My Deer Girl

Chapter 3: Noticing Him

                                                                                             Aria

“Have fun, Aria!”

Yes, that was how Libby, my mom, was. She never called me cringe-worthy or overly sweet endearments. She just calls me by name like it was a title that was only for me.

“Bye, Mom! Kick some *ss at work!” I said, smiling and wrinkling my nose as I got off the black car, and she winked at me.

Yup, we had a medium-size black car that she smoothly drove off after dropping me at the gate. Maybe black was awkward for other moms who prefer white, silver or red. But not my mom. She loved black ever since I could remember. I once asked her why, and she said it’s easier to hide in the dark if and when we use it to escape. Well, she had a point if I must say. But maybe black didn’t matter at all. Those demons could still find us.

Anyway, earlier at breakfast, when I asked her if I was getting crazy, she said, “No, Aria. That’ll never happen! Why? Because you’re special.”

Well, whatever that meant. But maybe I really was. Why would demons want me dead anyway? Okay, I hope they won’t appear when I think of them at the moment. They had the tendency to appear whenever I thought of them. But I guess it was just a coincidence, since none appeared for now.

Yes, I just checked around me. All I could see was the huge campus before me—big buildings with new and medieval architecture, a huge grass field where soccer players or not were playing. Some were topless, some had their jerseys on and some were in their casual. Some students were watching them, while others were chatting up their classmates or friends. Like me, some were walking on the pavement.

I felt nervous now, hoisting up my backpack. It was the first day of classes, and for the nth time, I didn’t want this to be ruined! I wanted a normal life! I just had no idea why those demons don’t get it. My mom always kicked their *sses but their brothers and sisters keep on chasing us! Or were they the same demons who were after us? Until now, I could not guess why they want to kill me! I was just… a normal girl.

Okay, I’m an attractive girl. That much I know, I thought without being arrogant as I could see how guys look my way. They always have a second look at me and gawk. Sometimes it was flattering but most of the time? Creepy much and yes, gross! I just saw one or two that literally drooled.

I took a deep breath and joined a dozen or so students near a maple tree, ignoring the stares of the professors and students alike. I was told it was this place where we meet our student tour guide to let us know where is which and everything else like the university’s history and others that we should know about.

“So, let’s begin our tour,” the girl whose name was Olivia said with a contagious, radiant gummy smile. “That’s the Hornden Library,” she informed us, pointing to our right as we walked slowly.

The vast building had six stories with massive round pillars, glass windows and walls. It had elaborate carvings in the concrete walls. If I wasn’t mistaken, they were faces of old people, some maple leaves and whatnot.

“The building is built in 1901, and some improvements were made. And that’s the glass walls, to modernize it a bit. It holds over four million print volumes and journals, three million e-theses, e-books and e-journals, as well as hundreds of thousands of sound and video recordings, musical scores, maps and microforms.”

“Wow!” Almost all of us were amazed.

We were shown the English, Math, Psychology and other buildings. The others, we were just shown with the map since the campus was over eighty acres, which included a forested area on the north side. Next to it was a big lake where parties and other activities were usually held. Now, we were back near the maple tree. It was the only maple tree in front of the campus.

“Now that’s the soccer field, obviously, as you can see,” Olivia muttered, gesturing a hand with a smile.

My eyes suddenly caught one of the running topless guys who had overgrown dark blond hair with a fringe. He was tall, had tanned skin and… wait, he had dimples. And those peachy lips were his tongue darted to wet them… Oh, Holy Mother of God! He looked gorgeous I could swoon!

My eyes dragged from his handsome face to his wide shoulders, slightly muscled chest and yummy six-pack abs, which were a bit glistening with sweat. He was lean but he had a good build, which I loved. I was not into super muscled guys, so…

Wait, just when did I ogle a guy? It isn’t me!

I ran my fingers through my long light brown hair that reached my back. That was when he turned his head and looked straight in my direction. Was he looking at me?

Our eyes did hold for some moments when we heard someone call out his name.

“Hey, Dominick! Watch out!” One of the non-topless guys yelled as the soccer ball rushed to him.

As naturally as I could, I averted my eyes in the pretext of asking Olivia something. But I did catch him meeting the ball with his head, effectively passing it to his teammate.

“I heard there’s a barn—ice hockey rink—here but I don’t think you showed it to us?” I uttered slowly while stealing another glimpse of Dominick.

“Oh, that rink’s near the lake. It’s usually where the annual competition is held,” the student tour guide replied smoothly.

I nodded and thought I’d check it out later. I used to play it when I was fifteen—or even before that as what my mother told me. But ever since an ice demon appeared, I tried to avoid it. Well now, I knew better. Demons were actually everywhere.

Okay, let’s not think about them, Aria, I scolded myself.

“When is the welcome party?” A slim girl asked, hiding the excitement from her small voice while batting her eyes.

“That’s a good question! It’s actually scheduled next Friday at the lake. You’ll get to see how we celebrate diversity and different traditions.”

“What does it mean?” the girl queried with furrowed arched brows.

“Some will come dressed in their cultural clothing, but you can of course come as you are,” Olivia answered with a smile.

Later, we were guided to the cafeteria, which was near the library building. It was great as I was parched after that tour.

I bought some refreshment for myself, but my brows knitted when my canned drink didn’t come out of the vending machine. I was about to slap the machine when someone kicked it. I almost jumped to my feet and stared at the kicker, who smelled like fresh sun and musk.

Oh, boy! It was Dominick, staring down at me with those light blue eyes that could melt anything, including my heart!