So obviously, Nick was right about the 'bottom of food chain' status when he walks in, carrying a huge pile of papers. I was doodling on my notepad when I look up, expecting to see those familiar blue eyes again. Instead, I see a mop of brown hair and those thick rimmed glasses on his face, covering his eyes.
How can he even see like that?
Mr. Blimley says something to him and he nods, eager to get away from him. I would be too, if I were him.
He staggers across the room to take his seat in the first row, next to the window.
"See?" Nick poked me with a pencil. "Smarty-pants," he sniggered.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
I was never more glad to get out of the classroom. Twice I had to jab myself with a pen to stay awake. The rest bolted immediately when the bell for lunch rang. I gather my books and walk over to my locker, which Diana was leaning on.
" Hey, pretty," I winked at her. She's beautiful as usual. Her dark blonde hair was tucked back in a neat ponytail, and today she's wearing sapphire earrings that matches her eyes. " Hey, handsome," she chuckles. I like it when she chuckles like that. It radiates happiness I couldn't find in my own family.
She hooks her arm around mine and we stroll to the cafeteria. I caught the scent of heather and spring flowers in the hair. "Your hair smells nice," I commented.
"Flattery is not enough to please the lady," she says sacarstically.
Today the cafeteria is serving apple crumble and meat loaf. Diana pushes the meat loaf away, repulsed at the sight of it. I might want to add that Diana is a strict vegetarian. She picks at the salad instead.
"So," she turns around, locking her beautiful eyes on mine. " Are you coming around tonight? Mom says she'll gladly cook if you are."
It takes me awhile to see that Diana's eyes are the same, mesmerizing sky blue.
"Yeah, if that's alright with you," I say absentmindedly.
She snaps her fingers in my face, startling me. "You look dazed today, lack of sleep?"
" I'm fine." I gave her a small smile and lead her to our usual table, the unofficial 'popular' table. We put our trays down.
"Say," I start with the apple crumble. " Do you have a brother?"
" Yeah," she says, biting on a piece of lettuce. "He's in the same class as-"
"I can't believe you guys came without me!" a shriek. We turned to see Nick and his girlfriend, Cammie, walking towards us. " Mind if we disturb you love birds?" Nick grinned. " OMG, Diana you're a vegetarian? That totally explains your flawless skin," Cammie says in a high pitch voice. Diana smiles at her but didn't comment.
Cammie continues to shriek and giggle at everything we say for the next fifteen minutes. Diana gives me a withered look. "We've got to get going, classes are starting," I get up from my seat. " See you around dude." I punched Nick lightly on the arm. Nick looks at me helplessly, a big guy with a cheerleader girlfriend.
I shrug my shoulders and walk off hand in hand with Diana. She's never like that, my treasure. She's a year older than me, but she's smart and beautiful and caring. "See you at my house tonight, Vincent."
"Yeah," I say, tucking her hair behind her ear. She blushes, then walks off with a confident stride.
Yep, perfect.
I walk back to class alone, wondering if I should wear a suit to Diana's house tonight. To fit the image of a perfect boyfriend for a flawless girlfriend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Night couldn't have come any sooner. I stand nervously in front of the door to Diana's house. Outside, there's a swing swaying gently to the night breeze. I slowly reach out my fingers and press the doorbell.
"It's just a dinner, relax VIncent, just a dinner..." I muttered to myself.
Diana opens the door a moment later, panting a little, but still beautiful nonetheless. "Hey Vincent, come on in." She changed to a light blue dress and let down her hair in curls. "Hello," I say. My voice sounds strange. I hope she doesn't notice.
I'm really bad with dinners. It reminds me of the times I spent eating alone in that cold house.
I step carefully into the living room, with Diana holding my hands. Their living room was spacious. Three low couches lay in front of a huge flat screened TV. A game show was on.
She brings me to the dining table where her mom is busy setting it up. I can see that Diana takes after her mother a lot. She seems to be in her thirties. "You must be Vincent," her mom turns to me.
"Mrs.Sharpe," I extend my hand. She shakes my hand slowly, her eyes scanning me. "Mom, stop staring at him like that," Diana complains. "Sorry, sorry," Mrs Sharpe laughs. " You better let your dad meet him. He's in the study room."
We climb up the stairs to the second storey. I glance at the pictures along the walls. In one photo, Diana was carrying two brown cats smiling at the camera. In another, Diana was sitting on the couch with the smaller brown cat on her lap. "Your family keep cats?" I ask.
Diana turns back to me, looking a little hesitant. " Yes, but they...its not here now."
I raise an eyebrow but didn't question her.
She knocks on the door to her right. "Come in."
We enter the study to see Mr. Sharpe hunched over a book. He's young too, probably in his thirties as well. His brown hair is sleeked back. "Mr. Greylocks," her dad comes over and gives me a firm shake. "Please, just call me Vincent."
"Vincent, eh? Well you look dashing. Good to see my daughter with a handsome lad like yourself," he laughs. I give him a confident smile. Diana eyes his dad suspiciously.
"Dad, where's Lucas?" Diana asks. Lucas. The name rings a bell.
" He's...well he's taking a walk," he glances at me. He puts the book back into the bookshelf. " Young men these days, well, we had better go down for dinner now, we wouldn't want our guest to be starving now, right dear?"
We go back to the dining room where the fragence of freshly cooked chicken overwhelms me. A feast is more like the correct term to use to describe the mountain of food on the table. Mrs.Sharpe comes in carrying a big bowl of soup. I take my seat beside Diana, awed by the food. Just then, I hear the door open. All of us turn to the living room to see a little brown cat make its way to the stairs.
The cat glanced at us briefly when it walked past the dining room.
The cat had blue eyes too.
Everyone under this roof has blue eyes. I smile at that ridiculous thought.
"Excuse me for a second," Mr. Sharpe gets up and walk in the direction where the cat had disappeared into the study.
"That must be the cat in the photos," I comment. Diana and Mrs. Sharpe looks uneasily at each other. "That's right," Diana says.
He steps into the dining room five minutes later, wearing a white dress shirt and black jeans. I look up from my plate to see Lucas Sharpe walking casually in and sliding into his seat. Sharpe. Duh, why haven't I noticed that they share the same surname?
Diana must have noticed me staring at him, because she hastily says: " Vincent, this is Lucas, my younger brother." He nods to me. I nod back.
Diana Sharpe is a pretty girl with excellent grades. Lucas Sharpe is a withdrawn guy who stands out less than a shadow, but also with excellent grades.
Remind me why they're siblings again.
After dinner, we sit around the TV watching a blockbuster movie. Diana's mom and dad sits on one couch while Diana and I occupied the other. Lucas disappeared right after dinner. I have been composing myself for quite sometime now, so I asked Diana where's the bathroom.
"Up the stairs, second door to your left," she answers, before her eyes become glued to the movie again.
I shuffled up the stairs, then glance back at where Diana and her parents are still watching the movie.
Such a great family, I thought.
When I walk to the bathroom, I spot Lucas walking into one of the room.He left the door slightly ajar. I step forword softly, nimbly making my way towards the room and peeked inside.
Lucas was sitting on the floor, leaning on the bed frame, hugging his knees to his chest.
Then suddenly, he was gone.
His clothes flopped to the floor where he should have been a moment ago. My eyes widened at this, not really believing what I was seeing.
Just then, a cat crawled out of the clothes.
A small brown cat, the one that walked in before dinner.
Lucas Sharpe just turned into a cat.