dirt.
The bear was now being held up with one arm in her grasp, "Friends?"
Her words sounded like a scoff but Coraline was dumbfounded. She felt like a little girl being asked to play dolls for the first time.
Vivianne wasn't there to guide her since she told her to go home on her own that day to meet with Owen.
Vivianne was cheerful about the sudden interaction Coraline was having and encouraged her friend.
Coraline's dress brushed against her scratched knees before Coraline could add on to her words.
"Why?"
For the first time, Owen sounded more confident in his speech, "Did I need a reason to?"
A smile whisked its way onto her face, "No," she shook her head and her braids swayed along to her movements, "No you do not."
At such a childful age Owen had walked her home that day and gifted her flowers he picked along the way.
By the time she was home, she had a new toy, a dandelion bracelet around her wrist, and an empty place around her arms where Owen quickly hugged her goodbye.
'Was this love?'
Coraline was a stranger to kind acts that came from anyone other than her friend. It was hard for her to draw a line between platonic and romance.
It wasn't long till she fell asleep and believed for the whole ordeal to be something she had made up.
If it wasn't then she was fine with having to make a new friend.
It was the day after that, that was engraved into Coraline's memories.
Owen followed her inside as she said her heartfelt goodbyes to Vivianne as they went to separate classes.
At first, she was spooked at his sudden intrusion but quickly calmed down since this was a chance for her to get to know somebody knew.
Owen gave her sweets and lollipops each period and watched her from afar in his seat.
Whenever Coraline answered a question he would add to her reasoning with full agreement toward it
Owen wore overalls that covered his bare chest and dirtied near his boots. Papers were tucked into the front pocket with big handwriting covering them.
Coraline was only able to make out a few letters upon seeing it and gave up on trying to decipher it—even if it turned out to be wrong.
She grew anxious the more Owen did so.
Since he started changing his behavior, more classmates started to take notice of their sudden friendship.
She let out a deep breath, her head started to beat loudly, it was just another way to let more gossip into her life,
Coraline was keen on listening to even the smallest things before this.
So the outbursts in whispers, soft laughter, and hushed voices only grew louder in Coraline's ears.
By the end of class, it wasn't just one pair of eyes piercing through her but many.
She watched from the window where Owen was seated, a boy slid a note onto Owen's desk, and he'd quickly replied.
She grew curious as to what was written and why he acted differently after receiving the note.
'What did he answer to it with?'
There was no mystery that Coraline was associated with what was on the note. So when it was break time she decided to settle her worries and speak to Owen directly.
"Why are you suddenly acting like this?"
"Because we're friends, Coraline," Owen had a strange expression as her name Vivianne always said with ease came rolling off his tongue.
Coraline tilted her head, her hair held her disdain, 'When were we close enough for him to address me so?'
It was like she couldn't utter another word to him—she was now being cornered by Owen.
He looked at her with eyes the same as a dead animal's, "Someone asked me if we were dating."