Year 2015
Rella’s POV
I was getting the school tour as promised.
Veronica was diligent enough to spare no nooks, cut no corners. This young woman was hell bent on letting loose her tour guide alter ego today. My average length legs were facing difficulty in keeping up with her tall lengthy ones. But I for sure knew how to keep my mouth shut and embrace her kindness with occasional smiles.
Veronica talked a lot. She did most of the talking, which my unsocial ass appreciated.
My guide enthusiastically points towards a door at the end of a certain hallway and says,
“That door may look ordinary but inside is a small bathroom. There used to be a nameplate on top that said ‘TOILET’ but not anymore. Apparently someone stole it last summer.”
“They stole the sign? Who did?” I titter at the thief’s audacity.
“Don’t know. It’s kind of an unsolved mystery. You see, there’s no CCTV around that corner.”
“Hmm so no culprits detected.”
“Yeah the plate was letting loose from its hinges due to rusting and someone just plucked it away.”
“Sounds smooth.” I applaud the ridiculous deed of some stranger whose identity we’ll never know; probably just a kid taking advantage of a blind spot to pull a short stunt.
Thanks to that, we’ve grabbed ourselves a school tale to oil the ears of newbies like me.
Before Veronica could move on to the next big thing, someone calls her out by yelling her name.
“Veronica!” It was a guy, who had approached us from behind.
With me turning around and noticing two differently coloured eyes, I had officially experienced déjà vu.
Only this time, the setting wasn’t the classroom but outside of it. It was him, the bi-eyed ringtone boy whose pink pencil I was yet to return.
“Jeremy! Hi.” Veronica greets fondly. The guy was all smiles and sprinkles too.
“This is Rella. Rella, this is Jeremy, a friend of ours.”
Mysteriously, Veronica is always in charge of doing the introductions.
“Hi” I acknowledge him, being educated with basic manners.
“What class do you have next?” Veronica asks Jeremy.
“English”
“Oh same, we are together then.”
“Guess so. Where are Robert and Keith?”
“Having lunch I suppose. I don’t know. I’m hanging out with her today.” Veronica looks at me, finally getting me entangled in their conversation.
This was the golden chance I needed. My mouth was quick to move.
“I saw you in Biology yesterday and I think you dropped your pencil.” I say as I rummage through my bag and take it out of my pencil box.
“Here…is this yours?” I ask, waving the amalgamation of lead and wood before his eyes.
“Yes it is. I knew I lost it! Where did you find it? ” He shrieks when noticing the pencil and snatches it away from my free hand.
“You dropped it near where I was sitting. Sorry for returning it only now. I didn’t know you well enough to find you sooner.” I answer.
“No no that’s okay. Thank you. Thank you very much.”
“No problem.”
And with that folks, I once again restored faith in humanity. Oh this feeling of superiority! Good people like me are sure hard to find.
“Also you have really nice eyes. I’m a fan.” I sneak in the sincere compliment that I was planning on delivering from last time.
He laughs shyly. “Thank you. I hear that a lot.”
See, your girl did it again. Pronouncing happy words and making people’s days sunnier, or wintery (if they like winter).
“You’re welcome. You are the only bi-eyed person I’ve ever met.”
“It’s relatively rare.” He tells me.
“What causes it?” Veronica shoots out of the blue, a good question.
What causes it was something even an ardent fan like me failed to wonder.
“I’ve a thing called heterochromia. I sort of inherited it from my mother.” Jeremy reveals.
“H-hetero…what?” Veronica struggles funnily.
“H-E-T-E-R-O-C-H-R-O-M-I-A” Jeremy spells out to her aid.
“Sounds like a disease.” Veronica remarks quickly, much to my shock.
“It’s a DISEASE?!” I half-yell.
Don’t tell me I was being an inconsiderate fool this entire time? Wait, wait, wait, wasn’t I supposed to be humanity’s last shred of sunlight, or snow (if they like snow).
“No no no it’s really not. Well, you can say it’s a “happy disease” of sorts.” Jeremy calms me down in a laid back, relaxed voice. He behaved like this wasn’t his first time encountering such an exchange.
“Oh…o-kay, should I not have complimented you?” I ask carefully, still unsure of my boundaries.
Jeremy shrugs smilingly. “Like I said, I’m always grateful for that.”
“There is a lack of melanin in my grey eye. But that doesn’t harm the eyesight or anything crucial. My mom’s the same.” Jeremy furthers.
“Glad to hear it’s not bad.” Veronica says, mirroring my own thoughts.
“Also glad that you and your pencil are back together. Take good care of it this time.” She says and Jeremy chuckles.
“You are so funny!” He tells Veronica. This guy is one predictable flirt.
“Guys, I just thought of an absurd question.” I unintentionally interrupt their session.
“Shoot.” Veronica readily diverts her attention to me.
“Do we write with pens and pencils or, our fingers?!” I speak slowly the words drenched in genius.
“WOW!” Veronica almost claps, but also physically doesn’t.
Jeremy raises his eyebrows in surprise. “Yeah wow.”
They brainstorm with semi-open, mute mouths.
“So?” I ask after a while.
“I have no idea. This is like asking if the chick came first or the egg.” That was Jeremy.
“We require both to make writing happen. They have to work hand in hand, literally.” And that was Veronica, making an actual valid point.
“Well, I’ll tell you what…fingers are tools that hold other tools!” I spit confidently, being way too proud of my answer.
“Rella, this is getting weirdly weird.” Veronica comments after an awkward pause.
“Good talk.” Jeremy says sarcastically.
“Way to ruin the fun huh.” I say grumpily, which leads to their laughter.
End note. Jeremy’s bi-eyes twinkle in delight at the delicacy in front of him; the delicacy being my tall companion.
He turns red at every alphabet that comes out of her red painted lips.
She is obviously oblivious to Jeremy’s reactions. But it was easier for me to catch on from a third-wheel point of view.
Jeremy likes Veronica.
And, I SHIP!
