A Series of Chance Encounters | Short Story

chapter three

[Published on June 2nd, 2016]

- Year Ten, August 29th, First Day of Senior Year -

It was finally the start of senior year. After eleven long years of suffering through the public school system, Eliza could see the light at the end of the tunnel, which happened to be made of faded white cinder block walls. 

And the light just happened to be a set of heavy, red double doors that led to her eventual escape out of the brick building at the end of the day.

Eliza sat in the atrium with Kendall twenty minutes before homeroom, their class schedules thrown out between them on the concrete bench they currently straddled. Kendall frowned, her blonde hair falling out of her messy bun, the waves framing her round face perfectly. How could someone so upset look so mystical?

"We only have one class together. One. And it's math. Math!" Kendall shoved the yellow paper into her bag angrily, letting out a frustrated breath as her green eyes connected with Eliza's. "Why am I even taking Calculus? I barely passed pre-calc!" 

She was right on that one; Kendall was absolutely terrible at math, just like Eliza was absolutely miserable in any science class that she was stuck in. And lucky her, she had chemistry as both her homeroom and first class of the day. 

"I hear there's a new kid this year." Kendall said, sliding a stick of gum into her mouth with her long baby blue nails. "I wonder if it's William. He said he'd move back for his senior year, after all." At the mention of his name, Eliza's whole body tensed up. William. She hadn't seen him since that night, and just the thought of him coming back sent chills of either excitement or terror down her spine.

She shook it off, grinning down at her schedule. "He said that when he was like, twelve, Kendall." She muttered, carefully sliding the paper into her binder's clear plastic sleeve. "When will you stop hoping for otherwise?" She slung her olive green bag over her shoulder, flashing her friend a sad smile before walking towards the science halls on the other end of the school. 

She could have sworn that she heard Kendall say "Never" as she walked away, but she refused to turn back and continue a pointless conversation.

William Penn would never return.

----

The bell rang, and the seat at the lab table beside her was empty. Dr. O'Ryan stood at the board, her wild curls flying out in every direction imaginable. "Okay, okay, everyone please quiet down." She called out, attracting the attention of approximately fifty percent of the class. "I was told we have a new student today. Where is he?" She said, peering around at all of the familiar faces that dotted her class room. "Oh, it appears they aren't here." She almost seemed disappointed that she couldn't bring a poor, innocent new student to the front of the classroom so they could introduce themselves in one of the most embarrassing acts of all time.

At the exact moment the words left her lips, the door opened, and through a few strands of wild hair Eliza's eyes connected with the brown eyes that she had searched for during the rest of her summer vacation away at the lake. 

"Yes." He mouthed to her, his smile sending a warmth from her toes up to her blushing cheeks. He then turned to Dr. O'Ryan, apologizing for being late to his first class with her. "Yeah, apparently this school is bigger than I thought it would be. I got a little lost." He said with a small shrug. Dr. O'Ryan seemed to be pleased with his apology, gesturing towards the only empty seat in the classroom.

Right next to her.

Now, Eliza would proudly tell you that she is a firm believer of the absence of fate. In her mind, free will was the only thing that life focused around, living her life with the idea that everything that happened was a product of her own choices. Yet, as the tall boy strode over to the lab table directly in the middle of the large classroom, even the strong willed Eliza Burke began to doubt what she had believed in her whole life.

When would she finally shake this boy?

He sat down on the stool beside her, and Eliza had to force her eyes to the front of the room. A sharp elbow dug into her side, and as she didn't turn to look at him the pattern only continued, eventually evolving into a finger that prodded at her red cheeks until her head whipped towards him.

"Chance Stevens. Delighted to officially make your acquaintance." He then turned to the front of the class, his brown eyes stealing quick glances over at Eliza's staring expression.

"That's all you wanted?" She exhaled, tapping her pencil on the counter top. Her lip began to shake, her palms sweating, why was she so nervous just by his body being so close to her own?

"Yes, Yes." He said, flipping open his lab notebook to the first clean sheet. "Now, shush. I'm trying to learn." Usually she would be annoyed, but his playful smile made her heart erupt in a wave of warmth.

This would be a long year.

---- 

"He's here." Eliza whispered, grabbing Kendall's arm as she pulled her towards the cafeteria. "He's here, he's here, he's here." 

"Who?" Kendall said, sliding her arm out of Eliza's murderous grip. "And can you stop trying to strangle my arm? I'm not trying to end up the story of an episode you would see on ID." She let out a small laugh, tossing her hair over her shoulder. 

"Chance. Yes-boy. Lake-boy. Digging-a-hole-to-China-boy. Chance Stevens." Eliza said, shoving all of the words together in one single breath as she threw piles of food onto her lunch tray. After all of the excitement the world had given her today, she would need as many calories as possible to keep her energy levels up for the rest of the school day.

Kendall froze beside her, her eyes trained on the cafeteria doors. "He's not the only one." She said, her wide eyes un-moving as she whirled Eliza's small body around to stare directly at none other than William Penn.

"Shit."

A.N.

I finally outlined the rest of this book! Yay for preventing writers block early on.

I hope you all enjoyed this quick little chapter. It's mostly just to push the plot into motion. The next chapter will be in Year Eighteen, and we'll get a sneak peak into Eliza's future!

Each year marks the years since Eliza and Chance first met. For example, this chapter takes place in Year Ten, so it has been about ten years since their first encounter with one another, meaning they first met each other when they were eight years old. Does that make sense? I hope so!