Victoria Summers: Arsonist
Leo Westfield: Weather-Controller
“Okay, everyone. We have a new student today. He came all the way form Las Vegas. Please say good morning to Leo Westfield!” Victoria didn’t look up at the new boy who had just strolled into the classroom. Heck, she didn’t even know there was a new boy. Split Needles by The Shins was busy rocking through her ears so she didn’t pay any attention to what was going on around her. She kept herself occupied by scribbling the lyrics of the song on her hand. It was only until then, she saw a shadow cast over her light.
‘Pine. Why the hell do I smell pine?’ She looked up and saw him. His eyes were the first thing that stood out on his face. Light-greyish eyes. Followed by his bright smile. Then, there was his scent. The sweet scent of pine lingered around the area, making listening to music a little more peaceful. The mouth kept moving as if he was telling her something but of course, she couldn’t hear him. The music. He rested his books on her desk and took off the earplugs form her ears, now making the deafening sound of apes ring in her ear bells. The tips of his fingers brushed against her cheeks and she swore she felt a spark when they touched. She knew he felt it too because he was smiling at the way she looked. Confused.
“Now, that’s much better. Hi, I’m Leo Westfield and apparently, I was assigned to sit next to you… by that fat lady there.” His long finger pointed to Miss Heather. Okay, she was fat, but a little on the chubby side. Not entirely fat. She was a ginger, like Victoria. But her red hair was a little washed out, disgracing all the gingers of the world. Victoria stifled her laugh and took off her glasses. But her breathing was caught short by a shock that went through her body. When she turned around, she saw Leo’s hand over her shoulders. The smell of pine increased, clouding her mind. She was pine drunk, so to speak. And Leo drunk… and let’s not forget love drunk. There was this continuous shock wave going through her body, as Leo’s hand gripped her left shoulder.
“Nice to meet you, Leo.” She managed to say, seeing that it was kinda hard to breathe with his touch invading her space (but in a good way).
“Pleasant to meet you too, Victoria.” Whoa. How did he know her name, seeing that she never once mentioned her name in the conversation?
“How do you know my name?” She looked at his face (which was a little hard) and looked at him with a quizzical expression on his face.
“I don’t know… you seem like a Victoria to me. But that’s too long… how about I just call you Vicki? That’s cuter.” Her face grew red as she silently cursed her pale skin she got form her mother.
“Ermmm… that’s good.” She tried to shrug off his shoulders without him knowing but that would have been a little rude. Thankfully, he took his hand off her shoulder and took up her iPod.
“Split Needles? Who names a sound that?” He said, as he raised one of his eyebrows. Victoria always wanted to do that, but Leo looked so hot doing it.
“An epic band, that’s who!” She said defensively, as she snatched the iPod out of his hands. She put back on her glasses.
“Yeah right. That’s just abnormal to me.” He said, as he played with a strand of hair before directing his attention to Miss Heather. Victoria was in love.
After class, Leo walked back to his locker to get his Geometry books. All the while, the only word that kept popping in his mind was ‘Victoria’. He turned his head to see her talking with a bunch of her friends and laughing at something she had said. Her beautiful fluorescent blue eyes, her long, bouncing crimson red hair, and her soft, pale skin. He was so caught up in admiring her, he didn’t even notice a bunch of other guys circle around him. These guys were a lot bigger than he was and they looked a lot like jocks. And it seemed these guys were the big kahunas at this school because when they were around, everyone hushed and then everyone looked at them. Leo looked up at the guys and then at Victoria. All her friends looked at the little gathering and their eyes grew with intense curiosity.
“So you’re the new kid, huh? And you boys know what we do with new kids’ right?” As if they had rehearsed this, the other guys guffawed at his remark and tightened the circle. Leo wasn’t afraid of them. But he was caught off-guard. One of the guys took Leo by the legs and turned him upside down. Whenever Leo was turned upside down, he felt like puking. And he thought that would have been a good idea. Use puke as defense. The lead jock pulled out a roll of scotch tape and stuck Leo to the locker. There were many laughs surrounding the crowded space of the hallway. He looked at Victoria and saw her face. There was a mixture of sadness and anger in her eyes. She gave one of her friends her books and walked up to the boys.
“HEY!” As Victoria shouted, everyone hushed and looked at her. Was she a popular chick in school too? The guy with the tape turned around and broke into a huge smile.
“Hey babe. W-what’s up?” Babe?! This was her boyfriend.?! Victoria lifted her hand and slapped the dude in his face.
“I told you once and I’m not telling you again. I AM NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND!!” Leo secretly let out a sigh of relief and kept still.
“Okay Victoria. I’m sorry.” He took his stinging blow and looked down at the floor. Why was he backing down to a girl? Was he afraid of her?
“Now take Leo down and say sorry to him, Fred.” Fred reluctantly took Leo down and made him fall down on purpose.
“Sorry Leo.” He spat the words right in Leo’s face and walked away with his friends. Victoria knelt down at the side of Leo, who was busy massaging the bump on his head.
“Are you okay?” People around them went back to what they were doing again and paid no attention to them.
“Yeah. Thanks a lot, Vicki. You’re like my guardian angel.” He took Victoria’s hand and jumped back up to his feet.
“I’d like to have that job. Being a guardian angel means, I have to save your butt all the time. And I get to go wherever you go.” She gave him a kiss on his cheek and walked back over to her friends. Leo stood up there in shell shock. He got his wits back when the bell rang, picked up his books and ran off to his class, with Victoria’s name popping up in his mind again.
