Raven's Rose

              I jumped and spun around to face the voice. There, before me, stood a boy. A beautiful boy! Was this another dream?

              “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to frighten you,” the beautiful boy assured me.

              “Are you real?” I asked like an idiot.

              “Pardon me?” he replied, raising his eyebrows in question.

              I shook my head and tried again. “I mean, are-are you really here?”

              He laughed softly.

              I stepped closer and peered up into his eyes, and then cautiously reached out and touched my hand to his chest, snatching it back again. He was real all right—very real and very firm. His hair was in disarray and dark. But his eyes were piercing right through me. And they were the loveliest shade of blue—almost purple. He was magnificent!

              “What are you doing out here?” I asked, collecting myself.

              His eyes danced in amusement. “What are you doing out here?”

              “How did you get here?”

              He smirked. “How did you get here?”

              “I asked you first,” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

              “Very well. I came out here to explore and got here same as you—I walked. Your turn.”

I was once again distracted, but this time by his voice. It had a smooth but confident tone to it, and yet also playful. “Um, I go to school right there, and I—I—was ditching, of course.” I didn’t know what else to say. I couldn’t tell him the truth. I’m sure he already thought I was a nut job. ‘Are you real?’ What a stupid thing to say.

              His eyes narrowed. “You were ditching? Really?”

              I squared my jaw but fidgeted with the hem of my shirt. “Um, yes.”

              He stared me down slowly from head to toe. “You don’t look like someone who’d ditch.”

              I gulped a little louder than I meant to and felt heat rush into my cheeks. “And what does someone who’s ditching look like, exactly?”

              “Well, not like you that’s for sure. If you’re ditching then why did you come out here? Shouldn’t you go home, or something?”

              I smoothed my shirt and looked at my feet. Lying wasn’t my specialty. “I’m—I’m looking for something.”

              “Looking—found someone you have, I’d say,” he said, doing his best at a Yoda impersonation.

              I narrowed my eyes at him. “Very funny. So what are you exploring for, exactly?”

              “Why a girl. And I’ve found one, how extraordinary.” He giggled like a silly school-girl. He was clearly enjoying himself at my expense.

              “Can you answer anything seriously?” I asked, becoming slightly annoyed.

              He approached me then, stopping right in front of me. I could feel his breath on my forehead. “Well, maybe, when you ask the right questions.”

              “Okay. What kind of girl are you looking for?”

              He studied me then, looking first at my hair then drifting his gaze down to my eyes. His eyes fixed there for a long moment. “Well, she would have straight, blonde hair. She’d be about yay high,” he said, holding his hand out to reach the top of my head. “She’d have a cute little nose, full, pouty lips, and possibly the most compelling and unique eyes I’ve ever seen.” As he finished studying my face, he smiled.

              He was so beautiful I couldn’t quite concentrate. “What’s your name?”

              “You first.”

It seemed he lacked the ability to stop himself from toying with me.

              I huffed. “My name is Shaeleigh Leoni, or just Shae. Now you.”

              “I don’t know you well enough to tell you my full name. You could be a stalker, or something.” His eyes widened slightly.

              That got a laugh out of me. “Yeah, I guess I could be. Well, if I were going to stalk someone it’d be you.”

              His eyes sparkled with delight. “And just why would you say that?”

              “You know, something tells me you already know the answer to that question.”

              “Fair enough. So, Shae, what is it that you were really looking for?”

              “Well, I don’t know you well enough to answer that.”

* * *

                                  The Boy’s POV

I was mesmerized by the blonde girl with the strange colored eyes. I had spotted her weeks ago and couldn’t stay away, but today I met her in the forest and everything had changed for me. I could no longer watch her from afar. I had to get to know this girl. No matter what it took. I had to know her.

Chapter Four

                                             Shae

Try as I might, I couldn’t stop thinking about the boy from the forest. The pure beauty of his sculpted face was haunting me. I’d never seen anyone so handsome in my entire life.

During supper my mom asked me several times what was consuming my thoughts, but I couldn’t tell her, for obvious reasons. She and Dad just looked at each other and shrugged. I finally excused myself and went up to my room to be alone with my thoughts.

              My thoughts again returned to the boy. His slightly messy hair was a beautiful shade of brown, but with an odd, red streak running through it. And his eyes, oh my, they were a lovely, deep shade of blue, almost purple. I saw them every time I closed my eyes.

I hoped I’d get a chance to see him again. I had so many questions to ask. Like where was he from? Where does he go to school? And most importantly, what was his name? Well, at least the thought of this boy took my mind off my nightmares, for now anyway.

I went over and sat down on my window seat and picked up my journal. I began writing down my encounter with the boy in the forest, trying to record every detail. I soon found myself staring out the window toward the trees.

I began fantasizing about the beautiful boy. He was standing at the edge of the forest beckoning me. I dropped my journal and ran from the room. Within seconds I was running through my backyard toward him. He opened his arms for me and I ran into them, without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around me, holding me tight. He was warm and strong against me. I could feel his muscles through his shirt, flexing as they held me close. He asked me to look up at him. He wanted to see my eyes. I obeyed. Then, slowly he inched his lips closer, finally pressing his lips against mine, kissing me deeply, passionately.

My mom knocked on my door, snapping me out of my fantasy.

I glanced down and noticed I was stopped in the middle of a sentence. I was in the process of describing his lips, of all things.

“Shae, honey, I hope I’m not interrupting anything, but your father and I are leaving now.” She looked beautiful. Her brown hair was pulled up behind her head and her make-up was light with just a touch of pink lip stick. She was naturally beautiful, and her skin was flawless, so she never needed much make-up. I was grateful to inherit that feature from her.

“Leaving?”

“Yes. Remember, we have a school board meeting tonight. We won’t be home too late, though we might stop afterwards for coffee. Are you going to be all right?”

“Yes, of course. Have a nice time.”

“Okay dear. See you in the morning.”

“Okay. I’ll see ya then.”