13Dear Kaleidoscope,
You wanted me to update. SO I UPDATED. WITH A 5000-PLUS WORD ONE-SHOT. HAPPY? XD
Soren Fisher was one goddamn beautiful piece of man. Too bad no one else thought so.
Or maybe that was a good thing. After all, it left more Soren for me.
He was a senior at Linoone High while I was but a simple sophomore, a whole two grades below him. Even though the gap existed, I couldn't help the outrageous crush I harbored for him. It was 'love' at first sight.
Let's be serious, people. There's no such thing as true love during one's high school days. There was only attraction and lust, the former I yearned for and the latter I was disgusted by. But no matter, no matter. I also believed in the power of infatuation, for that is what I had. To me, my crush on Soren was the same as a crush on a celebrity. Slightly different, considering we were within the same social pyramid, but still. Soren was unattainable, and it thrilled me to bits and pieces.
But who was Soren Fisher anyway, and why was I so enamored by him?
Soren was a silent enigma, according to the rest of the Linoone student body.
When unprovoked, he was as quiet as a butterfly, flitting from one class to another without bothering anyone. He never raised his hand up in class, he never talked to his fellow peers, and he would never answer the teacher's questions. His uncooperative behavior often got him in trouble, landing him in detention more than once.
When provoked, however, he was a demon. He could pack a punch, that much was certain by the way his opponents would beg for mercy. But even then he wouldn't speak. He would just glare and growl at them. There weren't many ways to provoke him though. You could continually harass him, you could make life hell for him, but he wouldn't react. It was only when he saw something to his displeasure that he turned into the feral monster people feared.
But I was in 'love' with him.
I had never heard of Soren until the middle of my freshman year, when he had gotten into his biggest brawl yet, the one with the football captain of that time. Everyone who was anyone heard of it. It was impossible to not know who he was after that. It was two months later, however, that the 'encounter' occurred.
As a freshman, I was stuck walking to and back from school. It was early in the morning one day when I saw Soren, also walking to school, stop by an empty alleyway and crouch down to pet a stray cat. The cat seemed to give in to his gentle touch, judging from the way it padded closer to him. I watched, hidden behind a nearby tree, as Soren pulled an unlabeled metal can from his backpack and set it down in front of the cat. He pulled the tab so the lid came off and promptly got up and started walking away. It was only when the cat started licking the contents of the can that I realized what was inside.
Soren Fisher had just donated an unlabeled soup can to a stray cat. Out of the kindness of his own heart.
And so, my 'love' for the man started slow, but gradually increased over time.
I wasn't a stalker or anything, but I often went out of my way to walk routes to class where I know I would see him on the way. I would sit at just the right angle at the lunch table so that I could spy him. I would often sit on a bench in the courtyard by myself during free period, simply because he had free period at the same time as me and always sat under a tree in that very same courtyard, reading a new book each time.
He really did love to read.
Now, Soren wasn't ugly or anything. He was quite the looker, to be honest. For that reason, many a girl had gone up to him in attempt to flirt with him. He had ignored every single one of them, much to my happiness.
And so, after a while, no one went to Soren for anything. He was left on his own. I think he preferred it that way.
As for me, I was content with the way things were: me noticing him and him not noticing me. It was practically perfect in every practical way.
Little did I know that fate was going to change everything about our nonexistent relationship. It was going to become real and I was most definitely not ready for it to be so.
I sat in the auditorium with every other student at Linoone High as our principal droned on and on about a new school project, one that would require everyone's enthusiasm and help.
Key word: require.
"Freshmen will be teaming up with the juniors and the sophomores will work with our seniors. Everyone, let's make this Spring Carnival unforgettable!"
I heard half-hearted cheers and full-blown applause among the audience, but my eyes were focused on only one individual.
Mr. Soren Fisher.
He was looking especially delicious today. He sat near the back and I was in just the right spot to glance at him through my peripheral. He was wearing his yummy leather jacket, classic aviators propped over his eyes, and his black Converse matched the ones I wore. I glanced down at my shoes. Hmm. His looked newer than mine... maybe I should invest in a new pair as well.
Because then we'd match.
Our assembly was over and I followed the rest of my class out the double doors to the courtyard. We met up with the seniors near the fountain.
My College Algebra teacher (yes, sophomores can take College Algebra here) was apparently in charge of our humongous group. I wasn't prepared for what came out of him mouth.
"Alright everyone! Find a partner. Can't have three or four in a group. Only two. SCATTER!"
Not a soul made their way toward Soren. He, on his part, simply stood there, his thumbs stuffed into his pockets.
The sight was simply too much for me to handle. Be still, my heart.
His dark copper hair shone under the sunlight, and his green eyes seemed especially striking today. I noticed he had changed his studs. Now, his pierced ears were embellished with black ones. They looked quite nice on him.
For some reason, my view of Soren was becoming bigger and bigger. It was as if I was walking toward him, ahahahahahahaha! What a silly thought!
Forest green met my brown ones, a brow was raised in question.
Fuck. I had actually walked over to him.
My eyes widened when I realized what I had done and instantly took a giant step backward. I berated myself when I saw Soren scowl at my movement. He regarded me for a minute before looking me straight in the eye. I was still entranced by those green orbs.
He grabbed my arm and started dragging me toward the nearest adult in charge.
This wouldn't end well.
I was right, of course.
Turned out my College Algebra teacher was unnerved by Soren's presence. Many people often were. Soren gave off an intimidating aura most of the time. I had come to acknowledge it as part of his charm, but I suppose not everyone felt the same as I did.
If I hadn't been paying so much attention to Soren, I would have missed the small frown on his features.
"Ah, Allison! I see you are to be partnered up with… um, Mr. Fisher."
I laughed nervously. "Uh, yeah. We're together."
Oh, what a statement that was!
"Let me give you your assignment then."
I noticed his gaze never met Soren's.
Turned out that, because Soren was Soren, we were given a job that would hardly require any actual effort on our part if we so chose to do so. All we had to do was gather donations for a cause. Any cause. Money for a charity or a sponsorship, gathering unused books for the local library, or…
Inspiration struck me.
"How about soup cans?"
Soren turned to face me, but I refused to meet his eyes. "We can do soup cans. We'll advertise that we're collecting soup cans at school and we can go from door-to-door and ask for soup cans from people. We'll donate them to the local food bank. We can make flyers and hang them around town as well. Sound good?"
Soren slowly nodded his head.
I sighed with relief. We were getting off to a good start, at least.
Right?