Hurricane Serenity

Chapter 2

He looked up and directly at her with a smile that made her temporarily forget his tardiness and her own first name. He had dark brown hair and darker eyes. He tossed his messy hair back, took a few strides toward her, and offered her his left hand. His right was filled with books and papers spilling out. Serenity awkwardly shook his left hand with her right, making a sort of cup with their hands. She immediately regretted her decision, even though it was really his own fault for offering his left hand. Serenity's grandmother had taught her all about etiquette from a young age. Shake with your right hand. Always say excuse me before you leave the table. Always say grace. Never leave a host's house without making the bed. This was important. If she or her sisters left a bed even the slightest bit untidy, her grandmother would fully unmake the bed and make them do it again until it was perfect. God forbid they leave a bed unmade. This would earn a few whippings with a switch grown in her grandmother's very own backyard. This only happened twice to Serenity's remembrance. "If you do it right, you only have to whip them once for them to get the point," her dad would advise younger parents. Though he did it much for than once for some reason. Yes, Serenity's childhood was peaceful because she behaved. If she didn't, it was painful. There was this one particularly painful incident that— "Hello?" Said the man she had been ignoring, lost in her own thoughts. Her grandmother would disapprove of her etiquette quite sharply right now. "H-hi," Serenity managed to stammer out. "I said my name is Roman. Like the centurion. And yours is Serenity, right?" "Umm, yes. Uh huh. Sorry," said Serenity, not sure what she was apologizing for. "I'm really glad we're getting to do this. Nicole and Tommy have told me so much about you and it's cool to finally meet," he said. Serenity stared blankly at him. "Why are you so late?" She blurted out before she thought better of it. I mean, he owed her an explanation after all. He wasn't just I-had-to-stop-for-gas-last-minute late. He was you-better-have-a-good-explanation late. "Oh," he replied, "sorry, I was writing and I must've lost track of time." This was not a good excuse in Serenity's mind. But she remembered all the other dirt bags and decided that she could overlook this transgression for now. "What were you writing?" she asked, trying to hide her disappointment in his lame excuse in her tone. Serenity had never been good at hiding emotions, in her face or tone. "Oh, it's just a novel I'm working on," he replied. "It's about a girl who falls in love with a boy despite a rocky first date wherein he shows up 30 minutes late." Serenity laughed. It felt good to laugh again. "Is my face showing all my cards again? I hate that I can't hide an emotion to save my life," Serenity confessed. "I like it," replied Roman. "It means you're honest. Most people hide their emotions way too well. You never know what they're thinking or how they're feeling or if they're going to leave suddenly because they're unhappy." Serenity raised her brows in question. "I've said too much," said Roman. "Between your face and my mouth we'll always know what the other is thinking. How about that?" He said. "How about that," Serenity said under her breath. Though this was a nice sentiment, it would turn out to be completely untrue. The two were both good at keeping secrets, even better than they now thought.