Deseaux
Legacy Name: Deseaux

The first day of college is always an uncomfortable situation. Dressing takes twice as long as usual. Do I dress smartly to make a good impression on the teachers or wear that one designer outfit I own to make a good impression on the pupils? Do I wear something comfortable and casual or something that will make people notice? Do I dress in full goth wear so I am guaranteed a group of friends even though that means I have to do it all the time? Does it really matter considering that next week I will, like everybody else, be wearing whatever the heck I can find when I wake up five minutes before I have to leave to head across campus to class?

Everyone wants to make a good impression, especially if you are a little bit different, a little bit on the outside from the normal groups. It's even harder when you were unpopular in high school. People like me, just that little bit unusual.

It's not that I'm weird. I'm just smart. I was always slightly ahead of the curve at school. Right from the first day. I'm not special. My parents, my whole family, we're all smart. Mom used to say it was because we actually care about the answers. We look at an answer and, instead of just accepting it as fact, we ask why; why is that the answer?

Of course, we don't always ask why...I mean, if we asked "why is 2 plus 2 4?" we would probably sound pretty stupid. Although of course, with Dad being so interested in maths, he would always answer with "2 plus 2 is always 4 except for incredibly high values of 2."

Wow...maths jokes...way to make a good impression. Thank God no one at college can hear this. Then I'd be more ridiculed than ever.

Anyway, so, first day of school is always nerve wracking. First day of college when I'm going to be in a lot of Advanced classes? Even worse. People already assume I'm a geek from the way I look. It's the glasses. Unfortunately, they're essential if I want to actually, you know, see. That might sound like an exaggeration but sadly, it's not. I have tried contact lenses too but I end up blinking all day...which of course is so cool...

I tried not to get to college too early. I knew what I needed to do when I got there. I needed to find somewhere to lounge casually until the start of classes. Somewhere in the quad; close enough to girls to see them but far away enough to appear aloof and mysterious. This year I am determined to be cool. This year I'm going to make a good impression, a good start.

Or...you know...not.

So, once again I'm doing it wrong. Sitting away from the girls makes you look snobbish and bratty, not aloof and mysterious. Sitting too close makes you look perverted and crude. I swear, with girls you really can't win.

The college assigned us lockers, somewhere to keep our books so that we don't have to lug them around all day. It's pretty neat. We don't have to use them but, unless you are particularly interested in spinal injuries and building up arm muscles, it is highly recommended. There are plenty of lockers for a small fee.

It made sense to me as, although I only live twenty minutes from the college anyway, I decided to move in to the college housing. Its a very small room, one desk, one chair, one wardrobe and a bed. There are communal showers and a kitchen shared between two floors.

I thought having a locker would help me to not worry about my bag hitting people or injuring myself. The problem is, the lockers surrounding mine are pretty much all...well...the kind of people that I don't want to be the same as this year. People who are geeks. And so once again I am a geek by association. So much for making a good impression.

Although I chose the bulk of my own classes (working towards an Astrophysics and Mathematics qualification), the college insists that we also have to do three courses outside of our curriculum in the first year; one for each term. For the first term, I chose English Literature. For the second term, I will be studying Philosophy. And for the final term I will be learning all about Anatomy.

According to the college prospectus it's to broaden our minds to the wider world. I'm pretty sure it's so that we have to do three years of courses instead of two so they make more money.

The first class is Advanced Mathematics. It was a pretty good class, interesting stuff. We are starting with algebra, specifically Kernel theory in homological algebra. At least we got stuck straight in to actually learning...

You know, when I think things like that I suddenly realise why people think of me as a geek. It's not intentional. I just hate being idle. Get me thinking, get my brain working. Not many people can do that in all honesty. At least, not many that I've met yet...oof...what the hell?

"Watch where you're going! Jeez you'd think with those glasses you'd be able to actually see. Christ!"

Oh...that's what...oh hell!

"Uh...sorry...sorry..." The guy is way too big for me to point out that he bumped into me. He's obviously a jock too...the worst kind of people to get on the wrong side of. I think this is what can only be described as an oops moment.

"Sorry? You think that's good enough? Who the hell are you?" The monolith in front of me is grunting, seriously grunting at me. Oh man, what do I do now?

"I'm Rupert Deseaux but you can call me Des."

Apparently that was not the right thing to do now. Damn it...

"Rupert? You mean like...the bear?" The guy is chuckling and so are most of the crowd around us. There must be some way to diffuse the situation a little. I laugh softly, wondering if laughing along is the best possibility.

"You laughing at me?" He's frowning, scowling at me...apparently laughing was not the best option.

"Not at all...I was just...umm...well..." Great...now I'm stuttering...

"Leave him alone Jake." That voice. Where is it coming from? It's almost musical, beautiful, peaceful.

The dark haired girl who walked through a gap in the crowd was more beautiful than her voice promised. Petite, with dark chocolate brown waves and eyes the colour of...well...they were green...but...well...the colour of #397D02 if we want to be specific.Because of course, girls love a guy who is specific...to hell with romance, they say, we want a man who knows all about hexadecimal coding and algebraic equations and boson particles.

"Just leave him alone Jake. Move on. You made a joke. He laughed. Get over it." She moved to stand in front of me and I caught a whiff of something faintly sweet and floral and also an overwhelming smell of methylated spirits and paint.

"Alright Miyoko, alright. Go back to your canvas why don't you? This isn't your battle." Jake, as I now know he is called, stares at her, his eyes flashing maliciously at her as she pulled herself up to her full height of 5'3", her head only reaching to my chin.

"Jakobi Mayatomo, this may be your battle but I swear I will win the war. Leave him be." She flicked her hair over her shoulder, nearly hitting me in the face, sending another waft of sweet flowers my way. The boy grimaced and shrugged.

"Fine, have it your way." He grunted and pushed past muttering quietly under his breath. I distinctly heard the words "dead meat" but decided to pretend I hadn't. I tapped the beautiful girl on the shoulder to thank her. She flinched, whirled round and slapped me across the face. Owwww!

Her eyes widened and her jaw dropped. I felt myself mirroring her look and slowly closed my mouth, blinking a couple of times to clear my eyes. Damn it that really hurt...

"I...uh...I just wanted to say thank you...uh...sorry..." I stuttered out a sentence of half-gratitude and half-apology, the first time in my life that I had had to do that. My face stung and the girl still hadn't said anything.

"Your face is red. It looks sore." I moved to touch where my face burned and she caught my hand, her cool fingers soft around mine. She reached up, lightly touching my cheek. "It's hot. You need to put something cool on it."

Like your lips? I pulled away in a hurry, worried I had actually said that out loud but it appears I was lucky this time. I nodded silently, not quite sure what to say or do. "Well...umm...thank you again...uh..."

"Miyoko Petalhart. And you're Des, right?" Again I nodded silently, nervously. "Cool. I'll see you around I'm sure. Or you could always come to the art rooms sometimes. You know, if you actually want to come see me." She smiled prettily, her cheeks dimpling as her beautiful eyes twinkled.

She turned away, sashaying away from me in a cloud of flowers and sugary sweet..."Pineapple!"

Oh hell did I say that out loud?

She turned and winked at me, smiling as she did so.

Yeah, I said it out loud. And yes, she heard me. So much for being cool on my first day...

Being cool is over rated I've decided. It just means you have to maintain a constant level of intrigue and interest otherwise the cool level drops and you are relegated to the world of misfits that I like to call "everyone else". I would have liked for her to think I was cool though. I would have liked for her to be interested.

The second class of the day was English Literature and, unfortunately for me, the skirmish in the corridor meant that I was running late. There were only two seats left; one right at the front next to a kid that looked unwashed and smelled pretty bad and one in the middle next to a girl who would probably be described as "pale and interesting" in the same way as one would describe a sample of mould on a petri dish.

I decided to just sit down in the middle of the desks, preferring that to the front by the teacher. The teacher, a graying man in his early fifties called Mr Carver, glared at me as I moved to my seat. He turned on the overhead projector and the whole class groaned. Apparently they weren't fans of Lord of the Flies by William Golding.

Having read it before, I knew why they weren't fans. It seems that it has become the symbol for all stodgy old men to insist is a good book. It is, if you read it by choice, as it was supposed to be read. But as English students we read it the way our teachers want: making notes in the margin of things like "candle buds = church, symbolises good" "Airman=beast, childrens own fears" and "conch shell = order, rules, society"...a string of half sentences that mean little and don't act as prompts like we tell ourselves they will.

We are told to read the book, at least the first few chapters and "take notes". Another groan circles the classroom. It's just another way for teachers not to teach. Another excuse to sit idle. The girl next to me takes out her pen and starts to doodle a set of hearts with the initials S.P. in each one. Obviously she has a crush. I doubt very much that those are useful notes for her...

I don't really remember much of the lesson. I guess my mind was elsewhere. Namely somewhere that smelled of pineapple and flowers and paint stripper. Somewhere with her...

Lunch came next. I sat in the cafeteria, keeping an eye out for Miyoko, assuming she would come to eat as the rest of the school did. I was embarrassingly disappointed when she didn't turn up at all. I felt very grumpy as lunch ended and huffed out a sigh at least three times too often through out the lunch period.

My next lesson was a study period. I tried to tell myself that I was just aimlessly wandering the corridors. I tried to tell myself that I really wasn't heading for anywhere in particular. I tried to say it was just coincidence that I ended up in the art corridor. For a really smart guy, my lies are pretty dumb. I peered through the glass windows in the doors, looking for some sign that my wanderings hadn't been completely in vain.

A noise behind me caught my attention as I'm pretty sure it was meant to. I turned round slowly, trying to look casual as she stood looking at me.

"Looking for someone?" She spoke softly, her eyes sparkling. Even through the gloom of the hallway, with the light behind her, I could see the sparkle of her eyes. Or maybe I just imagined it because I knew how beautiful she was.

"Maybe. Why do you ask?" I'm trying to be nonchalant. It doesn't usually work very well but I figure it's worth a shot. New school, new life, new start.

"Ah now...that would be telling." She leaned against the door frame, assessing me and, it seemed, not finding me wanting. She smiled and I found myself drawn to her, walking forwards until I was only mere inches from her.

I kept expecting her to stop me. I kept expecting her to pull away. I didn't intend to kiss her. I leaned forward and...her lips were on mine, sweet, supple, tender...so soft, she trembled lightly. And then I realised she was wobbling, not trembling. I pulled back blushing slightly.

She took my hand and led me into the sunlight, taking me into the brightness, showing me how beautiful the world can be when you find something different.

I may not be cool...but that's not the most important thing any more. She is.

I wonder if I can drop Philosophy next year and take art instead...

Story by User not found: torch