Chapter 2, part 1:scars

good job!

It wouldn't let me put it all on one thing because it was too big so here's the first part, the second part is below. I'm not so good with dialogue, it always sounds funny to me, but tell me what you think!!


Chapter 2

Allowing this would be wrong. I simply could not encourage this sort of attraction. Anyway, if he ever figured out who-or what-I was, he’d run screaming to the police. No, I would have to stay away.
But the memory of our encounter wouldn’t leave. The memory of his voice, his hair, his sun-browned skin… And those eyes… They were so gorgeous. I had never seen anything like them in my life. The color could not be defined. They must have been something between emerald and peridot, with just the right amount of blue to make them the most unique color I’d ever seen.

“Hi, can I help you?” Ms. Tanner, the office lady, had asked me when no words flowed from my lips.
I tried to ask for the supplies, but the words did not come. It was as if this strange man I’d never met had put me in some kind of trance. My eyes were glued to the green of his. But he did not look up.
“Um, excuse me?” Ms. Tanner asked again, “Is there a problem Ms. Mancini? Is there something you need? Her gaze followed mine and she let out a startled giggle.
The sound of her laughter drew me out of this trance-like state. My head whipped in her direction and I stared at her, eyes wide. My sudden movement must’ve startled her for a second, but then she giggled again.
“His name is Alexander Bianchi,” Ms. Tanner informed me with a knowing look. She continued, “He’s from Turin, Italy. That’s amazing, right?”
“Italy?” I asked, stunned that he was from the land of my ancestors. I’d never heard of Turin before but I would have loved to hear all about it. Maybe I could get him to tell me stories sometime.
What was I thinking? Get this complete stranger to tell me a story just because I wanted an excuse to meet him? What was becoming of me? I reminded myself of what I was-inhuman.
“Yeah. He’s new here and I’m sure he’d be delighted to make a new friend,” Ms Tanner started to get up. I gave her a questioning look. Was she really going to introduce us? “Well, come on Victoria. I think you should meet him. I think you’ll really like him.” I didn’t miss her unnecessary emphasis on “really like him.” What surprised me most was that I followed. What could a small introduction hurt? It’s not like I was going to become his best friend.
My heartbeat sped up as we drew closer to this boy-Alexander she had said his name was.
This is ridiculous, I scolded myself, Just say “hello” and then go finish what you were going to do.
When we reached the chair Ms. Tanner cleared her throat politely. “Excuse me Alexander, but I have someone I’d like you to meet,” she smiled at him and then looked to me. “Victoria, this is Alexander. Alexander this is Victoria.”
I smiled shyly and shakily muttered, “Hey, how’s it goin’?”
“I’ve got to get back to some papers,” Ms. Tanner announced. She moved gracefully to her desk, before calling over her shoulder, “Stay as long as you like, Victoria. I’ll give you a note.” She caught my eye before continuing to her desk.
That was nice of her, I thought. Ms. Tanner always seemed to understand teenagers. That may have been because she acted like on herself, being only twenty four years old. But I didn’t intend to stay that long. I had to fix these stitches before they pulled loose all together.
“Hey, I’m Alexander,” Alexander introduced himself with a polite smile. He offered me his hand and I feebly shook it. The encounter was awkward, but also valuable in a way. But of course, he was from Italy, which meant he was most likely raised to properly introduce himself.
“And I’m Victoria,” I replied, matching his polite manner. Neither of us spoke for a couple of minutes. When I could no longer stand the silence I said, “So I have a question for you.”
“Does it have to do with me sitting in the office all alone? I should be in class right? It is my first day, of course.” Alexander laughed lightly when he saw my bugging eyes. His laugh was rich, from deep within himself. It was a laugh that could never be mistaken. When Alexander laughed he sounded sincerely happy and it was hard to resist laughing with him.
“How did you-?”
“Lucky guess,” He informed me before I could get the words out. He continued to explain, this time more vividly, “I have a way with people. I can usually guess what they’re thinking or feeling by their body language or looking into their eyes.” When he said “eyes” Alexander seemed to suddenly be intent on my eyes. He studied me closely with an interested look on his face, but he never once did so in an uncomfortable or creepy way. A grin played on the corners of his lips.
“What?” I asked, suddenly feeling self-conscious. Odd. I’d never felt self-conscious before in my life.
What is happening to me? I thought. It frustrated me to have these feelings. They were so childish. That’s what the humans didn’t understand. Their wild emotions were childish. And now, here I was, toying with my own emotions.
This is exactly what I’d told Adele. I’ve always been scared that if I was around humans too long then I’d start to act like them. Maybe their actions were contagious, like a virus or something. Maybe if I touched a human, I would become just like them.
“It’s just your eyes,” Alexander finally answered my thoughts. As I snapped back to reality, I shoved the irrational thoughts away. Now I was the one being childish. I was a protector and that’s what I’d always be until the day I died.
“What about my eyes?” I asked when I realized he was waiting for me to respond. “They’re just like everybody else’s eyes.”
“Yes, but they’re beautiful, like a light amethyst. They’re so unique and wonderful.” Now he was starting to make me feel uncomfortable. He may have been Italian, but I wouldn’t let his poetic words melt my heart like many people might have.
“Oh, yeah. They’re violet, I know,” I replied, trying to close the topic of my eyes. I’d never seen my eyes as unique. Sure, I’ve never seen anybody with the same color, but that was just me. I was used to it. Were they really that beautiful?
“I’ve never seen anything like them. They’re so…how do you say it? They 'make my heart melt.'” His failed attempt at flattery was actually hilarious. As soon as the laughter escaped, I bit my lip hard.
“Wha-?” Alexander started, but I cut him off.
“I’m so sorry! That was uncalled for, I shouldn’t have laughed.”
“It’s quite alright, Victoria,” he replied with a chuckle. His quick acquittal eased my embarrassment only slightly.
“No, really,” I pushed on, “I feel terrible. I can tell you were genuinely interested in my eyes and I just totally ruined your….um, observations.” The whole time I was apologizing Alexander was smiling at me with a teasing grin. Instead of fleeing for the door like I wanted to, I smiled back.
Alexander’s emerald-peridot eyes bored into my amethyst eyes. I saw something in his eyes at that moment, something frighteningly familiar. There was a memory behind those eyes that I could not recover from the depths of my mind. Something was blocking me from reliving that memory-either my own will or some unexplained force, I could not be sure.
“Now, what are you staring at, Victoria?” Alexander teased. He seemed to be trying to gain back my full attention.
Maybe I’ll be able to remember later, I assured myself.
We continued to talk like that for the last two hours of school. We discussed our favorite colors and compared them to our eyes. We talked about the colors we saw in my hometown compared to his. I realized that Alexander was a very interesting human-the most interesting I’d ever come across. There was something mysterious about him, something unique that could not be matched.
The bell rang while we were still in the middle of our conversation.
“Oh. Well...” I started to say, “I’d better go. I’ve got things to get done.”
“Yeah, I’ll see you later,” Alexander waved.
“Uh, bye,” I said lamely. I gave the slightest of waves and sauntered out the door, books in hand.