Three:

Wishful Thinking.

day three: the day the earth stood still

"Hold up, mate. So you're saying you fell in love with a girl, specifically your therapist's daughter, through a photograph?" Joshua leaned against the stair railing of the outside of the school. He said we had to wait for one of his friends in class B (another social pariah, as he put it).

"Yep." I popped the "p", smiling like an idiot as I remembered the face; her blonde highlights in her light brown hair contrasted with her dark skin and brown eyes. As weird as it sounds, I in fact fell in love with that girl in the photo. Was it her eyes that held such deep secrets waiting to be solved? Was it the bright smile on her face that, though seemed forced, was so beautiful? Or was it merely the idea of loneliness trapped in her aura that had been so rapturing about her? The answers to those questions would be ones that even the greatest of scientists wouldn't explain. Cue the x-file theme song.

"Dang. That's both amusing and very sad at the same time." I smiled, nodding in acknowledgment. The wind cried every few seconds with a hushed voice, the silence filled in with the beats of students' shoes.

"Sky, what's up?" Joshua pushed himself off the railing, a content lopsided grin plastered on his face. I turned my head slowly to look beside me, a feminine scent of green apple shampoo wafting in the air.

Now I know you probably would like some different transition that doesn't include the world stopping, and everybody vanishing into thin air, leaving me with the girl and the girl only. You must read a lot of that bogus to classify it as a cliché, but truthfully, I can't help it.

Her eyes were soft, brown and yearning; for what, I'm not sure. Bunches of braided, dyed platinum blonde hair crowned her head and fell graciously around her shoulders, almost as if God himself purposefully brandished the wind towards her figure, making it seem almost like a fairytale. But it wasn't a fairytale.

Her lips were abundant, a natural pink tint and plush. She looked slightly more mature, but I was certain it was the girl in the photo. Yet it was the fact that she stared straight into my eyes with so much intensity that burst my heart.

You would assume I was a creep for staring at her for so long, and truthfully, I would think the same. But I can still remember the reasons so vividly; why I couldn't move, hear, think or say anything. An overabundance of pain seeped through me, knowing that despite falling for her not longer than twenty-four hours ago, this girl didn't know who I was. And yes, I didn't know her, I never really did. But to think that one could fall for her beauty and her beauty only would be an utter understatement. Her eyes were lost, possessing indifferent secrets yet the same emotions as everyone else.

"What's wonder boy doing with you?" the girl's voice was soft, glossy yet burdened at the same time, holding a weight that was too heavy to carry. Joshua snickered and fell into step with his friend, still smiling. "His name is Clayton. Clayton, meet my good friend, Skyler Bennett." I nodded my head in acknowledgment and took in her appearance;

Skyler was fairly tall, but still an inch or so shorter than me.

Her blonde braids were pulled into a messy ponytail, restricted from her face which was more sculpted than I remembered. Skyler hid her hands away in her leather jacket pockets. She was, in fact, the most alluring and prepossessing person I had seen, but I knew her mind and heart help much more ravishing details than her features.

"Are we going to your place again to study?" Joshua and Skyler started their way down the stairs, step by step making it closer to where I stood. Pushing myself off the railings, I hastily moved out of their way, counting the seconds until Skyler stood in front of me.

"No, can't. Mom is using it for a meeting apparently. We can study at the café if you want?" Joshua held the same gratified smile from minutes ago as I fell into pace with them. "Clayton is coming with us." he nudged her shoulder and cocked his chin up to gesture towards me.

"Sure." Skyler shrugged and took the lead as Josh and I both walked alongside each other, just staring ahead. Skyler stopped, looked over her shoulder, and for the second time today, my heart clenched tight in my chest as I took in her facial details from a different angle.

"So, Clayton right?" at the time, you would think I was jumping around and squealing like an idiot in my mind, but when I think back to that one question she asked me, I would count it as more of a caring motion that made me know she didn't care about- whether or not I was the biggest halfwit in the school with crutches. At least, that's what my cluttered thoughts would merely hope. I nodded.

"You know, it's a pretty rare occasion for a wonder boy like you to appear out of nowhere and hang out with us. What's the catch?" I tilted my head in confusion, scrutinizing Skyler with watchful eyes.

"No catch. I just...started hanging out with Joshua this morning." though she couldn't see me, I shrugged my arms and kept silent. The entire six minute walk to the café near campus was cold, exhausting and awkward. I mean, not silent-awkward, but more of a "I-feel-like-an-outsider-who-doesn't-belong" type of awkward. So when we arrived at the café house and finally settled into a booth, I thanked the man upstairs for Joshua who picked up a conversation about the winter prom coming next Friday while I looked around.

The walls of the coffee house was painted a warm, camel hair beige with white trimmings. Rustic chandeliers hung high from the ceiling, and unlike the early twentieth century look on the outside, the interior layout of the café was pretty modern. Rope lights were taped to the wall, creating a barn-like feel as the thin smell of vanilla bean wafted through the air. Though, every time the entrance door opened and more customers came in at the break of six, a cool rush of winter wind would fill the room, making the coffee scent a lot more existent and thick, only for it dissipate no more than five seconds later.

"Okay, either I get Josh to tell me, or I pry your brain open to see your memories, but I'm still curious." Skyler took a sip from her double mint shot hot chocolate that she ordered a while ago as Josh and I both stirred our double-double coffee to cool it off. Joshua took the right of Skyler, leaving me on the other side of the booth, accompanied by nothing else but the empty cold spaces beside me.

"About?" I asked.

"Why you're here, drinking coffee? With us? In a less than rich community side coffee shop?" Skyler and Josh both quirked up one eyebrow in question, waiting for me to answer them with more than just a three syllable answer. I shrugged for the millionth time today.

"I owe it to your friend." my hand gestured to Joshua before going back to wrap around the warmth of my cardboard coffee cup, absorbing the heat.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Skyler crooked her head bent her head sideways to look at her friend beside her, returning back to me once she was finished searching his eyes.

"I just do. He... saved me? Sort of. It's-"

"Complicated?" Joshua finished my sentence with a smile, calming my worry just a bit. Finally taking a sip of my coffee, I eased further into my booth and felt the leather cool my body.

"I could have never imagined." Skyler shook her head, a small smile hidden in the corner of her lips. Before she could elaborate more on what she meant, a quiet yet still audible ring tone interrupted her, followed by Joshua standing up. "What's wrong?" Skyler asked in a whisper, only to receive a quick motion to his phone, answering it quicker than a pen drop. "Hey dad." Joshua walked out of the booth and opened the café door, the familiar cold air rushing through for the plentiest time tonight. He walked through the doors and disappeared as the door closed behind him.

I looked back at Skyler, leaning forward on my arms with zealous. Seeming to understand what I was saying, the girl in front of me leaned backwards and sighed.

"I don't know. It's just...people like us hanging out with a guy like you? It's just weird."

"A guy like me? What's wrong with a guy like me?" I crossed my arms, mimicking Skyler's posture. She just shrugged and let out a wry chuckle. "There's nothing wrong with a guy like you. I'm just saying, rich teenagers with big houses, a bad boy reputation and fancy fashion doesn't seem like the type to hang out with middle class people."

Despite the humoured expression on her face and breath-taking smile, I was pissed off. Anger boiled in my gut and the look of my father's bitter face appeared in my mind, overwhelming me with emotions of uncertainty, anger and sadness. I clenched my fists and shook my head. Before I could say anything I would regret, Joshua's figure slipped into the seat next to Skyler, a demented furrow between his eyebrows.

"Did I miss something?"

I shook my head. Standing up, I shouldered my bag and snagged my coffee cup off the table. "No, you didn't. I was just leaving." irrational, right? When I look back at it, it seems almost as if I was a completely different person- like that nineteen year old kid three years ago wasn't me at all. Because Skyler was right; what was I thinking, involving- myself with them when I knew I didn't belong. I really didn't belong anyway, and everyone I've ever met could clarify that for you.

"You can't go, we're starting to get to know each other." Joshua went to stand up, but Skyler placed her hand on his arm, stopping him as she took a sip from her cup of hot chocolate. "I have things to do. See you tomorrow." was all I said before I turned on my dress shoes and walked away.