Tag Archives: Swarm

The cacophany of a million lockers slamming, feet dragging, and people gossiping fills the atmosphere as I hold my writing portfolio between my two clumsy hands. I try my hardest to weave through the thick swarm of students without tripping before I reach my new writing class, room 204. Nerves start to attack my inner psyche while I chose a seat next to a few familiar friends from after school acting club. Being new means having a close clique of best friends is inevitable, and it also means that even having one familiar face in every class is a miracle on its own. A sick feeling spreads to my stomach and a nervous chill reaches my spine. While taking deep breaths, the bell rings and class begins. After a few moments of staring off into space a pale figure steps into the room. He flips his dark long hair out of his face and says, “Sorry I’m late Ma’m. I have a pass.”

A smile spreads across his face as he hands Ms.Carroll a green pass and she rolls her eyes and says, “Yeah, yeah. I’ve heard about you mister. Take a seat.” He smiles again and says, “This should be fun.” Ms.Carroll stares at him through slit eyes and says, “Yes, it should. Class, meet your new funny kid. Please, humor his low intelligence level.” The class starts to laugh quietly and he sits down next to me. Oh, this is just wonderful, I think to myself as i shrug in my seat and attempt a low profile.

A feeling of unending glances from a pair of emerald, curious eyes comes from my left. The shivers return and I pull my eyes up from the ground to look towards the source if my upcoming anxiety. There he sits, tapping his pencil nonchalantly to the beat of some unknown song. His eyes are away from me now and his awareness looks completely deserted. I look away quickly so as to avoid eye contact and sigh at my sudden lack of interest. My sigh attracts his attention and he looks me up and down before he pulls out his notebook and uses is pencil to doodle all around the margins of the page. He creates beautifully intricate patterns all along the side before he writes something in an undetectable language inbetween the lines. I manage to glance over and see the first sentence written at the top in foreign cursive. Quickly I sketch the words, das herz lang Für was es kann nicht haben sie. The feeling that he’s watching me bothers me to the point where I look up and see him smiling at me. I cover the words with my hand and he whispers, “Do you know German?” Blood rushes to my cheekbones and I mouth, “No”, before I look back to my desk.

A loud ringing noise interrupts my trance and people shove their desks aside to get out of class to catch their buses. I take my time packing my things and get out of my desk without looking up. As I slip quietly out of my desk I bump into something and realize it’s him. A gasp escapes my lips and I mumble, “Sorry.”
Desks keep getting in my way as I try to run out of the room but he grabs my wrist and without looking at me says, “What’s your name?”
He releases his grasp and I hold my red wrist close to me before I say, “My name is Aisling.”
“Ah, Gaelic for dream, or vision,” he replies as he stares at me meaningfully.
I take a step away from him and laugh nervously before I say, “Well, yes, you’re correct. Aren’t you supposed to be incompetent, like Ms.Carroll said?”
He laughs and takes a step closer before he says, “She doesn’t know me as well as she thinks. By the way, my name is Axel. It means-”
“Source of life, yes I am aware,” I interrupt and turn away to leave and walk home.
“das herz lang Für was es kann nicht haben sie. The heart longs for what it cannot have. That’s what it means, if you wanted to know.”

I ignore his comment and make it all the way to the door until Axel’s beautifully monotone voice comes from behind me. “Please, don’t leave. I want to know more about you.”
I turn around to face him and realize that his body is pressed against mine. A gasp barely escapes again and he smiles once more, his perfectly straight teeth making mine look disgusting. Finally I grind my teeth to compose myself and say, “Too damn bad.”

Axel sighs and I stalk out the door frame and down the tan colored hallways that were recently swarmed. I walk down the hallway with my hood on my head and my hands in my pockets without a second glance at room 204.