When the Moon Met the Sun

It’s official. Absolutely no one likes to be alone, well at least not for long periods of time. If it were up to Uriah Nilson, he wouldn’t choose to be alone after school, in homeroom, and most importantly, not in the lunch room. Usually, his time between fourth and fifth period was spent doing the following.

Uriah scanned the cafeteria, just like every other day, with the tacky green lunch table clasped so tightly in his hands that his knuckles turned white and his palms became sweaty. He could feel the itching claws of anxiety creeping up his neck. He hated crowds, all the time. It made him feel awkward, and misplaced, but most of all, he hated crowds of high schoolers.

Here’s the part where you may be saying, “Uriah, you can’t hate high schoolers if you are a high schooler.” Though, this fact never seemed to stop him.

He made his way through the sea of kids, twisting and turning trying to get past them. His eyes desperately searched for a empty table and felt his stomach twist up as he realized that there wasn’t one. Once again, he would be eating out by the big oak tree in the middle of the courtyard.

All right, it wasn’t that he actually didn’t like sitting there. It was nice if you didn’t mind the domesticated squirrels begging for food and the trail of ants that seemed to permanently speckle the ground. Either way, Uriah was stuck there so he thought he might as well make the best of it.

Picking at his meal of “meatloaf” and fries, he took a moment to glance around at his fellow classmates. He didn’t understand how they could all laugh and joke around like that. Guys arms were slung around girls, girls were batting their eyelashes at the guys, and everyone worked in sync. Uriah didn’t get why he stuck out like such a sore thumb.

It’s not like he was always like this. It’s actually quite the opposite. All through elementary and middle school, he had tons of friends and play dates and parties. Even in early high school he had friends. Up until year eleven, it was all Kennedy, Scott, and Uriah. Everywhere they went, it was the three of them. From kindergarten to the previous year, they grew up together. Kennedy was always one of the guys, Scott was always up for video games, and Uriah was always happy. Those were his constants in life.

Though, things change. As soon as year eleven hit, Kennedy started wearing make up, and doing her hair and nails. Now, she’s sitting with the airheads, wearing some guy’s arm like the latest scarf. Scott, on the other hand, has glazed eyes and wearing headphones that were no doubt blaring Bob Marley. Now, Kennedy is one of the girls, Scott is more up for a joint, and Uriah wasn’t happy. These were his constants in his life.

This is how his days usually went. He started the day off positively, that today he would smile and be different. By the time lunch hit, he was tired of trying to summon the courage to talk to people and sick of fighting off the creeping sense of anxiety and depression. When the last bell finally rung, he would head home and try to think of reasons why this wasn’t how his life was going to be forever. That’s how his days went, up until today.

The warning bell rang and children clamored to get their trays emptied and their bags slung on them. No one wanted to be late for class and risk detention, especially not weeks before winter break.

Uriah sighed and got to his feet, letting himself fall into the last straggler of the rush. His head was pounding and he was already sick of today. He let his mind turn off as he rambled down the hallway, focusing on the squeaking of his shoes. The tugging anxiety in his stomach yelled at him for being so late, but the heavy depression kept him from hurrying.

Finally, he reached his fifth period class and swung open the door. As soon as the crisp class air hit him he realized something was different. Mr. Langley wasn’t even in the room. Silently, Uriah thanked the lord as he slid into his seat. He bent down to get his books out of his bag when the door open.

“Sorry that I’m late class! I was merely helping out new student get to class.” Mr. Langley wheezed in pride as he reached the front of the classroom. Uriah glanced up and froze. Quickly, he glanced around the room, wondering how everyone else in the room could look so bored. Suddenly, he felt his eyes becoming pulled to Mr. Langley and the beautiful girl next to him.

“This is Evelyn Rose, she just moved from Leesburg, Virginia.” Mr. Langley beamed down at the girl, whose head was ducked and completely covered by her shimmering white-blond hair. “She’s a straight A student and scored very high on her nation-wide tests. I except each and every one of you to welcome her with open arms. Now, Evelyn, can you say a few words for the class?”

This girl, Evelyn, slowly shook her head, nervously keeping her eyes down at her hands. Mr. Langley seemed taken away by that. Instead, Evelyn reached behind her and wrote in big round letter on the white board, “Call me Evie.” She concluded and turned around and faced the class. Once again, Uriah felt like he was punched in the gut.

Evie had a heart-shaped face; innocent, doe-like, blue eyes; pouty lips; shimmery pale skin; and long silvery-blonde hair that just skimmed her waist. Every move she did was graceful and elegant and Uriah couldn’t tear his eyes away from her.

“I don’t think she speaks.” A girl yelled from the back of the class, breaking Uriah from his trance. He glanced at her annoyed as a fiery blush erupted onto her cheeks like fireworks, as she shook her head softly.

Mr. Langley finally seemed to put this together as he began, “Alright, alright class, settle down. We’re going to begin talking about a personal favorite of mine, Romeo and Juliet. In my opinion, this was one of Shakespeare’s finest pieces.” He paused, realizing Evie was still standing there. “Well, please, go have a seat. You can sit by Uriah. Uriah I’m expecting you’ll be nothing but helpful.” He grinned, but his eyes devilish as always. He turned his back to the class and began writing on the board once again.

Slowly, Evie made her way to the back of the room, sitting down by Uriah. She kept her head down, a blanket of hair falling in between them. Uriah sighed, racking his brain for ways to say hello. He reached into his bag and pulled out his new notebook and on the very first line he wrote the simple phrase. “Welcome to Oakleaf. I’m Uriah.”

He slid his book over to the girl, before turning his attention back to Mr. Langley. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Evie ignored it. She didn’t even move, she just kept staring down at her hands. Uriah felt the same crushing isolation that he usually felt when he was ignored, but he continued on with class.

The final bell rang, signaling the end of class. As Uriah went to put up his things, he glanced down at his desk and realized the notebook was now on his desk. Underneath his sloppy lettering, he noticed the same bubbly cursive writing that was on the board. “I’m Evie.” That’s all it said. A smile broke out of Uriah’s face, glad to have a reaction, but as he looked up to talk to her, she was already gone.