Manifestation

It was dark. The power to the shabby school had gone out as a result of the violent fight between sky and earth outside. Rain could be heard beating itself against the building until the bell rang and highschoolers flooded the hallway like water bursting from a dam. 1

The hallways were now filled with laughter and talk of who-liked-who. The generator lights flicked on and provided just enough light that you could see the ground in front of you as you walked.2

Instantly, the crammed hallway became a two way street filled with kids trying to work their way to class.3

Libby stood at her locker looking like a twist on punk-rock and girly-girl in her curve-hugging black t-shirt displaying the name of some band no one had ever heard of and loose jeans with obviously accidental rips exposing her Indian skin in various places. Green converses with multiple pink and black shoelaces peaked out from the bottom of her jeans and brought the only color to her attire.4

She was kicking her Philosophy book, trying to get it to fit in her unorganized locker. A couple papers fell out and she picked them up, tossing them carelessly in and swinging the locker door shut with her right foot as she balanced on her other, books in hand.5

Task completed, she swung around and began crossing into the right lane, opposite from her locker. At the same time, Jay walked through an opening in the traffic towards her with a determined look on his face. Libby was jolted from her thoughts when he ran into her, pushing her back towards her locker with his body. She slammed against it and the door rattled from the force, but it was nothing compared to the sound of her books hitting the chipped linoleum that echoed throughout the entire hallway.6

Jay held her pinned against the locker as he kissed with almost an aggression while Libby’s hands gripped his face. If it wasn’t for that fact that she had to keep her nails clipped for the guitar, it might have hurt as hard as she was grasping.7

Their lips did not quiver as they tried to make two different dances conform to create one. It was the best kind of example of evolution; how life could evolve to overcome its obstacles.8

Mid dip, Jays lips untangled themselves from Libby’s and in one fluid motion, he released her completely and turned, disappearing into the masses without looking back.9

An image of a man dropping his partner before bringing her back up from the dip flashed through Libby’s mind, and she stood there for a moment, staring at the place among the crowd that she had last seen him.10

Everything has been so loud when he had kissed her, and it was loud now, too, but this was different. This was only an echo of that sound. Because it seemed like she wasn’t even there.11

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Jay pushed, now directing his former aggression towards running away from her. He could feel her eyes trying to follow him and as soon as he had shut himself safely away from her in his second hour class, a small smile formed on his swollen lips. It slowly grew until it was a grin, and then a laugh.13

He stood pressed against the classroom door and laughing while the few people in the room glanced at each other in a mix of concern and curiosity until someone opened the door and he stumbled backwards into them.14

Libby froze as Jay righted himself and turned to apologize to whomever he has fallen in to and started when he saw Libby standing there at a loss for words or movement.15

They stared at each other for a few moments, which, suspended, felt like an eternity, and all traces of a smile were gone from his face. Her black eyes probed his cobalt with questions before her gaze fell from his perfect mo-hawked head and slowly slid down his body, to his strong yet vulnerable neck, his Zooyork shirt, his baggy jeans, and his DC’s, until they hit the floor.16

He looked at the Psychology book in her hands and it slowly registered that he had entered the wrong classroom. He glanced at her, gaze still glued to the ground, and wanted to grab her hand and squeeze it. But instead, he carefully removed her from the doorway and walked back into the dimmed hallway, which cleared as the bell rang and he was late.17