Two

Cai knows beautiful.

She had seen beautiful colors, dresses, scenes, posters, pictures. She had heard beautiful music and poems. She had had a greater fill of beauty than the average person.

But right then, she had seen a beauty she had never known could exist.

The boy standing in front of every awestruck teenager in that room was like a god. It seemed as if he could rule the world, and it wouldn't matter whether he started a World War III or preserved all wildlife, or whether he fixed the economy to perfection or if he let it crash to hopelessness. He was tan. A perfect tan with no strange tan lines like most the pale guys in town that tried too hard. His brown hair stuck up into spikes. His clothes were perfectly fit for his cool air. They fit loosely, but not overly so, and his shirt was nice and un-stained. And he was surprisingly tall, too.

But his face was the most mesmerizing thing about him. Smooth, Asian features and flawless skin. His lips and nose were rather big, but not really bad. A crescent-shaped scar that said, "I might be a bad boy or I might just be protective," was under his right eye. His eyes, though... to Cai, his eyes were unforgiving in a wonderful, enchanting way.

"Well, Michael, how about you take the seat beside Cai?" Cai blushed as he said her name and pointed to her. Then she thought, Wow. He's hot, cool, and he sits at a table full of girls already! Then her thoughts stopped as he walked toward her table, books in hand. She turned back to look at her own spot. All that was there was the little pink case she carried her art supplies around in. She had ripped off all of the sequins and safety-pinned the handle back on. She quickly threw it on her lap, hiding it under the table, and looked down to avoid eye contact. She felt his eyes on her and glanced to the side without moving her head, to make sure her hair was covering her face. She heard the chair right beside her slide across the floor...

"'Kay, guys!" Mr Gardner said. "We're watching a movie today. Get out a piece of paper. I want ten facts about Eastern Asia by the end of the hour!" Most of the class groaned, forgetting about the god that entered the class. Cai tore a piece of paper out of her trapper and unzipped her pencil from her bag. It was an old, gray mechanical pencil that she got last year. The back part was lost (and so was the eraser) and part of it was taped. The gel grip was ripped and she was constantly pushing it back up to it's original place. She also carried a big, cream-colored eraser that was ripped in half (so the two pieces), a blending tool, a big graphite pencil, 0.5 lead, and lip balm in that dirty little bag that was made out of a zipper. She slouched over her paper and looked at the television screen, hiding her face even more from Michael. The video took all hour, and was a real drag, but once Cai had ten facts down, she settled and spaced out.

She wondered about her manga only shortly before the class ended. She threw her things in her locker and quickly ran downstairs to the library. She helped out there all of second hour, and it was almost a free hour for her. She quickly straightened and shelved books in her small section, and then bounced back to the comfy chair behind the counter. She settled herself in and opened her book to read. She could finally read in peace. The library was usually the only place she could really forget her problems and engross herself in a book. She had a hard time reading at home, unless it was one of the best books she had ever read. So she read for about thirty minutes until the librarians interrupted her.

"Cai," Mrs. Draper said. "Mrs. Mahin and I are going to run a few things over to the high school. Can you watch the library for us?"

"Sure," Cai said. They walked out and left Cai all alone. She didn't really mind, though. She liked it being completely quiet. About five minutes later, she heard the door open, but she didn't look up. It's just Isabella. Cai thought. She comes in every day. She kept reading and left bookmark when a copy of Lord of the Flies was pushed in front of her. She looked up and froze. Michael stood there, staring at her with those dark brown eyes. His eyebrows were even, though his eyes showed a challenge. Cai looked down, swallowed her feelings, and scanned the card, the book, and then stamped it. She held it out without looking up. He did not take it. Her eyes flicked up to see if he was still there. She held the book out farther, but he still did not take it. She got annoyed and looked up to say, "Take the freaking book, already!" but ended up choking on her words as she looked into his eyes.

Then, suddenly, Michael was pressing his face into the crook of her neck. Cai was paralyzed. She didn't know what had happened or why he was doing it, and she had no idea how to react, other than to sit there in shock. She tried to say something, but once again only choked on the words. She felt Michael breath deeply through his nose, taking in her scent, and then hot breath over her neck as he let the air out through his mouth. He paused and then slowly withdrew.

Cai still did not know what to say, except for, "W-wha...?" Michael looked into her eyes. She saw the slight happiness and -- something she never thought she'd see -- fear in those deep, dark gems.

"You smell nostalgic." He said so quietly, Cai wasn't sure she heard him right.

Then, he walked away.