//------------------------------// // Awkward Stranger // Story: Collide // by TheOriginalDash //------------------------------// Octavia I found myself sitting under the big oak tree at break again. It was just so shady under here. On a ninety degree day in August, that was a blessing. Especially when you've just escaped from your crazy director and his four-hour practices. With one water break. I scan the surrounding area for any sort of danger before I let myself relax. You never know what the summer heat will do to people. It looks like most people are just chilling inside their cabins with the AC, or maybe off at the pool. One person does catch my eye, though. That blue-haired new girl is just sitting on our cabin's front porch, all alone. It looks kinda like she's thinking really hard about something. I wonder what could be so important that she's wasting her free time. Looks like I might have a chance to find out. She seems to be walking toward me, still with that same expression on her face. She waves to me, and I raise my hand in response. I'm kinda nervous, now. What if she tries to talk to me? Sure, she seems nice enough, but I still get really shy around new people. I guess I should just be glad she's younger than me. Talking to older people always turns me into a nervous wreck. Especially when they're teachers. Apparently during my mental deliberation, she had reached my tree. One corner of her mouth turned up in a sort of half smile. I could immediately feel her anxiety, almost like it was exuding from her pores. She turned, presumably to sit, and I silently prayed that she wouldn't place herself anywhere near me. Of course she does. She slides down the tree with her back, and sort of flops on the ground. I stare at her for a minute, studying the anxious intruder. Suddenly, she turns her head to look was me, and she twitches in surprise. I feel myself flush from the sudden scrutiny, and turn my head to look at anything except her inquisitive eyes. She sighs, and shifts her position. "Hey. So, uh, well, hey." I turn my head to stare at her, curious as what she might say. She blushes, and I smile, understanding her awkwardness. Blinking, she begins to speak again. "Look, I'm not very good at this. In truth, I don't exactly like talking to strangers. But you're not exactly a stranger, so I thought I would give it a go. Mostly because everyone told me to, but also because you're an interesting person. I've been wondering why you won't talk to me. Can you answer that for me?" She was honestly concerned about that? And she had the same issue that I did with talking to people. Maybe I should have talked to her sooner. I found myself staring at her face for some reason. I noticed the way the afternoon sunlight lit her dark carmine eyes with an inner fire. She still seemed nervous, though. Suddenly, she turned her head to look at me for some sort of response. I dropped my face, and hid behind my hair again, blushing furiously. I hoped that she didn't realize that I was staring. I guess she deserved some sort of response. That, and she didn't seem like the type to just give up and go away. "I'm sorry that I haven't talked to you. I'm not very comfortable with strangers, either. I hope I didn't seem rude. I just haven't found a way to talk to you yet. They've been trying to get me to talk to you, as well." It was true. Our friends were puzzled by our distinct lack of communication. They'd been trying to get us to talk all summer. I decided to scoot over and sit closer to her. It was hurting my neck to have to turn it so far to talk to her. And, I'm sure we looked pretty weird to any casual observer. I still had a question to ask, but she beat me to it. "Was it really so hard for us to talk to each other? I mean, we just stayed in the same cabin for almost a week. Granted, there were like, ten other girls in there, but why did it take so long for us officially meet? Are we just that awkward, that we couldn't even speak to our own cabinmate?" I had no idea how to answer that, so I just shrugged. She began to speak again. "So, I never caught your name. And since we've finally managed to talk to each other, I think that should be important. I'm Vinyl, but I usually just go by my last name, Scratch. You can call me either, I guess. I'll be nice to you, and not insist about the whole Scratch thing." I thought it was a little weird that she went by her last name, but I let it rest. Maybe I'll ask her about it one day. I think Vinyl is much prettier, anyway. I suppose I ought to introduce myself, as well. "I'm Octavia. You can just call me Octavia, though, I've never gone by my last name. I suppose you ought to know it, though, since you've told me yours. It's Philharmonica." She smiled when she heard this. "Yeah, alright. I like it. Octavia Philharmonica, it has been a pleasure to meet you. You are an excellent conversationalist. Well, when I can force you to talk." Hey, she's pretty funny. I giggled a little in spite of myself, and then blushed when she laughed at me. I blushed, and hid my face. She has such a brilliant smile, like she's lighting the whole world up with it. It's infectious, too. "You are just the single shyest person I've ever met. It's completely adorable, but we're going to have to break your little hiding habit if you're going to be talking to me more. I can't have you ducking your head every time I open my mouth." I kept my head tucked firmly to my knees, just in case she made me blush again. I felt a hand on my shoulder, and I jumped away from her touch. Her apology soon followed. "Hey, I'm sorry. Did that upset you? I really didn't mean to. I just do stuff like that with everyone else, and I'm not used to them reacting like that. I guess I should have asked. I'm just one of those touchy-feely type people, and it always seems that physical contact is a good way to send a message. I'm sorry if that bothered you. Are you alright?" It was sweet of her to be concerned. I quickly tried to allay her concerns. "No, it's alright. I just don't like to be touched. I don't know why, it just bothers me. It's not you, it's just crazy old me. You're absolutely fine." I felt like I had been sitting in the same position for too long, and I stretched my legs out in front of me. I watched as she did the same, her longer, tan legs poking out of basketball shorts, ending with feet capped in light gray Chucks. "So, we're cool? That's good. I was afraid you were being abused or something. I don't want to hurt you," she rambled. I laughed internally at the thought. She sure jumped to conclusions. "I've never been abused. My dad is amazing, and my mom is alright, I guess. We don't always see eye to eye, me 'n her, but she would never hurt me. And I don't have a boyfriend, so that rules out that possibility." She looked at me rather incredulously, and I raised one eyebrow in response. What was that about? I picked up some grass and played with it while I waited for her to respond. "Well, as long as you're not being hurt, I can handle the hands-off rule. It's no problem. Friends have to be considerate of each other, right?" Did she just say what I think she said? Are we already that close? "We're friends?" She smiled slightly. "Of course we are. We've learned stuff about each other, and we've been sitting her talking for a good half an hour or so. If that doesn't make us friends, I don't know what will." She broke out in her biggest smile yet, and I could feel one gracing my lips, as well. I laughed a little, genuinely surprised at how fun she was to talk to. "I guess you're right. We are friends, now. That's pretty cool." I was glad that she considered me a friend, after only knowing me for twenty minutes. I looked back down at the grass I was tying in knots. "Hey, you're pretty cool. Why else would I have stayed here so long? I could have been swimming or exploring the campground with Thunderlane and Lyra." I shuddered involuntarily. Thunderlane had this huge crush on me. But he was really creepy. He seriously follows me around like a stalker. I looked over at Vinyl when she leaned back, surprised by the movement. She closed her eyes, and I missed seeing how striking they were. She opened her mouth to speak, and I waited. "If I fall asleep, will you wake me up when we have to practice? I don't want my section pissed at me. I have enough problems as it is." I laughed. Section leaders did get kinda pissy when someone was late. "Of course I will. We are friends, after all. Don't worry." She smiled contentedly, and relaxed into the rough bark. Almost as an afterthought, she added something else. "If someone tries to rape me, beat them up for me, please." I laughed, entertained by the notion that someone would just stroll by and try to rape her, with me sitting right there. I nodded my head, as I had no intention of leaving until she woke up. No one's getting raped on my watch!