Practice Makes Perfect

The snow slowly descended towards the ground. The long, luscious locks of Anna’s wavy light brown hair, was being whipped around by a slight wind, catching the clumps of white during the process. It was supposed to be the first day of spring. March 20th, 2009. But instead, when Anna arose from her warm, cozy, queen-sized bed, and placed her feet down on the wooden floor of her room, a sharp bolt of cold shot through her peculiarly small feet. She jogged on her toes to the other side of her room, towards the immense window, overlooking the crowded street and the houses on the opposite side. When she pulled the long, bright red, velvet curtains apart, Anna let out a disappointed sigh. She looked at the mansion-like home across from her, and saw that the rooftops were painted white with about three inches of snow coating it.

After she stepped outside of her lavish household, she closed the two wooden double doors behind her. Anna then looked towards the gray, cloudy sky and watched as the little speckles reached her, and stuck onto her long, elegant-looking eyelashes. Before she began making her way to the vexatious, teeming school she attended, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and silently said,” How ironic.”

It was only 7:30 in the morning, and already she could sense that the remainder of her Friday would be either upsetting, disappointing, bothersome, or stressful. As much as she enjoyed the beautiful appearance of her suburban town in the winter, Anna could not stand the cold. She let out a slight shiver, and fasted her puffy black jacket. She then began to cross her arms, in search of any extra warmth she could pull from her body. Anna stayed that way for fifteen more minutes, only paying attention to her feet that were slowly trudging through the snow and making a sort of crunching sound. When she finally looked up, she noticed a tall, mysterious teenage boy around her age, walking on the opposite side of the street. He was looking around wildly for a second, and seemed very confused. Anna wondered if she should ask him if he was lost, since she had never once in her whole seventeen years of living in this town , seen him before. Then suddenly, as if he no longer gave a damn about what he was doing previously, the boy shrugged his shoulders and kept walking. She watched him for less than a minute, before he turned his head and looked at her. He seemed to be studying her as if she was this amazingly interesting new creature he had just found. Anna felt self-conscious under his intense gaze, and looked away. She started to walk at a slightly faster pace than before, trying her hardest to avoid the boy she knew was looking at her.

When she finally plucked up the nerve to take a look, she jumped. He was halfway across the cobble stoned road, heading towards her with a grin on his face. She thought to herself, “ Do I know him from somewhere?” Anna didn’t have enough time to ponder on it, because he was suddenly right next to her, walking the same pace. Neither of them said anything, but they both kept walking. Anna was looking straight ahead, desperately wishing that this stranger would turn off somewhere. Go down another street. Reach his destination. But then, the boy began to speak.

“You know, it’s going to be sunny and warm later on,” he said confidently. Anna did not want to respond to him, and tried to restrain herself from engaging in a conversation with him. However, a phrase slipped out through her small and pink lips. “I doubt it.” Although soft and barely a mumble, the young boy beside her chuckled with a smile that screamed of achievement.

“I’m Taylor.” And with that, Anna turned her head just in time to see him flip his hair back. The rich, dark shade of brown that swept across the side of his face, reminded her of dark chocolate and surprisingly enough, she developed a craving for it. She used his apparent daze to inspect him. His eyes were big and beautiful, and a golden brown that intrigued her. They were so bright and godlike, that she almost wanted to cry. Anna admired his face for a bit longer and became entranced. His jaw, was a bit square, but very manly. His smooth, tan skin and deep dimples enticed her to the point where she was, in a way, hypnotized. Although she wanted nothing to do with him, she couldn’t deny that he was absolutely, one hundred percent, without a doubt, gorgeous.

“I just moved here,” he said abruptly, pulling Anna out of her trance. She kept walking and didn’t answer back. It was quiet for a minute. Anna walked uncomfortably next to him for what seem like an eternity, before once again Taylor filled the endless silence. “ So I’m guessing you’re a quiet person, but please don’t feel too freaked out. I live across the street from you.”

Without any reasonable thought, Anna replied, “ You’re the Lautner’s son?”

She silently cursed herself for that. But got a quick answer,” Yeah, I saw you looking at the house yesterday. So when I saw you, I just figured this was a chance to get to know my neighbor.”

She looked at him for a moment, and smiled. When Taylor and his family had arrived earlier that week, rumors quickly spread around about him. There were numerous amounts of stories as to why he moved to the town specifically. Some people said that he was a trouble and had been in jail before. More people believed that he was a drug addict that had just been released from rehab. Whatever the story was, this boy was talked about a lot, and they didn’t even know if he would be attending their high school. In the spur of the moment, Anna asked, ”Where are you headed?”

Taylor glanced at her and smirked, “Cadence High School.” Anna’s eyes probably could’ve popped right out of her eye sockets at that moment. Cadence was an art school, and everybody in town knew that people from all over the country came to apply for the school. Obviously, this guy had some talent, and Anna deeply wanted to know what his was.
“What are you there for?” she asked. Taylor laughed then, and Anna frowned, wondering what was so funny.

“You sound so surprised.” Anna quickly attempted to apologize, stuttering and tripping over her words while trying.

“It’s okay really, I know I definitely don’t look like the artsy type.”

Taylor smirked at her, and she shrunk under his gaze. “See you around.” It was then, that Anna noticed that they were right outside of the high school building. She turned to her right, where Taylor was standing only a second ago, and noticed that he disappeared. She hesitated for a moment, then slowly walked away looking over her shoulder. To say Anna was stressed would be an understatement.