I moved the pen aimlessly on the paper creating samples of modern art on it, trying to pass the stubborn time. There was still 15 minutes to spare before the teacher would storm in the class. 15 minutes before us 11th graders lost our freedom. Not like I cared much. Everthing was alien for me and my thoughts seemed to be amidst a strange limbo-like state. The new surroundings didn't help much too. Murmurs of the girls were sneaked amongst the shouts of the boys. About a new boy. Few girls were wondering why he was chewing off his pen, while some of them had already labelled him as a loser.
Yes, I am the new boy.
Dying of boredom, I put the pen down and slammed my book shut when a high pitched laughter reached my ears. I could gauge a sense of control in it yet it sounded mesmerising to me. I looked up to the door and was transfixed. She stood in the doorway, with two of her friends (more like guards) by her side looking haughtily at the class. It was precisely at that moment I realised the whole class had gone silent, enraptured by her arrogant aura. She swiftly scanned the class around and as her eyes stopped at me, things went haywire.
I could feel my heart beat furiuosly, so much so, I feared it would explode. A buzzing sound which I considered equivalent to violins was prevalent in my head. A sense of dizziness overcame me as I looked into her eyes. Greenish-hazel and mindboggingly deep. They reflected emotions which were not visible in her outer persona. After a quick spasm of confusion, a look of disgust filled her eyes. Which was when I was made aware of the lopsided grin on my face. Waving my attention off with an air of haughtiness, she took lofty steps into the classroom as the crowd paved the path for her. My gaze followed her as she walked to the first bench of the classroom and seated herself on it, her friends sitting beside her. While the boys were smitten by her, I could see that the girls were mostly stunned into silence either by fear or by pure dislike. Which made me come to a good conclusion of what the girl's stature was.
"Look at her attitude. Bloody arrogant Dazzler and her two sidekicks." A girl spat behind me.
Though the word didn't make much sense to me, I later came to know that 'Dazzlers' was a bizarre yet well worshipped concept in St. Louis, and that it wasn't going to do me much good.
I kept on staring at her from the back, trying to analyse my unusual reaction on seeing a girl. Cinema portrayed these symptoms as those of love. But she did seem as an arrogant girl, could I possibly grow to love her? Or maybe do so at this instant?
She turned around and looked at me, pretending to do it casually. Her eyes were searching for an identity and the way they searched me made my stomach back flip. She turned away and I felt my lungs rejoice as I finally breathed. I was amazed. All my life, I had known to control my mind and body. And in a split second after seeing her, all control was lost. My heart seemed to work on it's own accord. I knew practically all of this was rubbish. But for once, practicality had taken a back seat. I smiled and stared at her back, looking at her pony tail with utmost sincerity, my thoughts recovering from the limbo.
"Sharon-" I heard the friend call her.
"What happened Simmi?"
My heart fluttered once again on hearing her voice. I was alarmed. It seemed as if my whole internal mechanism had changed. I couldn't quite place what happened to me despite being an analyst; maybe I would in a few days. But I was very postive about one thing- Life as I knew it was going to change.
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In your eyes I saw, black shining light
Now at that moment, I knew I was going to love you
Like no one ever loved you
Like I loved never anyone before
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