Enigma

I sat at in the library, my laptop infront of me. I was supposed to be studying for my Spanish test, but as always the lure of talking to Annette drew me into a conversation with her.

I didn’t know what it was but there was a strong feeling flowing through me when she told me that her new friend was a guy. She had said some fairly harsh things. I had looked it up on a translator.

Vous l'avez jamais même rencontré. branleur ! meant You have never even met him. Wanker!

I hadn’t known what it meant at the time, so I had just replied in Spanish and logged off. Now I was wishing that I had done something else. Apologised maybe. But perhaps she would talk to me tomorrow.

Well, at least now I have no distractions from my studying. Oh, well except the girl sitting across from me. Stacey was also in my Spanish class. She was much better at it then I was. Probably because she actually studied, whereas I spent most of my time talking to Annette.

She looked up and caught me staring. “What are you looking at gorgeous?” she asked, batting her long eyelashes. Truly, she is really pretty, but also a generic kind of pretty. Stacey had a soft oval face, large blue eyes and light blonde hair which she kept perfectly straight and neat at all times. She always wore makeup – foundation, blush, mascara, and usually a little bit of eye-shadow.

The only time I had seen her without makeup was when we were swimming in the pool. She had taken it off so that it wouldn’t run. I thought she looked even better without the makeup on, but it was just something that she and her friends did.

I smiled at her and closed the computer. “You of course. You’re beautiful.” I spoke truthfully, but at the same time I felt fake.

Stacey smiled widely, her teeth white and straight. “You are so cliché Marius. But I like you that way.” She glanced over towards the clock located above the entrance. “I have to go home now. Would you like to come over tomorrow night? My parents are out and we have just gotten a new spa bath.” She winked, picked up her books and walked out.

I stayed where I was. I truly did think that Stacey was beautiful and I really did like her. But there was something about her that while it attracted me, it always was the perspective that was pushing me away from her.

She was so like all her friends. They dressed the same way, talked the same way, thought the same way, and walked the same way….they were clones. Maybe it was because they had been friends for so long. But part of me knew that that wasn’t it. No matter what the trend, Stacey and her friends were right on top of it, moving onto the next one as soon as it came out.

And they could do this with ease. All of their parents were obscenely rich. Actually everyone who went to my school had obscenely rich parents. Even myself.

I wasn’t the type of guy Stacey would usually go out with. Normally she would go out with one of the ‘jocks’, because that was who she was expected to date. But now she was with me – a supposed ‘nerd’. In truth, it was wrong to call me that because I am actually not all that smart. I am academic enough to get by with reasonably good marks.

I am a ‘nerd’ because I always take my laptop with me, wherever I go. I didn’t mind being a ‘nerd’. It meant I had some really wacky and funny friends, who I wouldn’t give up for the world.

I think that thing that draws me most to Annette is the fact that she doesn’t seem to care about what others think. She says she is the school outcast and doesn’t mind at all because she doesn’t like the people at school anyway.

I had asked a few times why she was the school outcast but she always put it off, and after a little while, I stopped asking.

Stacey was a very forward person. She had shown that just in that one little wink. I could tell what she was thinking would happen, and I wasn’t going to let it. I’m not sure if I want to give that to Stacey. Not yet anyway. We haven’t been dating for that long, and I want to get to know her better. Learn what she is like beneath her outer appearance.

Is she even any different? I hope so.

I hope that I am not chasing the wrong girl. My thoughts drifted back to Annette and I wondered what David was like. What did he look like? Obviously he was Irish, so he might have the same kind of accent as Annette. I really wanted to know what her voice sounded like. We had had a webcam conversation a couple of times and she was very pretty. In a completely different way to Stacey.

I often wondered if she dyed her hair or was it naturally that colour. Under the lights in her room it had seemed to have slight red tints in it, as well as purple. I had immediately assumed that it was dyed. Her eyes were also intriguing. I had never seen a person with grey eyes such as hers. They seemed too old to be in a face as young as hers. Too knowing.

I picked up my things, placed them in my bag and walked out of the building. I lived not far from here, in a rather large house with my family. There were six of us – mum, dad, two older sisters and a baby brother. Mum had been married before and the new baby was the product of the second marriage. So far they seem happy together and I am glad because that means that they are currently not fighting.

“I’m home!” I called out to no-one in particular as I walked in the front door. My bedroom was the only one on the bottom floor. Everyone else had their bedrooms on the second floor.

I went to my room, plugged in my laptop and turned it on. When it had loaded I logged on to messenger. I was happy to see that Annette was still online.

Strider Sorry for what I said before. I was just stressing slightly about the test I told you about.

I waited for five minutes before she replied.

Enigma Don’t worry about it.

Enigma Sorry I was harsh.

Enigma Bye

Enigma signed out

I sat staring at the screen. Obviously I had really offended her. I typed a message anyway, knowing that she would be able to read it when she next logged on.

Strider I don’t want to fight with you. I’m truly sorry. Please don’t hate me.

I wasn’t sure how she would respond to that. But, all I could do was wait and find out.