Chapter 2: The Garden Wall
Beep! Beep! Beep!
I reached my hand out to turn off my alarm, but I couldn't quite find it, that I was reaching out so far I suddenly fell down from my chair. I guess I fell asleep while writing again. Clumsy me. I looked up at my clock. 8:00 AM. Tuesday. I hated Tuesdays. It was the day my mum had passed away, 4th of October. But I guess I should probably stop hating the things that reminded me of my mother's death.
Nah.
It was still early and I didn't have any assignment to do anymore, so I decided to go back to sleep on my bed this time.
But then, a few hours later my phone vibrated.
Ring! Ring!
I felt under the thick sheets for my phone. I picked it up when I found it. It was my friend, Lucas, calling me. I saw the time on my phone - 11:51 AM. Oh shoot, I'm gonna be late! Class starts at 12 o'clock! How did I fall asleep for so long?
I pressed the green answer button. "Hey." I said.
"Alex, you're gonna be late again! Hurry up, class is gonna start soon!" He yelled at me. Well, I'm lucky I got him as my alternative alarm clock.
"Okay, okay. I'm on my way." I hung up and immediately went to the bathroom. In ten minutes, I got out in my uniform, grabbed my backpack, and went downstairs. Dad was still inside his room. It didn't matter, but then I saw my lunch box laid on the table. Seems that Adrian already prepared my lunch before he went to his office. I quickly put it in my bag, slid into my shoes, and headed out.
I wanted to say goodbye to Dad before I left, but we weren't that close to each other ever since Mum had left us. So I didn't.
Despite it being autumn, the cold breeze was still chilly, and it was as if winter was nearing, even though fall season had just started.
I ran down the street as fast as I could so I wouldn't be late in class. Again. But it was my curse. I was always late in school.
"...add the exponents, and then the imaginary one-" Mr. Clydesdale, our mathematics teacher, paused, seeing me in his peripheral vision. "Oh, Mr. Dasovich. You're late."
"Again." Devon snickered, and the whole class hollered with laughter. I sighed as I went to my seat and ignored the attention I was getting. Lucas saw me from his chair at the front and gave me a pitying look with a hint of blame. I shrugged at him and sighed.
Devon was the most annoying guy in the whole world, and doubtless beyond. He'd be picking on weaklings and newbies, and some dudes whom he thinks are fun to bully. Like me. Since I'm the "bad luck boy" who always gets in trouble (because of falling asleep during classes or being late - like now - or because of being accused of hurting Devon or his friends) he loves picking on me.
At 2:40, the recess bell rang and all the Year 9 and 10 students took their break. I didn't go to cafeteria like most of the students, since I already had my own food ready and besides, I wanted to lay-low in school, as I don't really have a great reputation there. Like I said, I got bad luck.
"Yo, Alex." Lucas called out to me as he walked over to my seat. Our classroom was deserted, and only a few students stayed to eat lunch in our room. "You look like a loner, just sitting alone there."
"I am a loner. Isn't it obvious?" I told him with a straight face.
"Come on, bro. Stop being a ghost that haunts Kensington High. You're not trying hard enough. That's why you don't fit in." He said. He sat on my desk.
"Who said I wanted to fit in? I don't have to do anything to be accepted. I don't need attention." I said flatly.
"C'mon, everyone wants to be loved."
"Loved, yes. Famous? No. I don't need people to make me feel good about myself. So what if I'm always late and falls asleep during class and get blamed for things I didn't even do? Karma will get its way soon." I stood up and stared at him. "If you were my real friend, Lucas, you'd understand. But you don't, because you're one of the most popular guys in this place. And I'm just a weirdo. Right?" I walked out before he could even say anything, leaving Lucas speechless.
Outside the cafeteria, there was a terrace where more tables and chairs were set out. I went out there, and turned to a corner wall where the school garden was supposed to be built in, but because of the storm that ruined the area, the headmistress changed the garden's planned position and built it at the front of our school. As for the previous school garden, they covered it with a wall so that no one could enter it.
As I was walking on the terrace, trying to hide myself from plain sight, I saw a blue-haired girl turning to the pavement that led to the corner wall. That's weird. Well, she is a bit of a peculiar girl herself, so that's probably not new. She had been known to be the most mysterious girl in the whole campus. Only very few people dared ask her what her name was but she never told them. She'd only smile politely, bow, and run away. That's why they named her the 'blue girl'. She can't hide from sight, unlike me, since her hair makes her stand out.
I started following her from where she went and nobody saw me. Part of me wanted to just leave her alone, but the other half wanted to get to the bottom of her mysterious world.
But then she disappeared. It was a dead end, with only the red-bricked wall ahead of you. but right at the bottom of the wall, there was a hole that seemed big enough for a person to go into. You wouldn't think it was safe though, since the hole was covered in vines and moss, but I had always been curious of that place.
Suddenly, I heard the singing voice again. This time, I heard it more clearly and was louder than what I'd heard before. Perhaps, the 'blue girl' went inside the abandoned school garden through the brick wall. And now, it made me more intrigued to know about the 'siren's song'.
"What the hell are you doing here?" a girl asked me from behind. The voice was gone, and I turned around, surprised to find someone in the corner wall.
It was Delancy Calloway, one of the richest and most popular girl in our town. Beside her was her sidekicks, Nathalia Wattsbourgh and Emily Johnson. Her menacing lime green eyes stared at me malevolently.
"Why do you care?" I asked back, standing up straighter.
"I don't care about you." Delancy and her minions crossed their arms at me defiantly. "But you're not allowed to be in here. Council's orders."
"Gabriel doesn't care about stuck up little tarts. Particularly, you. So don't pretend like he's your boyfriend." There'd been controversies about whether Delancy and Gabriel, the student council president, were in a secret relationship or not. But knowing Gabriel, and observing his personality, rich spoiled brats weren't her type. And Delancy was just a pick-me girl.
"Mind your own stupid weirdo business, you lame-o. Gabriel loves me, and that's a fact." She said, with a hint of superiority.
"Fine. But we all know who the stupid weirdo lame-o really is, right?" I smirked at her.
"Why you little-" Delancy was about to charge at me, but Nathalia and Emily stopped her.
"He's not worth your time. Come on," said Nathalia.
"Ugh, fine." Delancy looked behind me. "What's that hole behind you?"
"Uh..what hole?" I lied. If the mysterious singing voice had something to do with the 'blue girl' or the garden wall, I couldn't let others know about it.
"That-"
"AH! Snake!" I yelled and pointed at Delancy's feet. She quickly screamed and panicked, and her minions followed suit. That did the trick, and they all left. I smiled at myself.
There were moments of silence, and then I realized that the singing voice had disappeared completely. Gah, I lost it again.
"Thanks for saving my secret haven." a young girl's voice said, coming from behind me. It sounded as if it was from a little girl, but surprisingly it didn't scare me unlike when Delancy suddenly popped out of nowhere.
I turned around and saw the 'blue-girl'. She smiled at me, her rich, azure blue eyes shimmering in the light of the sun. It was my first time seeing her face clearly, and it was strikingly beautiful.
"Oh. It's nothing." I said and smiled back at her. Hold up. I've never smiled before. Well, ever since my mum died.
"You are a very kind boy. May the heavens bless you." said she, and bowed to me. I was startled. She was ever so kind and calm, as if I was talking to a princess. But no one's ever talked to her, nor had she talked to anyone in school. She was like an introvert who had a secret world and mind of her own. But I was like an exception. Maybe, the abandoned school garden was her precious haven, and it meant so much to her that I deserved that much gratitude towards me.
"Thanks, I guess." I hesitated. "W-what's your name?" I didn't think she'd answer me, and that she might run away like before, but it was worth a try.
"Clary! And you?" she beamed. I was surprised, but didn't show it.
"Oh, I'm Alex. Alexis. Nice to meet you, Clary." I beamed back at her. "So if you have a name, why do people call you the 'blue girl'?"
"I don't like socializing with people. But you just helped me in a big way, even though you don't know me. So I don't think you're a bad guy." Clary smiled at me again. Damn, she was making me blush with her charms.
"Oh, I see." I stared at her shining eyes. "You're very...optimistic, huh?
"Yeah!" She threw her hands on the air. "They say I'm like a bubbly girl who doesn't care about the world. That's fake news, though, because there's nothing more that I love than Mother Nature."
"Well, why is your hair blue then? I thought blue represented sadness."
"Yeah, but it's my natural hair color. I can't even change it. But no matter, it's just a color. It won't stop me from being happy, because happiness is a choice!"
She was so easy-going and calm, as if she was a young naïve little kid who hadn't a single idea about the real world out there.
Right then, the bell rang, and we both looked at each other.
"Time for class! I have to go. See you around, Alexis!" She waved at me and ran off. But then, she stopped and turned around to look at me. She smiled, then said, "And by the way, Alexis, I think you're absolutely cool."
Usually, I just fall asleep during class, or distract myself, just doodling in my notebooks. But the whole day, all I could think about was Clary. At the end of school, I couldn't see Clary anywhere. Neither did I hear the mysterious voice again.
When I got home and slipped into my desk, I wrote a new poem. It was titled Clary. Perhaps her name was short for clarity.
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