She rushed to class, although it didn't begin for another half hour, she just wanted to make sure that she got her usual seat in the back of the classroom. She was tall, with long dark hair that flowed to her elbows and floated behind her as she walked to her building. Her skin was mocha colored, but her cheeks were rosy from the cold biting at her, and her finger pale grasping at her messenger bag at her side. She rarely looked up, if she saw someone walking in the opposite direction she would bow her head and stare and the ground until they had passed each other by. If by chance she did happen to glance up, people were usually dazzled by her sparkling blue almond shaped eyes. However these instances were rare, as she was shy, and rarely spoke to anyone unless she needed to or if they spoke to her first. She liked going unnoticed, which was why she was usually the first to show up for class, she would sit in her corner, unseen by the students filling in as class was about to begin. She would spend the time catching her breath from all her rushing, and warming her hands, nose, and full dark pink lips against her cup of hot chocolate. After class, she would be the first to rush out, or she would wait as the classroom emptied and then slip out.
Today seemed to be just like any other day, she had bought her usual cup of hot chocolate at the student concession stand, and she was walking up the stairs, down the hall, and into her classroom when something made her tense up. Someone was already there. It was a boy in her class, she had noticed him before, and thought him very handsome. He seemed a bit odd to her though, despite the freezing cold, this boy always wore the same black hoodie with tattered jeans. He had dark blonde hair, and warm hazel eyes, which she noticed the week before when he had turned to pass her the handouts for class. She remembered how furiously she had blushed when he smiled at her that day, and she meekly smiled back. Now she walked tensely to her usual seat, unsure of why he was here so early. He sat a row up and a seat over from her spot, as he noticed her walking in he turned and smiled at her, pulling off his headphones which were blaring heavy metal music. She almost lost her step as she returned the smile and struggled to maintain composure until she was able to sit down. As she sat unbundling her jacket, she realized he had turned in his chair to talk to her, panic started to build up in her stomach, was he going to talk to her?
"So have you given any thought to the project that we're getting today?" he asked as he toyed with a lip ring that was at the left corner of his mouth.
In truth, she had tried not to think about it. She detested group projects because regardless who she got stuck with, she ended up doing a brunt of the work. However, this time was going to be especially difficult for her because she would have to find a partner on her own rather than be assigned one. "No, not really... Kind of dreading it actually," she blushed at her own honesty, not sure why she had confided that in him.
"Yea, I know what you mean," he chuckled. He had the most brilliant smile, she sat a little dazed by it, when she shot back to reality as he stuck out his hand. "My name is Robby by the way," he beamed at her.
"My name is Beth," she reached out her own slightly trembling hand. She felt surge run through her as their hands touched.
"Wow your hands are freezing, it must still be pretty bad out there. Here, let me help," he then enveloped her hand in both of his. He started rubbing them on either side up her wrist pulling up the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "No wonder, you've got a ring on almost every finger. Nice though, moonstones and opals?" he asked looking up at her.
"Yea, they were all gifts, they're my favorite colors," she said somewhat dazed. She had never really held a boy's hand, while she had boyfriends in the past, they were unromantic and usually very serious yet thoughtful, however not one had managed to leave her without chipping off another piece of her heart, partly why she chose to seclude herself from others. However, this boy seemed to have some sort of magnetism that was drawing her to him. As he warmed her hands, she almost wanted to let herself be pulled in, but then the fear of past heartaches shot through her and brought her back to her senses, she shot her now warm hand back towards her and used to warm the other. "Thank you, it was very thoughtful of you to do that," she said quickly. A look of hurt or rejection shot across his face, and she immediately wished she could have just accepted his kindness. "I'm surprised you knew what stones they were, most people just think they're costume jewelry," she said trying to draw attention to something else. At that his smile returned.
"I always liked the way they looked, especially the blue ones like yours. My mom used to favor onyx," he smiled thoughtfully.
They went on chatting, Robby eventually got up and moved to the seat next to Beth, which threw her off for a moment, however she was immediately comforted by his smile and their continued lively conversation. They almost didn't realize that class was starting until the professor was asking everyone to pair off for the project. Beth tensed up as she realized that now she had to face talking to some people in search of a partner, when she caught the grin on Robby's face as he stuck out his hand, "Partners?"
She smiled, and felt waves of relief wash over her, "Sure, sounds great", she answered. They talked and decided to meet at her apartment, which also troubled Beth, knowing her room mate would have a field day upon knowing they were expecting a guest, especially since she had mentioned this particular boy to her before. Hopefully her room mate would not embarrass her too much. As class ended, everyone filed out and Beth lagged hoping to be the last one out, however Robby stood next to her waiting.
