My Deer Girl

Chapter 6: First Clash

                                                                                           Aria

“Charlotte, Denise! What took you so long? I’ve been waiting there for hours!” Another tall girl came in, saying something exaggerated. She was pretty and had ebony skin and model-like figure.

I readily recognized her. She was together with Charlotte and this brunette on the pathway while I was sitting in my class a little while ago. She wore a micromini-skirt and a crop top, plus high heels. My head just barely reached up to their shoulders.

The three stared at me, and I met Charlotte’s eyes.

“Abdalla, this is the girl I was talking about!” Denise told the newcomer in her nitpicky tone.

“Oh! Is she Dom’s girlfriend?” The Black girl did know how to exaggerate things.

Charlotte gave her a sharp look. “Dominick or Nick for you. How many times do I have to tell you, girls? I’m the only one who’s get to call him that! Gah!” she admonished with frustration, curling her svelte fingers. I did catch the light red paint on her long squared nails. Then, she gracefully flicked her past shoulder-length hair while giving me a hostile look.

I swept my eyes on the three of them and settled them again on Charlotte. She was really beautiful at closer inspection with flawless creamy skin. There was no freckle I could find on her face. Was it because of makeup? But I did not find on her bare arms or a part of her exposed shoulders, as she wore a golden-khaki sleeveless gathered shell top dress.

“I just happened to meet him there, and I’m just… a nobody,” I told her honestly and moved to the door.

“Stay away from Dom, okay?” Charlotte warned me.

“What if he can’t stay away from me?” I retorted with a smile.

I had no idea why I even said it or where those words came from or how. I was even taken by surprise with myself. Was it because I felt Charlotte was challenging me? And I certainly didn’t want to back down when I didn’t even do something wrong.

The girls sniggered except for Charlotte whose eyes bored into mine. She sauntered closer to me, and the others blocked my way in case I turned tail. But of course I wouldn’t. Libby didn’t teach me to back out from a fight, if there was one.

At the moment, I guess Charlotte was provoking a fight.

“You, midget. How dare you imply that Dom likes you? You’re just new here. You don’t know him or us! He doesn’t know you, so don’t even get flattered by a little conversation with him.” She almost dug her fingernail in my shoulder as she poked me with it a few times.

“True, I don’t know you, but you don’t know me either. Besides, I didn’t imply anything. It was a rhetorical question. You do know what rhetorical question is, don’t you?” I retorted with a taunting smile.

Her jaw hung, and she scoffed. The two girls with her looked at me and her, back and forth. Their mouths opened, too. They were indeed speechless.

“Well, then excuse me. I have to go to my class.” I moved past between her and Abdalla, brushing against them in the process. Their floral scents did not escape from my sensitive nose. When something occurred to me, I stopped just at the doorway and faced them again. “By the way, your calling me a midget doesn’t offend me. And remember, small or no matter how tiny things are, they can hurt you.” I gave her a chilling smile, which made her eyes throw daggers at me.

Ah, sh*t! Why did I even try to pick a fight with her, too? And now, I’m really going to be late!

I dashed down the hall and followed the wide curvy stairway up to the third floor. There were occasional students that chatted while seated on the steps. They were laughing and staring at me as I passed by them. Well, that was my effect wherever I happen to be. People would just gawp until I was out of sight. Sometimes, I would act paranoid, because there might be a possibility that one or more of them, if not all, were demons that my mom and I wanted to get away from.

Just as I turned to the left, I almost bumped unto someone. Good that I had good instincts, so I stopped before it happened. But that scent I recognized before I even saw his face already kicked in my brain.

He gasped lightly upon seeing me emerge from the corner. It must be inaudible for others, but I did hear it. I did notice since I was fifteen that I had more sensitive senses than normal human beings. Libby just said I was special. Well, I took it for granted because all mothers would say their daughters or sons were all special anyway. More unique than others.

“Aria!” he exclaimed and smiled charmingly.

My name rolled in his tongue like it was something precious, resulting to my heart’s cartwheeling right now. Because of it, my breathing picked up a faster pace.

“Oh, hi! I’m in a hurry. Sorry!” I hesitated for a moment though.

“Oh, no need to say sorry.”

I halted to look up at him. He was really tall that I barely reached his chest. “Thank you! I-I guess I’ll see you around!” I dashed once again. But before I entered the class hall where my next subject was, I smiled at him, as he followed me with his eyes. The corners of his lips moved upward.

Oh, God! Why is he so charming?

I mentally shook my head. My classmates, about twenty of them, looked my way as I moved down the stairs to go to the first row. I greeted the professor, who happened to be late as well.

Lucky me. I wasn’t late for class per se.

I bit my lower lip to hide a smile. When I looked at Prof. Dean again after sitting down, his dark eyes focused on me as though I just offended him, and for some reason, goose bumps rose on my skin.

He can’t be a demon, can he?

“Are you the transferee we’ve been hearing about?” A girl to my right asked me, making me break eye contact with our creepy bald and slouchy professor, who was in his fifties.

“You heard what?” I inquired with confusion.

“That Dominick talked with at the cafeteria?” Her voice was low while our professor arranged his things on the desk.

I slightly furrowed my brows. “Well, maybe?”

She smiled and winked at me. Somehow, she eased my paranoid nerves at the moment.

“Silence please,” Prof. Dean admonished us, throwing sharp glances at me and the girl who talked to me. Then, he started to call our names.

Well, I hoped he wouldn’t put a target mark on my forehead once he knew my name and pick on me for the rest of the semester.