Pristine Beauty Pt1

Pristine Beauty

He gazed at the picture for a prolonged period of time, noticing the feeling of hopelessness creeping up upon him. It was the front cover of a new issue, but still, there seemed to be nothing. He tried his best to acknowledge the picture, staring at it, searching for some spark deep down in his lonely heart. But unfortunately, no. There was nothing. After another few minutes of silently looking, he gave a sigh and gave up. He sat upright, the cut out in hand, feeling just as sad as any other day. Slowly, he stood up and trudged towards his bin, before crumpling the picture in his hand and dropping it into the bin.
“...No good...” he said. He then grabbed the remote for the television and once again sat in his green leather chair, beginning the same old channel surfing. As usual, there was nothing good on. Satellite dishes were hard to install into church steeples, especially as he lived in one. The satellite he had was stolen by his friend and poorly super glued to the outside of the steeple, with rough wiring snaking across the outside walls and through one of the large windows (which didn’t have glass in them, making the room very cold) slinking across the floor and attached to the back of the TV. Upon closer inspection of the wires, you could easily see that they were a variety of different wires taped together.
The TV screen suddenly became blank, the black and white snowy visual on the screen. He sighed again, then, noticed a large snapping sound outside. A second later, there was a large crash. He quickly stood up, and looked out the window in dismay. The satellite dish had given up and fell off of the wall, leaving the wires dangling from the wall. There was someone standing next to it.
“Dude, satellite’s down!” he shouted up.
“I know Alex. Sheesh!” he shouted back down. Alex, the person standing next to the un-repairable dish, suddenly walked into the church. Two minutes later, and he reappeared by the set of stairs leading into the room, lodged by the side of the messy room (which in all, contained a bath, a shower, a bed, a TV, the armchair and a bunch of magazines and newspapers across the floor. The room is the belfry of the church.
“Hey Ray” he said. “Everything all right? Whole town can hear you moaning” he said. Ray (the one looking at the picture), didn’t realize he was moaning.
“I wasn’t moaning” he said back. Alex shook his head.
“I heard you” he said. “You were all like...ohhhh!!! Ohhhhh!!” he said, breaking off into imitations of someone moaning. Ray got quite annoyed.
“Cut it out” he said. Alex stopped, noticing something was definitely wrong with Ray.
“Ray...what’s been bothering you?” he asked. “You’ve been snapping at a lot of people lately and you’re constantly locking yourself in your room. What’s wrong?” he asked Ray was about to sigh and answer his question, but suddenly noticed something.
“...Hey, how’d you get in here anyway?” he asked. He then noticed something behind Alex. “Is that a battering ram???” Alex smiled and showed it to him, holding it as if he were going to batter Ray.
“I know! This is the Batter Master 6000!” he announced, showing the white shaped tough plastic battering ram. “It’s the new craze in tough parental love!” Ray then grabbed it and threw it aside, not being hindered by the weight.
“I don’t care about that” he said. “Besides, you want to ask me something?” Alex looked at his discarded battering ram, and then looked at Ray.
“You’re depressed” he said. “You’re even snapping at me Ray! I’m your best friend!” he said. Ray felt himself crumble inside. He stepped (or slumped) towards Alex.
“Oh I know Alex!” he said in grief. “I AM depressed!! Oh...” he moaned, slumping into his armchair.
“Hey, you’re moaning again!” Alex pointed out. “See?” He realized this wasn’t helping Ray’s problem and decided to sit down. He grabbed his battering ram and sat down on it, the ram being the same height as the chair. As he sat in the handle indentation, it was as if he were sitting on a chair himself.
“Okay, I’ll stop making jokes” he said. “Now, tell me what’s wrong” Ray looked down.
“Can...I trust you?” he asked.
“I don’t know actually...” Alex said back. Ray growled and folded his arms angry, looking away. Alex, notoriously known for being bumble headed at times, realized his error yet again.
“Hang on...No! I mean, yes! Yes you can trust me!” he said quickly. Ray unfolded his arms and sighed.
“Well...thing is...I’m lovesick” he said.
“Huh?” Alex asked.
“I...I want a girlfriend, simple as that” he said. “I’ve been alive for fourteen years and so have you. We’re both getting to that time in life where we need...you know...a partner” he said. Alex didn’t know what he was talking about. He was just staring at him. Ray sighed.
“Of course, to you, finding a corner in a circular tower would be a more interesting topic to talk about, you dolt” he said.
“Hey, cut down on the offence!” Alex complained. Ray sighed once more.
“Sorry Alex...I’m just...I just find this hard” he said. “Isn’t there a single Nhost in this damned country who wouldn’t turn me down, not forget even being attractive???” he shouted.
Now would be an appropriate time to explain what a Nhost is. They look like Halloween ghosts. Not the types who float around, but the Halloween dress, which is a rag with two holes for eyes and a drawn on mouth. Except with Nhost’s, they are a species of their own which seem to be these living rags. They have black eyes with red dots inside them and black mouths. They have feet and haven’t got any visible arms, although they do actually have hidden arms, which may prove that Nhost’s are proper ghosts who dress up in their own fashion (which is a rag with certain accessories). For instance, Ray wears a party hat on his head and also had a bow stuck to him. Alex had a blue sheet with a gold chain around his neck. To be simple, just think of Halloween ghosts’ dresses running around.
“But what about the models that appear weekly on the Nhostland Mail?” Alex asked. There were plenty pf these issues all over the floor, with many of the front pages cut out and certain sections removed from the magazine for Ray’s unsuccessful viewing pleasure (no, not THAT pleasure!!!)
“They...just don’t strike me” he said. Alex seemed a little bewildered by this.
“But they’re the prettiest models in this entire country! They strike me...” he said. Ray begun to get impatient.
“Oh, I haven’t got the time to discuss who’s hot and who’s not!” he snapped again. “How am I going to sort my problem? Tell me!” he snapped again. Alex felt a little intimidated.
“Whoa, calm down!” he pleaded. “Take deep breaths man. You’re getting real rough here” Ray took his advice and closed his eyes. But as he opened them, a tear or two came out. Ray felt completely hopeless.
“Oh, what am I to do?” he said, sniffing. “Do I have to waste away here?”
“Well, isn’t there anyone in the village who strikes your fancy? There are quite a lot of girls your age here in Sturmsville” he said.
“I know them too well” Alex he said. “It doesn’t feel right if I went out with one of them. Besides, there’s only one girl I fancied out of them and she left because her parents cashed in their entire money on a large streamliner and attempted to drive it on land. Her parents got jailed and now she’s somewhere in the hands of a different family far away from here” he explained.
“How’d you know that?” Alex asked. Ray pointed to a magazine on the floor. Alex picked it up and flicked through the cut up pages to the only section intact.
“Hmm...Mr. Wallaby told the press: I thought it was a good idea!” he said, reading out the phrase from the magazine. Ray sighed.
“Forget it Alex. The night’s coming. It’s time to sleep” he said.
“You sure you’re going to be okay? You’re not gonna start moaning again, are you?” he asked. Ray went to the bed and lied on it.
“I won’t” he said.
“Good night then” Alex said. He begun to walk down the stairs, but Ray called for him. He walked backwards up the stairs and looked at Ray.
“Take your battering ram” he said. “Don’t ever knock my door down with it again” Alex grabbed it and heaved it up onto his shoulder. He nodded, and then quietly went down the stairs and out of the church. Ray then gave the last wistful sigh of the day and slowly slipped into an uncomfortable sleep.
The twilight followed the night and Ray awoke, feeling exactly the same as he did the night before. He could hear something whizzing outside. Tiredly, he slumped out of bed, landing on the newest issue of the Nhostland Mail and slowly got up. He took a step forward and slipped, falling right back down again. His head struck the floor and a dull pain rung through his head. Now throbbing, Ray slowly got back up again, before carefully navigating his way through the scattered magazines and towards the window, where he looked out. He felt a slight feeling of happiness as he saw Alex screw driving the busted satellite dish back onto the wall.
“...How much do I owe you now?” he said. Alex jumped in fright, not seeing Ray and almost fell off his ladder. He slipped off, but grabbed a footstep before plummeting to certain pain and comedic grief. He quickly got back up into his normal position.
“It’s my granddad’s screwdriver” he said. He’s not around anymore, but he gave it to me when I was a little boy” he said. It looked more tacky than Alex’s usual screwdriver.
“But what about your own?” Ray asked. Alex took a deep breath, but before he could say anything, Ray stopped him.
“Actually, don’t tell me” he said. “I don’t think I want to know” Alex looked down a little disappointed, then screwed the last screw into the wall. Suddenly, the blank TV screen (that was never turned off for a strange reason) started to buzz and a weak image of some game show faded onto the screen.
“Thanks Alex” he said. Alex, for some strange reason very good at mechanics, nodded and slid down the ladder to the floor.
“Hey, how about we go into town so I can cheer you up some more, huh?” Alex shouted.
“Well, I don’t know...” Ray said. “Last time you attempted to cheer me up was when you wanted to blow my cake up with a cherry bomb. You shoved a dynamite stick in it, disguised as a candle and your excuse afterwards was that you couldn’t tell the difference between the two!” Ray complained. “Still, I am still kinda sad. As long as no explosives are included, I’ll be happy to. Just hang on a second” he added. Then, Ray threw himself off the window he was leaning out of and walked down the stairs. He unlocked the door and let himself out into a large stairwell leading down to the main room of the church. He slid down the rusty banister and opened the door to enter a large hall. He was on the balcony at the front. Walking across the walkway that led to the end of the hall, he took the flight of steps at the end down to the ground floor, where at the top end of the church was a large statue of himself. Ray walked past it and down the large hall to the front, before pushing open the two large doors and to the outside, feeling the cold draught blowing into the church. It didn’t affect him as he walked up to Alex.
“So, what the plan?” Ray asked. Alex had a blank stare on his face. Ray suspected this already and rubbed his face.
“Don’t tell me I walked all that way...” he said.
“Hang on...it’s on the tip of my tongue...” Alex said. Ray sighed and rubbed his face again.
“This isn’t helping Alex” he said. “What good is a plan when you forget what it is!?!” Suddenly, a spark ignited in Alex’s brain dead head.
“I got it!” he shouted.
“You remembered?” Ray asked.
“Yeah! We’re gonna go into town to...to...to hang out!” he shouted. Ray once more felt duped. But he had been through all of this with his friend so many times, he thought of it as funny. But in the mood he was currently in, he only got a little more annoyed and plenty of sarcastic and mean jokes in his arsenal to hit Alex with.
“...Hang out?” he asked.
“Yeah! I’ve heard there’s someone new coming in to town today! Why don’t we go down and greet them?” he said. Ray, for once, agreed with Alex and the both begun to walk down the path going away from the church. They trekked into the dark and threatening woods (well, only threatening to anyone else. To Nhosts, they would be like any old friendly forest), full of mysterious dark spirits wandering the trees. Besides, they went through the woods and took the dried mud path down to Sturmsville.
Soon, they were there. Strumsville was a small town with roughly twenty houses there, all shaped in a sort of oval shape with two small gaps at the ends for the way to the steeple and the exit/entry. In the middle of all those houses would be the occasional dark tree, crows, and people wandering around in its empty space. Quite peaceful to be honest.
Both Ray and Alex walked down the path, Ray in front and Alex in the back, walking single filed down the cliff to the town. As they entered, they could see that most of the population (around 50-100. Some lived in different areas outside Sturmsville) had roughly gathered around the entrance gate.
“Hmm...are they greeting the new guy?” Ray asked.
“Looks like it man. Let’s get a closer look!” Alex suggested. The two nodded and joined the roughly assembled crowd. They stood in the crowd for a few minutes waiting. As they did, someone approached Ray.
“Aren’t you that dude who owns the church?” he asked.
“Yep” Ray answered.
“Isn’t life boring there?” the person asked. Then, without another word, he walked away.
“Forget him Ray” Alex said.
“I already have” Ray said. Then, everyone looked at the gateway into Sturmsville. A carriage drawn by large black horses slowly made its way through the gates and took a turn towards a house with a ‘SOLD’ sign on it, parking a few meters away from it. Instantly, the crowd spread out and resumed life as normal. But Ray watched on.
“Please watch your step as you exit the carriage. Thank you for choosing our services! Have a nice day!” a voice said inside. Then, a posh type of Nhost jumped out of the carriage. He had a large top hat and a monocle and was gripping a cane. He was garbed in a large white cloak, hiding his body.
“Hmm...The house looks better in person” he said. Then, what may have been his wife popped out, the same shape as most of the Nhosts, but noticeably larger and thinner and donning a red rag instead of Ray’s white.
“Oh yes darling” she said. “This is a great getaway home, isn’t it? Come on Atlanta! It’s time to move into our holiday home, even though the holiday ends tomorrow, ah hoo hoo hoo!” she said. Then, a third person popped out. But at once, something struck Ray’s heart. His heart skipped a beat upon setting his eyes upon the third Nhost.
She was smaller than her parents and wore a light blue rag on her. Where a person’s ears would be were two sapphire coloured ribbons tied elegantly and on her chest a small necklace with a pretty diamond on it. She wore slightly darker (but still light) shoes. But what struck Ray the most was her face. She had quite fragile eyes and her mouth wasn’t jagged like the rest. It was very small and her eyes shone with a timid-ness hat melted Ray’s heart at the first sight. Ray almost fell flat on his face.
But this moment didn’t last long. Shyly, she looked around, before following her parents quickly into the new house, ending Ray’s little dream. But Alex had already stumbled upon Ray’s daydreaming.
“Hey, you like that girl Ray?” he asked. Ray instantly put his hand over his mouth.
“Shut up!” he said harshly. “Don’t say that out loud!”
“But...why? Do you...do you like her?” Alex asked, quietly this time. Ray blushed.
“When I looked at her, I...I...just felt strange...a way I’ve never felt before...” he said.
“So...is this gonna affect the day’s plan?” he asked.
“Alex, we’ve just been through the day’s plan” he said. “You said we’d see the newcomer. And we just have. What else do you think that we’re gonna do?” he asked. Alex shrugged his shoulders. Ray then slowly turned to the shop.
“I...I’m going to go buy something” he said. “Coming?” Alex shook his head.
“Nah, I’ll go back to my house. See you later Ray! Give us a call when your satellite dish falls down again, okay?” he said. Then, he walked off and retreated into one of the houses. Ray, knowing he was by himself now, started to walk to the shop, shuffling in his pocket for money, knowing exactly what he wanted to buy.
After buying his mirror, he placed it in an empty space in the room. He quickly cleared his room of any rubbish and slinked into his bed for an early night, thinking only about Atlanta, the girl he had just seen.
It was the first comfortable night he had had in ages. He never slept better. All he thought about was Atlanta, playing songs in his head and imagining himself in different scenarios with her. But he was interrupted by a rude awakening, introduced with a dull shout coming from outside.
“Ray! Ray!!! Wake up!!” a voice shouted. Ray felt so tempted to pick up the bed and throw it down on top of Alex, whose voice was obvious to notice. It couldn’t have been anyone else. Ray got out of bed quicker than usual and looked out.
“What do you want Alex!?!” he shouted down.
“Can I come in?” he asked.
“I want to talk!” Alex shouted back up. Ray gave up.
“Okay, come in” he said. Alex then nodded and walked into the church. Ray walked down his flight of stairs and undid the lock. He then opened the door, only to see Alex readying his battering ram.
“Oh...sorry” he said.
“Get rid of the battering ram Alex. With it, you completely destroy the meaning of door knocking. And with it, I will destroy you if I were to find it in your hands again” he said. Alex dropped the weirdly light but massive battering ram and walked into the room. As he walked up the stairs, he noticed how clean the room was.
“You finally cleaned up?” he asked. Ray nodded as he climbed the flight of stairs back up.
“That’s right” Ray answered.
“But why? You always used to pine about your love problems and...Hey, is that a new mirror?” he asked, his attention completely diverted. As Ray was confirming his question, he started to walk towards the mirror and started pulling poses.
“Forget about the mirror” Ray said. Alex turned around.
“Why’d you buy a mirror?” he asked. Ray knew why, but it was something he didn’t want to tell Alex.
“Why should I tell you?” he asked. Alex put his hands behind his back and looked down, kicking the air softly.
“You...might be hiding something from me?” he answered. Ray sighed.
“You’re my best friend. I wouldn’t hide barely anything from you, even though you can be an idiot at times” Ray said sympathetically.
“Barely, as in, almost everything?” Alex asked.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Ray pestered, becoming strangely desperate and talking fast. Alex looked at Ray with suspicion.
“There’s no need to be defensive about it” he said. But Ray snapped at him.
“I’m not being defensive!!!” he snapped. Alex became quiet and looked at Ray with a hint of fright. Ray felt sympathetic and sighed again.
“Oh...what do you care?” he asked.
“It’s just weird you decided to buy a mirror for some time” he said. “And why’s you clean the room?”
“It’s not your room”
“So? I want to know why you cleaned it”
“Because it was messy”
“Dude, the room had been messy for ages”
“So? I thought it was time to clean up”
“You were too depressed the clean up!”
“I wasn’t depressed!!!” Ray snapped again. But Alex began to act like Sherlock Holmes. He paced the room.
“Suspicion oozes out of you my friend” he said.
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“In one day, you buy a mirror and clean your room”
“Alex, you’re acting stupid again. Cut it out”
“But why? A room that used to be this messy would take ages to clean up! If I was right, then it must have been quite late while you waited for the delivery to arrive by carriage!”
“I cleaned the room while I waited”
“Liar. I knocked to see if you were in again. There wasn’t an answer”
“Alex, don’t make me shut you up”
“Plus, the main reason for using a mirror is self inspection. It reminds people of how nice they look, or something that can be used to help one person become nice looking”
“Shut the hell up!!!”
“A nice looking room and a nice looking person...there can be only one thing!!!”
“Don’t make me do this Alex!”
“You must be...”
“Don’t say it!!!”
“You must be...”
“ALEX!!!” Alex then stood triumphantly.
“You must be going for a JOB INTERVIEW!!! I knew it!!! You couldn’t hide it from me!!!” he shouted in victory.
“Alex, shut up now or...hang on, what did you say?” Ray asked in confusion, still angry.
“Everyone has to look nice to go to a job interview! What do you want to be, a plumber?” he asked. Ray couldn’t believe the dumbness of his friend.
“...Alex, I’m too young to be a plumber” he said. Alex looked around a little.
“But...but you cleaned the room and bought a mirror...it just doesn’t make sense” he said. Ray became furious. So furious, he forgot about what he was really doing.
“You ditz!!!” he shouted. “I bought a mirror and cleaned the room because I want to go out with Atlanta!!!...I mean....Oh crap!!!” he shouted. Alex’s eyes widened.
“I knew it!!” he shouted again as is he discovered America.
“Alex, no, that’s not what I meant!!! I mean...shut up!” he shouted. But it was too late. Alex knew.
“Hang on...who’s Atlanta?” he asked. Ray spotted this as an opportunity to cover it all up.
“Oh...did I say Atlanta? I meant a plant...a” he said.
“A planta?” Alex asked. “What’s that?” Ray thought quickly.
“Well...it’s...a sort of hat you wear...which has a plant on the top...and the guy who invented it had the second name Planta...so...yeah” he said.
“Oh...that’s cool. Oh, didn’t you know school starts tomorrow?” Alex pointed out.
“Yes, I knew” Ray said.
“That new girl, Atlanta, the one you fancy’s starting there tomorrow as well. She’s the same year as us” Alex explained.
“Oh, cool...wait...WHAT!?!” Ray shouted.
“...What?” Alex asked.
“How did you know I fancied Atlanta???” Ray asked angrily.
“Oh, you said stuff like feeling things you never felt before yesterday. It’s obviously love Ray. I saw you staring your eyes out at her. Good thing she didn’t notice, huh? Heh heh...urk!” he said. But the ‘urk’ came when Ray grabbed him by the chest and pulled him closer.
“You haven’t...told anyone, have you?” he asked.
“No...No” Alex said, frightened again. Ray then let him go and patted his shoulder.
“I’m sorry...it’s a sensitive situation that has to be handled with maturity. Can I trust you to keep a promise?” Ray asked.
“Yes...wait...um...yeah, sure you can” Alex said. Ray didn’t trust him at that point.
“That doesn’t sound trustworthy to me” Ray said.
“Why is it so important? She’s just a girl” Alex said. Ray then thought of something dastardly that would make him stay quiet until the rest of time,
“Hey Alex” he said. “If you tell anyone about this, I’ll tell the whole world that your real name is Alexander van Schnappowitz!!!” Ray threatened. Alex’s eyes widened.
“How did you know that???” Alex said in frustration.
“You told me...when you were four!” Ray said, feeling victorious.
“Oh...fine. But you tell no one!” Alex shouted.
“Right” Ray said, closing the conversation.
The following day had come and both Ray and Alex walked together down to school, where they saw no sign of Atlanta. That was, until they lined up to go into the classroom, where Atlanta, looking the same as the last time walked up to the back, clenching a file and a lunchbox. The line was permitted to enter the classroom and everyone took their seats, where the teacher, Marilyn, stood. Marilyn was like a naked body of a woman, but she was all purple (no shades or lighting effects distinguishing the unmentionables, just dark purple) and the bottom half of her body seemed to sink into the floor. She wore white gloves and hat some sort of red and white witch hat on her head. She lad long blonde hair that hid her eyes, but her nose was barely noticeable and she had a pink smile.
“Good morning class. Please sit anywhere you like so we may begin the lesson” she said. Everyone begun to take their seats. Ray and Alex took their usual seats, one behind the other with Ray in front. The desks could fit two people so many friends paired up. Ray then watched as Atlanta was the last to walk in. Marilyn then closed the door. Ray’s heartbeat begun to speed as she innocently looked around for a seat. But almost everyone had been taken up, when Ray noticed there was an empty spot next to him. As luck and coincidence would have it, Atlanta spotted the empty seat, gave a shy smile and walked towards it. She spoke to Ray for the first time.
“Um...excuse me?” she asked in a light voice. Ray, who felt himself hot under the collar and quite uncomfortable, turned around, concealing everything within.
“Y-yes?” he asked, as if he didn’t expect her to show up. Atlanta cleared her throat, both hands still gripped on the lunchbox and the file tucked neatly behind the arms.
“I...my name is Atlanta. Is it okay if I sit here?” she asked. Ray heart melted with each word she said, her voice going right through him like a mesmerising melody.
“Oh...sure, of course” he said quietly. Atlanta gave another shy smile and nervously sat down on the empty seat. The desk was small and Ray never expected to be so close to her on the first day. Marilyn then tapped a glass that was on her table and ordered silence.
“Right class. Did you all enjoy your holiday?” she asked. The class nodded, then she turned her attention to Atlanta.
“And I see we have a new student joining us today. Will you tell us your name?” she asked. Everyone turned to look at Atlanta. She instantly looked down in shyness and felt frightened.
“A...Atlanta....miss.....” she said. Marilyn noticed she was nervous.
“Atlanta, is it? That’s a lovely name. Everyone say hello to Atlanta!” Marilyn said in an encouraging voice. But instead of a ‘hello!” she got a “hello...” or “uh...”, which wasn’t very much of a confidence booster. She slightly nodded and looked at Marilyn.
“Well, since you moved over the holidays, you haven’t seemed to have missed any key important work, so we can resume as always. Okay class, we are on the topic of English, so get your books out and copy down today’s assignment” she commanded (but kindly). Light chatter burst out and everyone started to shift a little as they got their books out. Marilyn, already knowing that Atlanta would not have a book, handed her a nice new one, much better than Ray’s older, not so attractive one. When everyone was ready, Marilyn cleared her throat.
“Well, if you remember, a few days before the holiday, we had all read The Street Lawyer by famous law-thriller writer John Grisham, and today, we are going to have some paired work going on. The task today is to describe what type of character Mordecai Green is and then write down in your books. Is that all clear to you all?” she asked. The charter remained quiet. Atlanta seemed enlightened.
“The Street Lawyer’s my favourite book!” she said to Marilyn. Marilyn seemed delighted about this.
“Is it really?” she asked a little in disbelief. “Well, there goes the work I prepared! If you’ve read it, then you can continue like everyone else!” she said gleefully, putting her hands together. Atlanta then turned to see Ray writing.
“Um...what’s your name?” she asked. Ray felt another wave of heat pass over him. He looked at Atlanta, trying not to blush.
“Uh...Ray” he said.
“Ray? That’s a nice name. It’s nice to meet you!” she said, somewhat happy. Ray wiped his brow, just in case he was sweating, which he was not.
“Well...why did you move here?” Ray asked.
“My parents were facing financial troubles where I used to live. My dad’s new job is being the headmaster here” she said. Ray then remembered a few weeks ago about their old headmaster’s retirement. He thought about the mysterious man who stepped out of the carriage. He tried to come to terms with calling him the headmaster.
“Was he always a headmaster?” Ray asked.
“Well, yes. But the school he used to work in, my old school, and well...it burnt down” she said quietly.
“Burnt? As in...A fire broke out?” Ray asked.
“My dad was seriously burnt and had to have his legs removed” she said. “But the doctors gave him a staff that would make him fly and various other helpful things. He wears a cape to make it look like he’s walking, but he’s not” she said. “...Please don’t tell anyone about this” she added. Ray nodded and the conversation somehow just ended. As Ray put head down to work, so did Atlanta. The two exchanged no more words, as if Ray was taking some sort of break.
An hour later, the bell rung and everyone retired to lunchtime. They begun to flood the yard, where Ray and Alex walked out.
“I heard it went well. But gee, weren’t you quiet for the most of it!” Alex pointed out.
“I...I don’t know what happened” Ray said. “I guess I just got...got too nervous” he said.
“You don’t want to create the wrong impression. Just take it easy, it looks like she’s here to stay until the term ends. If you really want to go out with her, don’t do it so soon. She might get frightened out of her life and will never say yes ever” he explained. But Ray was watching her. He watched as she took a seat by herself. Next to a tall tree at the corner of the yard.
“Oh...another opportunity” Alex said.
“Should I?” Ray asked. “I’ve been sitting next to her all lesson time. Are you sure she won’t get the impression that I’m trying to...you know...get her attention?” he asked.
“Well, it’s your call...wait...she’s calling you over. I’m off on the swings. Good luck!” Alex said. Ray looked at Alex, and then started to walk towards Atlanta. As he did, she opened her lunchbox. She was sitting on a bench, just enough space for two.
“Would you like to eat with me Ray?” she asked. Ray nodded and took a seat next to her, feeling nervous. He didn’t want to blow it.
“So...have you made any new friends?” he asked. Atlanta looked around.
“That Alex person...he’s quite funny” she said. “I wouldn’t say very handsome, but he was making the person next to him laugh. His jokes are funny” she said. Ray had seen the funny side of Alex before. His jokes were funny (What’s green and invisible? *puts hand out* This cabbage)
“...Nice lunchbox” Ray said. But Atlanta had noticed something different.
“Ray...where’s your lunch?” she asked. Then, Ray suddenly remembered. He quickly opened his bag and shuffled through the contents, but found nothing but work. He had forgotten his lunchbox, the poor thing.
“Oh...shoot” he said. “I forgot my food. Ugh...and just when I’m starting to get hungry” he said. Atlanta felt a little sorry for him. Then, she looked at her lunchbox and gazed at the cookie that sat on the top. She took it out and looked at it. A delicious waft emerged from it, one that seemed to catch Ray’s attention.
“...I...I’m not that hungry...you can have this” she said. Ray turned around to see the cookie. She had given him such a kind offer; there was one thing he could say.
“...No...Keep it. It’s yours” he said. “I can last. Honest”
“But...I can hear your stomach rumbling” she said. She softly put a hand to his stomach which caused Ray to blush at once. Atlanta noticed that.
“Oh...sorry” she said, giving a little giggle. “I just wanted to see if I could feel your belly rumbling as well” she said. Ray started to stammer a little, becoming extremely nervous.
“O-oh.....p-please...it’s...I...it’s nothing...r-really...heh...” he said, putting a hand to his face to try and hide his blushing. Then, she offered him the cookie once more.
“Please...have it. For me. I don’t want you to get hungry. I have a lot more food to keep me going, that’s for sure” she said. Ray looked at the contents in her lunchbox. A peanut butter sandwich, an apple, a packet of crisps, a small selection of savoury biscuits, a sausage roll, a couple of mints and a bottle of orange squash. And the cookie. Ray decided to give up trying to be tough.
“Oh...okay” he said. Then, he took the cookie and literally guzzled it down in less than a few bites. Atlanta was amazed at how fast he ate it.
“Wow!” she said. “You really are hungry! Do you want more?” she asked. Ray, in love with the taste of the chocolate chips inside the weirdly large cookie, finished obliterating the cookie and turned to Atlanta, wiping his mouth.
“More?” he asked. “No, I really couldn’t...” But Atlanta offered him the sausage roll. Ray felt even more tempted. If manners didn’t exist, he would have said “Let there be food!”
“...Can I?” he asked, his stomach begging for more. She nodded and Ray slowly took the sausage roll and made short work of it. But disaster struck.
Ray was about to let out a breath of relief, but he realized something stopped him. He tried breathing in, but he failed to. In an instant, he realized that a large, half chewed fragment of sausage roll had lodged down his windpipe. He grabbed his throat and started to attempt saving his own life.
“Ray? Ray, are you okay??? You’re choking!” Atlanta pointed out. Ray stood up and was bent down, but Atlanta closed her lunchbox and grabbed it with both hands. She then brought it into the air and slammed it across Ray’s back with great force. Such a force, the sausage roll piece came flying out and plopped onto the floor, motionless. Ray fell to his knees and gasped for breath.
“Are you okay??” Atlanta asked in shock. Ray stumbled to his feet.
“Sorry Atlanta...urgh...that was painful” he said.
“Sorry...I acted out of worry. Well...I have to go now. I’ll see you soon, okay?” she explained. Then, she walked off, her lunchbox now in one hand. Ray looked up, holding his throat, before sitting down and taking a few breaths. From behind the tree appeared Alex.
“You okay?” he asked. Ray jumped in fright and turned to look at Alex.
“Alex?” he asked. “What’s with you? You’re always...um...nearby” he said.
“I know. I’m always here for you. Me and my battering ram” he said.
“Which you won’t be bringing near my church ever again. You understand?” Ray said, fed up with the battering ram. Alex nodded.
“Well, lessons start in a few minutes. Want to line up?” he asked.
“How did I handle that situation?” Ray asked.
“Well...I say you did alright. But why in the world would you refuse such a tempting cookie? It’s absurd!” he pointed out.
“Alex, you’re absurd” Ray said. “Besides, I was starving, but I don’t want to look like a pig. Luckily for you, your social status is so low, not even you care about it anymore. You’re just like some sort of comic relief” he explained. Alex felt proud.
“Wow...a comic relief” Alex said, acting as if he had won an award.
“Forget it. Let’s go” Ray said. Alex nodded and the two went. But from within the school, the man with the top hat and monocle was looking.
“Hmm...My daughter Atlanta seems to get along with that boy quite well. It’s nice to know that she’s making new friends in her first day here at school” he said to himself. He then looked at his staff, with in the gem, replayed the events of the fire. Then, he looked around the walls.
“...I might use the school funds to buy more fire extinguishers. I’ll lose my arms next” he said to himself again, before going back to his desk.

END OF PART 1