The Immortal Moment

I tapped my foot against the tiles in the empty classroom as I waited for my friends. The Student Council meeting was supposed to have started nearly ten minutes ago, but no one except myself -including the teacher who acted as our supervisor- had even bothered to show up. I picked up my folders and dropped them against the desk, straightened them until they were at even height and then sat them back in their place. I glanced over at the clock. They were fifteen minutes late now. I was just about to grab my things and head out of the classroom and possibly help whatever teacher who had happened come in early when I heard footsteps traveling down the hall and in my direction.

"Wait, don't leave!" Regina's voice called and a moment later she entered the room. I sat back down in my seat and waited a moment for her to catch her own breath. "The others will be here shortly. They're all ogling at the new boy."

"New boy? He must be extremely smart to be transferred here in the middle of the year," I remarked and it was true. St. Almirus Academy, the private school at which I attended, was a very prestigious school and only accepted the most gifted of children. It was a large academy, though we only hosted grades seven through twelfth. Only 400 kids or so walked these halls everyday, but that didn't stop them for utilizing almost every department of the building. "Where's he from?"

"Not sure. I didn't stick around long enough to find out. I was late enough as is and didn't want to get chewed out by you," she grinned, "I guess the others just don't care."

"It's alright," I said. "If I'd even known there was a new kid, I probably would be out there with them." Regina grinned at me again and sat her bookbag down on the seat of one desk and took a seat in the one right next to mine.

"Shall we get started?" She asked. I nodded and opened my notebook, grabbed my pink pen, and touched the tip to a paper inside.

"We shall."



"Can I see your notes from Friday? I was gone," Alex explained. I nodded and handed over my Advanced Calculus notebook. I was already done with the assignment. We'd just worked out of the book and the problems had been just a breeze for me. There was so much time to kill, however, that I resorted to making conversation to pass the time.

"Do you have any classes with the new kid?" I asked. Alex propped his head up, a little confused at first. he had the prettiest hazel brown eyes for they had a tiny ring of black around the iris. His brown hair was just long enough that he styled it over his left eye everyday, but in all honesty, it was a cute look on him. I'd never even date Alex -in fact, the thought had never even crossed my mind- since he had always been such a good friend of mine.

"Yeah, I have third period with him," Alex said after thinking it over for a moment. I nod. It was already fourth hour, but it seemed as if I had no chance of having a class with him. That couldn't be true though, unless he was younger than a sophomore. I wasn't exactly sure why, but new kids fascinated me. It wasn't everyday we got one. In fact, our last new kid had been my friend Megan, who'd arrived at the beginning of last year.

"What grade is he in?"

"Ours, I think." He said and put his head down to continue working. I nodded and hoped he was right. he popped his head back up, suddenly, and blinked.

"We should invite him to sit with us at lunch," he suggested but I just shook my head.

"Anna's taking me out to lunch today." I grinned. I loved Anna. I'd transferred here at the beginning of my seventh grade year and a Junior named Anna had befriended me and showed me the ropes. We became fast friends and even though she graduated five years ago, we'd kept in touch via e-mail and texting. She'd come back into town every few weeks or so and we'd hang out, though, so our friendship still had a chance.

"Oh." He nodded. Alex had came here in ninth grade, a year after Anna had graduated, so he'd never gotten the chance to know her. Just as she'd done to me, I'd shown Alex the ropes here and we had been friends since. I smiled at him and he went back to work, copying down my notes and my example problems. I turned back around in my desk and pulled out my reading book and just read for the rest of the hour.

When the bell rang, I put everything in my bookbag and carried it with me as I went to the office, signing myself out for lunch. I exited the large, institute-like building and sauntered out into the courtyard. Across the lot, I spotted Anna sitting in her car and I rushed over to her, and got into the passenger seat. I casually strapped myself in and smiled at her. She leaned over and gave me a quick hug, talking as she started the car and put it in drive. "How you been, girl?"

"Fine," I answered and leaned back in my seat. The rest of the ride was completed in near silence, only talked about school things and such, until we arrived at a little cafe in downtown. We quickly went in, got a table, and ordered our drinks. Since it's a private school for gifted kids, we have a longer day which means school doesn't even let out until 4:30- but it also means a whole hour to eat lunch.

"That's one thing I won't miss," commented Anna, pointing at my school uniform. I personally liked them. A simple gray skirt with the shorts underneath, a pain white button up with a gray sweater-vest over it. The crest was sewn in over the right breast, but I thought the outfit made me look dignified and intelligent.

"I don't think they're all that bad," I said shyly.

"That's because you can pull them off! You have that innocent school girl thing for you! Brown hair, gray eyes, olive skin- you're beautiful! Plus, it helps that you're Student Council President and have the highest test scores of your grade!" I blushed. I did strive for excellence, but there was nothing wrong with that. Coming from my background -no mother, single farther working all the time, living in a tiny apartment-, I'd consider my achievements a great success. And, not to sound conceited, I did find myself very beautiful as well. I had brown hair that was naturally curly and startling gray eyes. I had a flawless, olive complexion and pink lips.

"Oh stop," I giggled with delight. Anna was just as beautiful. Shoulder length brown hair, big blue eyes, and a curvy body was just the combination any woman would kill for and there she sat, having a perfect appearance. The waiter came by and gave us our drinks. A soda for me, a strawberry daiquiri for her. She'd recently turned twenty-one and liked to flaunt it. I laughed, both happy for her and a little jealous.

"So, anything happening at school?"

"Well, we did just get a new boy today," I saw and she looked just as confused as I had earlier when Regina told me.

"This far into the school year? He must be smart!" She exclaimed! She knew the way it was at St. Almirus just as well as I did. That was why a new kid this late in the year was so odd. "Is he cute?"

"I don't know yet. I haven't had the chance to meet him." Anna nodded and took a sip of her drink.

"So, what's new with Anna? Any guys you have your eye on?"

"Not at the moment. Work is just taking up most of my time recently. Things will calm down when we're down with this client, but... Men just isn't my focus for now."

"Wise decision," I laughed.

"Besides," she continued, her blue yes fixed on the table. "The way I see it: if I'm meant to fall for someone, it'll happen. Fate will bring us together. Maybe in a simple way, maybe in an extravagant way. All I know is that when it happens, I'll never know unless I let myself trust him."

"Those, my friend," I smiled and took another drink of my soda. "Are words to live by."



My hypothesis of never having a class with the new boy ended up being wrong. He was in my eighth hour class, which just happened to be my favorite; English. He arrived late, but it brought my spirits up to just know that I did actually have a class with him. He had his back turned to me, so I couldn't see his face right away, but I could make an impression just from his body. He was tall, slender, but you could just tell he had muscles under his clothes. He wore a dark pair of jeans, a navy colored shirt, and a leather jacket to cover it- they hadn't given him his uniform just yet, I assumed.

"You may take a seat," said my English teacher. The boy turned around to face me and I was blown away. He had short, brown hair with what seemed to be red highlights, though I couldn't tell if it was natural or not. He had tan, olive skin much like my own and a strong, thin jawline. Beautiful amber eyes stood out against his face and were easy to just fall into. His eyes linger on me for just a moment before he heads to his seat on the other side of the room.

The next hour went by very slowly. It was hard to focus on my school work because I kept stealing glances in his direction and quite a few times, I was pretty sure I could feel his gaze upon me. Each second ticked on and on and it seemed like it would never end. When it did, I let out an exasperated sigh and exited the classroom as fast as I could. The boy's appearance had my heart pounding and my palms sweating. He was incredibly beautiful, but I pushed those sort of thoughts out of my head and put my stuff in my bag and headed out of the academy doors and into the open, now chilly air.

"Hey, wait up," said a deep voice from behind. I turned to find the new boy, still as gorgeous as two minutes ago. My throat seemed to dry up quickly and it became hard to speak. He was literally that breathtaking. His eyes were a soft brown with just a perfect touch of amber in them. "Can you give me some directions?"

"I, uh, yeah. Where are you headed?" I asked, cocking my head curiously.

"Evans Street," he bit his lip and waited for me to respond. I was dumbstruck and excited! That wasn't to far from my apartment on East Lake Street. It was actually in walking distance from my home.

"That's the block before mine," I paused as he raised his eyebrow. He even looked beautiful while doing the most human of things. "I could, uh, walk with you. That is if you wanted too. You certainly don't half too but-"

"I'd be delighted too," he interrupted me with a laugh. I had begun to ramble, but even that hadn't scared him off. Then again, he was new to this town. It was only natural to reach and make friends, no matter how nerdy and socially awkward they were. But that was just the thing- I'm never socially awkward. I was on almost every comity in St. Almirus, had tons of friends, and did great when dealing with people. There was just something about him that made me weak inside, but that could just be his un-familiarness. Maybe it'll go away over time, I told myself.

The boy started in the direction I had already been heading and I fell in step beside him. He carried himself very gracefully, very proportionate steps and great posture. It almost seemed as if he spent hours just practicing the art of walking. I felt my fingers wander to my bookbag and they started to play with some loose strings to distract myself. "I'm Aline, by the way."

"Aline?" He considered the name for a moment. "It's a beautiful name. It suits you."

I felt a blush raise to my cheeks and I had to hide my face for a moment. He casually pushed his hands into his pockets and stared at the sidewalk ahead. He had something inside his eyes, something similar to confidence, and I loved it. "What's your name?"

"Payton Heed," he breathed. His voice was deep enough that even a whisper from his voice sounded like his speaking voice. Payton smiled and I giggled. I'd never met anyone named Payton before, much a less a male. Oh well, sometimes men have unisex names. Besides, it kind of did fit him well.

"Where you from, Payton?" I asked, just wanting to hear myself say his name aloud.

"Michigan. I was always in the gifted classes there but I guess my test scores must have really shot up," he explained. "They offered me a scholarship to St. Almirus and after some convincing, my father and I moved out here so I could go to school."

"That was kind of him," I smiled.

"Not really. He doesn't really work much, so we moving out here wasn't a big deal. He had nothing to leave behind."

"He doesn't work? He could you afford the move?" I furrowed my brow. It just didn't make much sense.

"My grandpa, he won the lottery one year," Payton laughed a little. "Old geezer didn't share a dime. He died a few years back and left all his money to me, just to spite my dad. I let my dad take some of it so we could move here. I let him take little royalty checks so he can pay bills and buy groceries and stuff, though."

"You must have a lot of money then!" I laughed. Money wasn't really a big thing to me- most of the kids at St. Almirus were very wealthy, even though I was not.

"Six million and counting," he grinned. I widened my eyes. The kids I know may be wealthy, but not that wealthy. "I can't touch a dime until I'm 18, but we're allowed to take some out for essential stuff like bills."

"Oh, well that make sense," I smiled. Suddenly, we came up on Evans Street. He didn't depart right away however, but we walked all the way up to his door. The house was just as normal as could be, not exactly what I had expected the soon-to-be-millionaire's home to look like. He must of had a limit on how much he can spend on a home before he inherits the money. It was a simple two story house with a nice backyard, nice porch, and lovely green siding.

"I'll see you tomorrow?" Payton asked as the door opened.

I nodded fast. "You sure will."

"Goodbye, Aline," he grinned, turned, and entered his home, the door closing behind him. I smiled to myself and started to head to the left of his house, continuing my own walk home. My thoughts were to wrapped up in his appearance that I hadn't even come to the realization until I was in the loft of my apartment.

The door had been tightly shut and he'd entered the home- but not once did I see him touch the doorknob.