You see him for the first time on a rainy day. He's somehow managed to curl up under a bush – looking incredibly silly – and is staring at a small plant in front of him very intently. He's soaking wet, but doesn't seem to mind, and doesn't acknowledge you when you stop in front of him. Your toes are kinda sticking out from under the umbrella, getting wet, but you're too bewildered by this boy to actually take notice of that.
"Um, excuse me," you say and he looks at you as if it's the worst thing you could ever have done to him. Feeling self conscious, you clear your throat. "Um, are you okay?"
"Do I look," he drawls, dragging out the k sound at the end, "Like I'm not okay?"
You blink and point at the bush. "That's poison ivy."
Silence settles for two seconds as he looks at you, and makes no attempt to step out from under the freaking bush, and it makes you feel uncomfortable. You give him a polite nod and continue on your way. You need to get home; you have no time for this. Five minutes later, you hear a loud cursing from the direction you just came from, and shake your head to yourself.
–
You see him again two days later. This time it's not raining and he's got a painful looking rash on the back of his neck, which is obviously from the poison ivy. He's sitting on a bench, frowning at a cat sitting a few feet away on the grass in front of him. You shift your history book to your left hand and sit down on a nearby bench. You're here because studying in fresh air is effective, and you have an exam tomorrow.
A few minutes pass and the cat gets up and leaves. The boy continues staring at the spot. Maybe he's some kind of deep and thoughtful person, you think to yourself, and turn your attention back to the book. You need to finish reading at least two chapters before you go home.
It's difficult maintaining your focus though, because every few seconds, you find yourself looking at the boy on the other bench and eventually, when you look up after managing to make yourself concentrate long enough to understand something, he is gone. You look around, but he isn't anywhere. Sighing, you shake your head and continue reading.
–
Constantly running into the same person over and over again – you almost tell yourself this is supposed to mean something, but you live in a small town so it is possible for there to be many coincidences. And besides, this is a park. You've only ever seen him in this park. Maybe he just frequents it a lot.
"Hi," you say as you approach him where he's sitting under a tree. "Is your rash okay now?"
He looks at you and frowns. "Do I know you?"
"Um. No. Not really." You fidget a little, feeling awkward. He's looking at you too seriously, as if you've deeply offended him. It's a little unnerving. You only want to know if he's fine now. And maybe you also kind of want to initiate conversation because he's admittedly intriguing. "You were sitting under the poison ivy that day...?"
"Oh you're the umbrella girl." He stands up and nods wisely, acknowledging you. "I remember you now. My rash is fine now, thank you very much for your concern."
You frown. Is he being sarcastic? Is he mocking you? You can't really tell.
"Oh," you say, because you don't understand how else to respond. "That's good then. I'll uh, be going now. Bye."
You nod and walk away, and when you turn back around after a while, he's back to being immersed in his thoughts. Whatever it is that he's thinking about. You decide maybe it's better not to talk to him again, because that will be weird.
–
He tries climbing a tree. You almost miss the spectacle, you've got your headphones on, but you're in the process of changing the track so your headphones aren't enough to block out the loud scream that echoes.
