The School Of Mystic

As I glanced up at the school that I would soon be attending, my heart started to speed up in anticipation, and my hands started to feel clammy from the nervous feelings coursing through my body. The mixture of excitement and anxiety made me giddy with emotion and nerves.

“I can’t wait,” I whispered in excitement. True to my word, as soon as the car parked, I threw open the door and despite my mother’s protests, started rushing towards the three-story building. Though I was a bit nervous, I wanted to see the inside of my to be school, more than anything else.

As I started rushing up the lush green lawn, my heart beat started to quicken as again, I felt excitement grow even more strongly in my veins. I was pounding up the steps leading to the door now; it was like the pounding my feet made on them echoed in my heart. Finally, I was reaching out to the handle of the door; my hand was outstretched and clammy with anticipation.

Suddenly though, the door was flung towards me, and I had to jump back at the last second to avoid being smacked in the face. I blinked a couple times as I tried to clear my dazed vision, and glanced up to see a guy standing in front of me, a surprised look grazing his features, and lovely features they were.

He stood tall – or tall to me – and proud, with shortish blonde hair that was ever-presently hanging in his ice-blue eyes. He had a semi-pale complection which made his eyes stand out more than they already did; they seemed to either stare at me, or even call to my soul – as cheesy as it sounded. His eyes weren’t the only things standing out though.

The pallor of his face made his bones – his cheek bones – so defined, and even the small bit of stubble on his lip was noticeable to me. The paleness didn’t make him seem ghost-like though; in fact, it did the exact opposite for him, in a way. It just made him more attractive and mysterious. If that wasn’t enough to make a girl swoon though, his physique definitely was.

I couldn’t say that it was anything special; it didn’t scream body builder or quarterback, but you could certainly tell that muscles were present under that semi-pale skin of his. It was obvious in the way he carried himself; obvious in the way his shoulders bunched when he moved his arms.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured in a soft voice. I would’ve thought that it would snap me out of my ogling trance, but it just made it that harder to stop staring at him. His voice sounded so hypnotic with its’ accented tones; it was almost like a gentle caress of my senses, or like a silky soft blanket was enveloping my body. ‘God’ I thought to myself dizzily. ‘Just god.’

“Um, are you okay? I didn’t mean to frighten you or anything…” His voice swathed my senses again, seemingly making it harder for me to concentrate. With a mighty burst of will though, I made myself take a deep breath – blocking out the sent of cologne and male spices – of fresh air, and made myself reply.

“No no, it’s fine. I’m sorry that I wasn’t really paying attention, it’s just…. I was too excited by this place. I know that sounds really nerdy, but I’m not excited for the school prospect, trust me. This place is so pretty though, don’t you agree? Um yeah. Anyways, I’m sorry though, and I’ll just—“

Distantly, I was aware that I was rambling. I knew that it made me look stupid, so I kept trying to silence myself, but it was like my mouth didn’t belong to me; I told it to be quiet, but almost in defiance, it kept on spewing worthless nonsense from its’ lips. I blew out a breath of embarrassment, and almost shyly glanced away from the mysterious male. A soft, deep chuckle made me glance up though, and when I did, I met his laughing blue eyes.

“No,” he said while smiling. ”It was my fault. I should’ve glanced threw the glass, but I didn’t. Sorry for almost slamming a door in your face.”

“Sorry for almost not moving out of the way in time.” I responded, smiling gently back at him. “Truce?”

“Truce,” he said solemnly while extending his hand to meet mine. As soon as our hands touched, it was like a fiery shock sizzled between them. The remnants of it seemed to course up my arm, and from there, rushed threw the rest of my body with surprising speed. I blinked in surprise, and it took all my will power to not flinch away from his hand, or worse yet, hold on tighter. I turned the trembling of our hands into a shake instead, and with surprising calm said:

“My name is Mirabelle, by the way. Mirabelle Charming, but most people call me Mira.”

“Nice to meet you, Mira,” he said back. “I’m Benjamin Andrews, but most people call me Ben.” He rewarded me with a brilliantly lit smile, and I had to stop myself from breathing out a bliss-filled sigh. What a lovely smile he had; it was filled with perfect teeth – white and straight – and when his lips quirked up, a small dimple showed in his cheek.

“Is this your first year here?” he asked me curiously.

“Yes it is.” I responded. “Is it that obvious?”

“Well if it had been your second year, I doubt you would have still been so fascinated by the school.”

“Oh don’t judge me,” I said while taking on a tone of mock hurt. “What about you though? What year is it for you?”

“Second.”

“Maybe you can show my friends and me the ropes, then.” I responded while turning to look for them. I didn’t have to look far though, as they stood right behind me, with expressions on there faces ranging from thoughtful to lust filled.

“Oh, if you could Ben,” Lela said in an absent half-purr. “We’d like that very much.” She winked at Ben suggestively, and I couldn’t help the half-jealous response that was clawing up my throat. Ben seemed not to notice Lela’s flirtation though, as he just smiled at her – no flirtation in it – and nodded. Though I knew it was petty of me, I couldn’t help the contempt that I felt when Ben unknowingly turned Lela down.

After a few moments of chatter – in which I learned that I could get lunch at any time, which I was greatful for – we decided that we would all meet up at dinner. Ben told us about where his friends and he sat, and after some ‘see ya later’s, he left.

“Isn’t he just lovely, Mira?” Lela asked in a dreamy sing song voice. I glanced over to her to see that she was looking in the direction Ben had taken with a wistful expression. “To bad he’s so hung over you.”

“He is not,” I said defensively, though my face flushed with pleasure. “I only wish.”

“Didn’t you see the way he was looking at you? Oh Mira, it was so romantic. If only I had a boy who seemingly loved me so.”

“Yeh right, Lela. The keyword in that sentence is ‘seemingly’; he most likely doesn’t look at me more than just the awkward babbles-a-lot girl.” I couldn’t help but hope though. I wouldn’t be the girl who acted like she did not like whom she did – I knew I liked Ben – but I wasn’t even sure if he liked me back.

What if I was going to ahead of myself? What if even if he did like me, he didn’t just go out with a girl, just like that? Not that that would be a bad thing; I liked guys even more if they showed control when it came to girls, but at the same time, I hoped that he wasn’t like that – the ever-controled, gentlemanly male – so that I could ask him out faster.

Lela just smiled that secretive smile of hers, and began to walk back to the rental car. I was about to ask her why she was doing this, when I remembered that in all my excitement, I had forgotten to grab my luggage. I slowly started to follow her, and though my body was in the present, I couldn’t help but slip back into the past. Ben began to cloud my thoughts, and I couldn’t help but let him.

‘He’s just so perfect’ I thought dreamily to myself. From his wonderful blue eyes, to his lovely blonde hair, to his sculpted body. It was as if the gods themselves had delved into my mind, taken my most fantasized about illusions, and brought them to life in one heart-stopping, belly-clenching supernatural being: Ben.

“Mira, can you snap out of it for just a second? If you don’t mind, we need your help to get your bags out of here.” My eyes involuntarily flew open – because apparently they had been closed in the first place – to see Ria staring expectantly at me. I blinked a few times to clear my vision, and unsteadily nodded. I reached forward to grab one of the heavier bags, and almost fell backward when I tried to lift it.

Ria gave me one of those ‘your helpless’ looks, before saying that I should sit down for a little while. Take a breather, as she put it. Though I should’ve objected to this, I didn’t, and gladly sat down on one of the steps leading up to Mystic.

Was Ben already affecting me like this? I was famous – with my friends at least – for taking crushes a little to far, but the guys I’d chose to like never affected my thought processes like Ben was already starting to do. ‘Maybe I should calm down’ I told myself wearily. Liking a guy isn’t against the laws anyway. A guy who stayed on my thoughts constantly though, was, in my book.

If Ben was seriously this affective on me, I would have to take things a lot slower around him. I wouldn’t try and flirt, I wouldn’t do any kind of teasing, I would even treat him like a normal guy friend, until I was positive that he didn’t affect me as much as he did now.