Part two!

Ashley trotted off to tryouts, and Jen continued to slowly place her things in her bag from her locker. It was the end of the school day, but no one at Washington High ever went home on time. They all stayed for a bit, talking with friends, cleaning their lockers, going off to practices and tryouts. Jennifer was just about to leave, having closed her locker. Her khaki messenger bag was slung over her good shoulder—the right one—and her hair was caught underneath the strap, since she had no way to remove it. It was bothering her terribly—her almost-waist-length hair was pulling her head downwards. She slowly removed the bag and used her hand to sweep all of her smooth, jet-black hair over her left shoulder, when—1

Smack!2

Jen’s head was immediately banged into the head of another human—she slipped on the slick, tiled floors, managing not to bump her arm. Textbooks, journals, pencils, gum—and to Jen’s embarrassment—tampons, along with other odds and ends exploded out of her bag. Jen winced slightly but her on comer was also lying on the floor. 3

“Oooh! Oh! I’m so sorry!” The girl squealed, jumping up. Before Jen could think, she was pulled upright, by a surprising strong arm. Jennifer stood, astonished for a second as the girl began shoving things back into her bag (“I can’t believe I was so clumsy! Are you okay?”), but as she adjusted slowly, Jen took a good look at the girl.4

From what she could see, this girl was short—maybe five foot two (American, heh). Her lack of height was paired with the smallest body Jen had ever seen. She looked like she weighed about ninety pounds. The girl’s skin was clear and a beautiful, a dark caramel colour, with hair the same shade as a deep, dark, oak tree. Jen was fascinated with her hair—it was plaited into what seemed to be hundreds of tiny braids, with not even one of them bigger than HALF the size Jen’s little finger’s nail, all of them paired with midnight black strands woven in, the ends of the braids reaching about half-way down this girl’s back. Resting on the girl’s small frame were straight, dark jeans and a white T-shirt—simple enough.5

With a start, Jen realized the girl was handing her the bag back—and she woke up out of her trance. “Thank you,” Jen said politely, still marvelling over the sheer energy and looks of this girl.6

“No prob,” The girl smiled, showing rows of white teeth, “I did bump into you. Are you sure you’re alright? I wasn’t looking where I was going at all.”7

“Yeah, I’m fine,” responded Jen, gathering her hair in the elastic around her wrist, letting it form together at the back of her neck. She shifted the bag on her right shoulder, and was ready to leave—but the girl was still there.8

“You’re Jennifer?” 9

“Yeah…” Jen said slowly, “…How’d you know?” She was suddenly very frightened.10

“Um…it’s on your necklace,” she said, rather sheepishly.11

“Oh! Right! Who are you?” Jen’s words were out before she had time to think.12

She smiled again. ‘Does she ever NOT smile?’ Jen wondered. “I go by El,” she answered.13

“I go by Jen,” Jen said, “Although some people call me Jennifer—I like the short version better.”14

“I hate my real name,” El said, wrinkling her nose.15

“Really? What is it?” Jen asked curiously.16

“Esmerelda. But my grandma’s the other one who calls me that.”17

‘Hmm…’ Jen thought, ‘Well, she did sound a bit Spanish.’18

“Oh!” El looked at her watch, “I have to go! Ooh, I’m late…Nice meeting you, Jen!” She suddenly dashed off, leaving an amazed Jennifer behind. 19

(A/N: I know, I have these cheap endings... but for some reason I just have to be all dramatic at the end.)20