She could just make out the sound of his footsteps as he neared. She was familiar with his movements by now, as if he were bourne of the woods, not even the birds were disturbed by the sound of his passage. Her face grew hot despite the shade of the trees as he moved closer to her hiding spot, just off the trail. "He'll never notice me," thought Rānï, "Why would he?"
This was David's usual route through the park and after three weeks he still had yet to so much as glance in her direction. Rānï could still remember the first time she had seen him, sitting on her favorite bench beneath an unusually large Japanese Maple that in the fall appeared to be set ablaze as the sun sank beneath its branches. She was immediately put off by this intruder, but as she stood back watching him from afar she couldn't help but notice his eyes. It wasn't just that they were the shade of the sky after a winter rain, no.. there was something else, something deeper that she couldn't quite place, but it stirred the very essence of her soul, and oh but his mouth was like none other that she could recall. She didn't pay much mind to lips but now she obsessed at the thought of his mouth upon her own, or anywhere on her for that matter. The thought caused her knees to buckle just as he rounded the bend to where she was standing.
"Oh oooh!",she cried as she crashed into him. "I-I'm s-so sorry.. I..."
"Hey! No worries", he said smiling down at her as he helped her to her feet "Are you alright?"
"Y-Yes I th-think...", she started, her cheeks burning from embarrassment.
"DAVID!!! Hey there handsome!", shouted a woman Rānï hadn't seen approaching. She was lovely, and not at all like Rānï. Her figure was fuller, more developed than Rānï's and her skin was the color of rich coffee. No, Rānï just didn't measure up. She looked down at her shoes to hide the scowl on her face. "Thank you", she mumbled before turning to leave.
She could hear them laughing as she hurried away. "Are they laughing at me," she was certain they were.
**************************
Rānï stood facing the locker room mirror examining her body, letting her towel slide to the floor. She usually felt better after a work out but she couldn't stop thinking about Evony, the woman from the park. Apparently she was new in town and had already been introduced to Rānï's two BFF's, Miranda and Bridgett. "Great.. now I'm going to have to be nice to her", she thought to herself. She envied Evony's voluptuous curves and flawless skin that was so unlike her own.
"Listen, I'm not saying you have to actually be like those girls", said Bridgett slamming her gym locker shut. "But maybe if you dressed like them he'd talk to you."
At this she winced. Was her best friend right? Was it her clothes that made her less appealing. She looked back at her body and surprisingly she didn't hate what she saw. She wasn't particularly short.. no she wasn't short. Most girls Rānï knew were shorter than herself. Her face was symmetrical, her favorite feature being her eyes which seemed to pop against her back drop of waist length black hair. What got to her most was her figure, years of dance had taken her beautiful curves and left her with long lean muscles that didn't look to her to be very feminine at all. She frowned at herself in the mirror.
"Bridge, let me borrow some of your clothes", Rānï said smiling.
Bridgett laughed,"Oh, you b***h! Lets go get something to eat."
To Be Continued...
