Red String of Fate

Prologue

He could tell that the girl at the front desk was bored out of her mind. He had only taken a quick peek into the office, but that one glance had told him that she did not want to be there. He felt rather sorry for her-being a school office attendant had to be a pretty dull job. He peered into the office again, checking to see if there was anyone else in the office with her. Upon seeing that there really wasn't anyone else available, he resigned himself to the fact that he'd have to talk to the bored girl. He sighed deeply. Hopefully having a new student to deal with would help make her job a little less dull. He opened the door and stepped inside, summoning a cheerful smile to greet her with.

"Good morning!" he said cheerfully, walking up to the desk. The girl, who had been scrolling on her Iphone, raised an eyebrow to acknowledge she'd heard him, but didn't look up at him. His smile faltered a little, but he quickly brought it back again. "I was wondering if you could help me," he went on, leaning his forearms on top of the desk. "I'm a new student here-" Ah, the magic words. The girl paused in her scrolling and she tilted her head slightly to indicate she was listening. "-and I needed to get my schedule. My printer broke, so I wasn't able to get it from my computer this morning."

The girl looked up at him, and as soon as their eyes met her cheeks turned pink. He bit the inside of his cheek to keep his smile from getting too big. Playing for the other team didn't mean that he couldn't appreciate just how adorable her flustered blush was, or how pretty she was. She had cute blonde curls, baby blue eyes, and a spattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks that stood out a little more with the new coloring on her cheeks. If this girl didn't have a boyfriend yet (he really hoped she did, he couldn't imagine a girl that sweet-looking being all alone), then she definitely had some secret admirers.

"S-sure," the girl stammered, twirling a lock of hair around her finger nervously as she put her Iphone to the side. "J-just give me a second to pull it up." She nudged the computer mouse with her elbow and typed in the passcode for the computer, keeping one eye trained on her very attractive guest. He brushed his silky black hair our of his face as his deep blue eyes soaked in every detail of the quiet office. "Just tell me your name and I can pull it up for you," she told him, watching as he brought his gaze back to her.

The boy smiled warmly at her. Dang, this boy was hot, and she was sure that he knew it. "My name is Pierre," he told her, "Pierre Hautecourt." She blinked at him and he chuckled softly. "It's spelled H-A-U-T-E-C-O-U-R-T," he explained. "French names-they're very romantic, but difficult to spell upon hearing, oui?" The girl nodded mutely and rapidly typed in the name he'd just spelled out. The guy was French as well? Geez, next thing she knew she'd be finding out that he was a clothing model for a high-end fashion magazine.

The girl sent a command to the printer, and a few seconds later Pierre's schedule was on a sheet of clean white paper. She took it out and handed it to him, along with a map of the school. "Here you are, Pierre," she told him with a smile. She glanced back at his schedule, which was still up on her computer screen. "Looks like you've got Painting up first. Are you an artist?" She turned her baby blue eyes up at him quizzically as she asked the question.

"Indeed I am," Pierre replied, a note of pride in his voice. "I've heard the instructor here is excellent, so I am looking forward to the class." He glanced at his watch. "I'd better be going there. I wouldn't want to make a bad impression on my first day!" He folded his schedule and put it in his pocket. "May I ask what your name is?" he inquired, tilting his head to the side like a curious puppy.

The girl blushed again. "E-emmaline," she stuttered, tugging on her hair once more. "But my friends call me Em, so you can too. If you want to, I guess." Stop rambling, goofball, she told herself irritably. No need to get tongue-tied over a simple question.

Pierre grinned, then gave her a bow that was much too courtly and elegant to be performed in a twenty-first century high school. "A pleasure to meet you, Em," he told her as he straightened back up, a playful twinkle in his eyes. "And thank you very much for your help. I will see you around!" With one last wave, he disappeared out the door and into the mass of students making their way to their first hour class.

She sank back into her seat, fanning herself with her hand. Dang, that boy was a fine looking piece of artwork. She felt kind of bad thinking that, seeing as she had a boyfriend of her own, but she couldn't deny that the new guy was drop dead gorgeous. As her eyes went back on the computer screen, her gaze fell on Pierre's fourth period class. It took her a second to realize what it was, but when comprehension finally dawned she snatched her Iphone up and pulled up her messaging. She tapped on her desired contact's name and started rapidly typing in a message.

You, 7:58:03 A.M.: Hot guy alert! Jst gave him his schedule! He's in ur Eng. class! Totally looks your type too!
You, 7:58:31 A.M.: btw, his name is Pierre! Gorgeous boy, gorgeous name!