Passing Glance by Alexandra (urban books to read .txt) 📖

consequence."

Tanya rolled her eyes. "What's your name, Edgar?"

I was confused, why had she called me Edgar? I thought about the name, and tried to think of famous Edgars. Edgar Allen Poe was the first in my mind, a poet long after my time. He had been a very interesting poet. Maybe that was what she meant. My words, like his, were mysterious and poetic.

"My name is Landon." I said, watching for recognition in her eyes. There was none. Nothing. My heart sunk. She had no idea. She had no idea that in only a few minutes she had captured my heart forever.

A group of laughing students walked in, calling to us with pleasure. "Hey Tanya!"

"Wazzup new dude!"

"Quoth the Raven, nevermore!"

"Dude, that was so lame!"

"Don't talk to Eddie like that Josh! Like you're any better!"

"Shall I compare thee, Isabel, to a summer's day?"

"No you may not."

"Thou art more lovely and more temperate!"

"Aw,give him a chance Izzie!"

"I think not!"

"Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And Summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And oft' is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd:
But thy eternal Summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest;
Nor shall Death brag thou wanderest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou growest!"

"SHUT UP JOSH!!!!!"

The entire group screamed the next lines, laughing at 'Izzie's' red face. "So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee!!!!"

Beside me, Tanya called the lines with a bright smile. I laughed. These people were fantastic. I watched as the boy called Josh took Izzie's hand and kissed in softly. The crowd awed and oowed.
Izzie blushed with a large smile across her face.

There were seven people in all, including Tanya and I. They all lined up to introduce themselves with dramatic quotes and their names.

The first boy was gainly with messy blonde hair as if he messed it up a lot while writing, sure enough, he did. His eyes were a bright blue that seemed to challenge the very laws of gravity. "I, dear newbie, am Edgar Allen Michaels. Or Eddie, if you prefer." He bowed, and allowed Josh to walk up.

He was tall with a normal weight, broad shoulders, brown hair and soft brown eyes."I'm Josh Pike, and I go by JJ, JP, Josh, or The Ninja." the crowd behind him moaned.

"No one calls you that!" Eddie called, pretending to look away as
Josh turned to him.

"Heard that Eddie! I will give you a good slice and dice and then see who's making the witty puns, huh?!"

Eddie scoffed. "You blame such a fool as I for such a remark?! I am tortured by such an accusation!"

The next person to introduce themselves was a girl. She was very short with black hair in a high ponytail. Freckles covered her face and bright grey eyes reflected a thoughtful, bright personality. "I'm Jemma Watson." She said, smiling warmly. I smiled back.

The girl behind her was Izzie, and she introduced herself as Isabel Andrews. Her chestnut hair was wild across her back in a curly mass of color. Her bright brown eyes were light and seemed to dance in the light. As she left, she took the hand of her boyfriend, Josh.

The last guy was black haired with blue eyes and a soft spoken manner. He was short and had allowed his hair to grow into his face. "I am Percival McCummber. You can call me Percy though since Percival is a little long." The rest of the guys called Percy over to them, laughing at a joke that was too good to leave someone out of the loop.

A few minutes later, Tanya stood in the front of the room, asking if anyone had anything to read. Jemma stood from her seat next to Percy. Them seemed to be dating as well. The only one single was Tanya, Eddie, and I, it seemed. Everyone's eyes were on the small girl in the front of the class, however, she form seeming to shrink in the background of life. So it seemed, but as she spoke, all doubts fell away like the wind.

"Soft songs whispered for the night's ear alone
reach my ears as I lay in bed, staring and thinking.
My thoughts stretch across endless boundaries and galaxies,
but seem to always fall back to the notes of hope.
A heart's desire and fear, strummed on the soft guitar
reminds me that I am never alone in this world of dreamers.
My eyes close as I listen to the melodies and reminders
of the golden universe and rainbow lifetimes that will forever glisten."

Everyone clapped and hollered. Jemma smiled and went back to her seat. Tanya turned in her seat in front of me, urging me to say something. The others joined in. "Just do improv, speak with your heart." Tanya said, her fingers brushing my hand and making me loose all thoughts as if they had been thrown into a bottomless pit.

I stood in the front. Everyone watched me, waiting. I took a deep breath.

"reminders,
reminders of her kiss, are all that I have left.
She forgot, as time went by, changing and backtracking,
in it's endless sea of interaction and fated meetings.
I hear her voice in the void of the deft and frightened
I hear her voice in the golden summer and springtime
That soft music that echoes without effort ties my heart in knots.
I catch my breathe, thinking about her touch, burning
like fire upon my frozen, beaten figure, my soft, passionate heart.

reminders,
reminders of the uncertain future, hopes, and dreams.
I remember her touch and know I will feel it once more
even if the act burns me to a crisp in the process.
I hear her voice, even when she does not speak aloud
and know that I will once more hear her utter oaths of love to me
and to her, as I should have upon our first meeting,
before all time was blended and thrown out once more into a bowl
I love her, I always have and I always will it seems. Always."

I nodded my head. Everyone around me cheered. "That was awesome!" Josh yelled, standing up. I looked over at Tanya, and found her mouth gaping wide. her eyes sparkled bright. She might not remember, but I knew deep in her heart that she loved me too.


Chapter Three

Walking home that evening was lonely. My feet mechanically swept along, my head low, protecting my face from the bitter wind that blew. All I wanted was her arms around me, her eyes bearing into mine. All I needed was the chance to tell her everything that I saw in her penetrating gaze.

I stumbled up the stairs to my home, seven blocks away from school and pretty much the town's entire population.

After streaming through the pit I had been thrown into this time and place. Well, to be precise I had been thrown into Ms. Windel's cabbages. And there she had found me the next morning, dirty, tortured, and blubbering in Latin.

Ms. Windel's soft old heart had took one look at me and decided that it was about time she had a son. Of course, I wasn't truly her son, but she loved and took care of me like one. She had been the one who taught me English, common customs, and all the schooling I had missed. She had been the one I had told everything to, every last detail.

Walking into the front door, I heard soft classical music playing and a flood of smells filled my nostrils, all different, yet all complimentary to the others in a strange sort of way. I took in the prominent smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies, one of the very first twenty first century foods I had ever eaten and by far my favorite. Next came the smaller essences of lasagna, warm tea, and Ms. Windel's perfume, a mixture of lavender and French vanilla.

Upon hearing the door open, Ms. Windel had looked up, a delighted smile across her face. Her wrinkles and white hair could not stop her eyes from sparkling brand new. Like sapphires they welcomed me home without saying a word.

"Hello Landon, darling! How was your day?" She said, her voice lacking the shiver and whithered tone most senior citizens had. It was young and soft, loud yet sweet.

"Decent." I paused. She noticed.

"What's happening? Are you okay?" Mr. Windel took a worried step toward me. Although she had never had any children of her own, she loved me dearly, and when something was wrong she grew scared. Always she feared that my time here was limited. Always I feared the same.

"It's fine." I told her, stopping her in her tracks. She sighed. "it's just," I muttered as I fell into a kitchen chair, "I saw her."

Ms. Windel's head shot straight up from being slouched over prying off the cookies from the cookies pan. "You mean your perfect lover?! sweet and fiery with eyes that bore through your body and touched your heart as you lay awaiting your horrid fate?" Ms. Windel was pretty poetic.

"Yup. Her name is Tanya."

Ms. Windel put a hand to her heart. "Tanya and Landon. uh! I can see it now!" Her eyes reached into the distance, gazing dramatically, it seemed, into the future.

I scoffed. "She doesn't remember."

The spatula Ms. Windel was holding clattered to the floor, resounding the shock at this statement. "Oh," she said after a moment, "that will not be a problem for long, darling. If anything you are a charmer, and with me, she won't stand a chance."

The look of a plan crossed her face. "No." I muttered, "No, I want her to love me for me, not because my strange adopted mother likes to torture people."

Ms. Windel scoffed, hurt. "You thought I intended to hurt her?! No! We'll just have to show her how amazing you are, witch can't be too hard for you, sweetheart. Let's invite her to supper!"

I moaned. "I've only spoken to her twice! I can't just invite her to dinner!"

"You're right, that would seem strange..." Ms. Windel thought as she scooped a slice of lasagna for me, and then another for her. As we sat to supper she continued to plot.

"Darling, maybe you could I don't know, 'accidentally' call her and thinking it was your 'grandmother' you tell her you love her."

My eyebrows shot out of my head. "Nice." I scoffed, smirking into my plate.

That night I dreamed of my life. My old life that is.

I lay in the orchard, watching the grapes slowly riping, it seemed. I was