Target Chapter 2

“Hey, Alexis,” came a cheery and very familiar voice for one I only heard for the first time yesterday. I turned away from my British Literature textbook to see Target right next to me, her happy smile aimed right at me. We were in our second period waiting for the bell to ring.

“Oh, hello Target,” I said cautiously. I remembered what she said last night in the store and I really hope she was kidding, but she probably wasn’t since she was talking to me this morning.

“How are you?” she asked. I couldn’t believe that someone was so...awake at nine thirty in the morning.

“Fine. And you?”

“Pretty good. How was the rest of your shift?” she asked, her smile still there.

“Kind of boring,” I replied, telling the truth.

“Oh, that sucks. Did you get your History homework done?” she asked.

“Yeah. That’s what’s great about slow, boring shifts. You can get your homework done,” I replied, surprised that she remembered we shared the class.

“That’s always a bonus. Maybe I’ll come visit you the next time you’re bored on your shift. Can I see your phone?” she asked. Target was hitting me with all of this information so quickly, I barely caught what she was saying. For some reason, I didn’t even think about not listening to her and complied to her request. She took my phone and started pressing some buttons.

“What’s your number?” she asked, her own cell phone in her hand. I rattled off the area code and seven digits for her, which she quickly added to her phone and she gave mine back.

“Yay! Now I can talk to you whenever. Too bad I can’t see you blush over the phone,” she added giving me a wink. I blushed and avoided eye contact. She giggled madly.

“Oh, my God. That will never get old,” she said when she calmed down.

“Glad I could be of service,” I muttered. I cleared my throat. “So, you were serious about the uh...blushing thing? You’re really going to do that?”

“Of course. When I say I’m going to do something, I usually back it up. Unless I say I’m going to skydiving tomorrow, then I probably won’t,” she said, giggling slightly. Then, she gasped. “Wait, do you want to?” Target asked.

“Want to what?” I questioned, raising an eyebrow.

“Go skydiving? That would be so much fun, don’t you think? Yeah, let’s sign up for classes!” she said, looking like she was about to start trembling with excitement. I vaguely wondered if someone could break their face from smiling so much.

“Uh...I’d rather not, if that’s okay,” I said. Her smile disappeared and her face was genuinely sad. I felt my heart wrench. I knew that I hated to see this strange girl sad and I never want her to feel that.

“Oh, why not?” she asked, looking slightly defeated.

“I’m terrified of heights. I’ll pass out in the plane,” I said, speaking the truth. I’ve done it before when I had the window seat.

“Really?” she asked, looking like a curious puppy again.

“Yeah, I did it when I was twelve,” I said, blushing. She started giggling again as the red tint on my face appeared.

“That’s okay. I wouldn’t want you to pass out,” she said, her smile back as if nothing happened. I returned her smile with my own. I was right. I was going to get along with this girl just fine.

The bell rang, signaling the beginning of class, and Target glided her way to the desk next to me, which was empty. I felt like smiling again when she did this.

Looks like I have a new friend I thought happily to myself.

Throughout the rest of the day, Target and I walked each other to our classes, talking and laughing the whole way. The new student was incredibly funny and was very much in touch with her inner child. She wasn’t immature emotionally, but she was so easily amused and I could make her laugh with just a blush, which I think I broke a world record of how many times someone can blush in a few hours.

“Come on! Let’s eat outside! It’s beautiful,” she declared, taking my hand and dragging me to the front of the school, not letting go until we were seated in front of a large Maple. I normally eat with my group of “friends” (we only hang out at lunch and barely say anything to each other), but all of them always ate inside.

“So, what do you do for fun in this town?” Target asked, eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I shrugged, digging into my pizza.

“There’s not a lot to do activity wise. Some people go to Hartford and see a movie or go to a club there, but it’s forty five minutes away so I normally don’t go. Personally, I just hang out at someone’s house and chill; have a movie night or something like that,” I explained.

“Cool. I haven’t had a movie night in so long. Let’s have one this weekend!” Target exclaimed, grinning up a storm. I raised an eyebrow.

“Seriously?” I asked.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she asked, looking like that confused puppy again. I had a sudden and very strange urge to pet her hair like I would when a puppy was being adorable.

“I don’t know. You don’t even know me. I mean, we only met less than twenty four hours ago,” I pointed out. Target rolled her eyes and then laughed.

“That’s the idea, silly. To get to know each other,” she said happily, throwing her arm around me and gave my neck a playful squeeze. I couldn’t help but laugh. This girl was perpetually happy and it was rubbing off on me already.

“Well then, when you put it that way, I would love to have a movie night with you,” I said. She withdrew her arm and pumped it in the air in victory.

“Awesome. You can come to my apartment. I want you to meet Rose. She’ll love you. After school on Friday, let’s go to the movie store and that shop you work at to pick up the supplies,” she instructed, looking very serious suddenly, as if we were talking about war strategies. This only made me giggle.

“Supplies?” I asked.

“Duh! We need goodies. Chocolate, popcorn, soda,” she listed off. She gasped. “Can we get Twizzlers? I love Twizzlers!”

I laughed because of her child like attitude. I haven’t laughed this much with someone in a long time and it felt incredible. I was really going to like being friends with Target, blushing or no blushing.

“I suppose we can get Twizzlers, but only if you behave,” I admonished as if talking to a little kid.

“Aw,” she huffed and crossed her arms. Then, she turned to me and smiled mischievously. I suddenly felt nervous.

“What?” I asked. She only stared at me, her smoky gray eyes with their foggy swirls bored straight into my eyes, as if trying to stare deep into my soul.

“Can we please get Twizzlers?” she asked. Actually, it was more like a purr. Her voice was low and her eyes were growing more hypnotic every passing second. I couldn’t look away, no matter how hard I tried. I was speechless and stunned.

“Alexis. Please?” she asked, her face inches from mine, her breathtaking eyes never blinking or breaking their gaze.

“Yeah, of course,” I whispered, my lungs strangely forgetting how to work properly.

“You promise?” she asked, her still voice purring and low.

“Yes, I promise,” I said. I wasn’t even sure what I was promising, but I knew that I should do whatever she asked.

Then, the eyes were gone, their hypnotic spell broken. I was still stunned and blinked several times, completely confused as to what just happened. I was taken from my reverie by a fit of giggles and turned to look to at Target.

“Wha—what the—what in God’s name was that?”I demanded, raising my voice. I was trembling slightly from what just happened.

“I just bewitched you,” Target said, winking at me and continued laughing.

“How did you do that? What—I don’t—” I stuttered, only making Target laugh harder.

“It’s a secret weapon I have. It has yet to fail me. I just look into someone’s eyes and make my voice all low and pleading. If I want something bad enough, I pull out my witch-y side and they succumb to my will. Do you even know what you promised me?” she asked.

“Something about...Twizzlers,” I said. “You asked if we could please get Twizzlers.”

“Good, you remember. I’ve actually had people forget what they agreed to,” she said, giggling and started eating again.

“But...how do you do it?” I asked. “Because I would love to learn.”

“I don’t know. I think it has to do with my eyes being such a strange color,” she stated. I could agree with that statement, except I didn’t like the word strange.

“They’re not strange. They’re beautiful,” I said shyly, looking at my hands. Target was quiet and I was afraid I offended her. I glanced up and she was biting her lip and playing with a blade of grass. Then, my mouth opened slightly when I saw her that her cheeks were flushed.

“Are you blushing?” I asked.

“No,” she said and looked away. I burst out laughing.

“Serves you right, since you keep making me blush nonstop,” I said. Target turned to look at me, closed her eyes, and stuck her tongue out like a five year old, which only made me laugh harder. Soon, Target joined me and we giggled like little kids in front of the high school.

That’s when the bell rang.

“Come on, Target, time to get back to class,” I said, standing with my garbage.

“Aye, aye captain,” she said, giving me a mock salute. I only chuckled and shook my head.

Author's Note:
So, there's the second chapter of Target. I hope you like it. I really enjoy writing Target's character. She's probably one of my favorite character's I've ever written about. Peace out :D

Wild Cat