Eloping Chapter 001

"... let darkness fade into darkness, where light need not fight, as they had already lost the war." Ren sat down after reciting the poem, and after a few stunned seconds, general applause was given. Ren was once again, an awe-inspirer, bringing in the best from him, and for the record, he was already the first in standard, even in the prestigious private school. the bell rung, signifying the end of the literature lesson, along with it, came the announcement of calling Ren down to the Principal's office.

Having both Japanese and American roots, Ren possessed natural light brown hair, kept ruefully long, tall and slender build, but still with the sharp Asian look making his looks both beautiful and familiar at the same time.

The principal, a gray-haired, political man with ambitions reaching far beyond the imaginations of most, was sitting on a large leather chair, sharp eyes piercing through Ren.

"The Board wants an exchange program between the top schools, and the school is going to send you as a representative to . From there, we can learn more about the ways and means of other schools' education system and let our students have an refreshing change of pace in their studies." the principal smiled, showing a row of sharp white teeth.

Ren was expressionless in front of him, standing at attention, not moving at all. "You have been briefed, and you can go now." the principal spun half a round on his chair, facing a large glass panel, where which a bird's eye view of the breathtaking city could be viewed. Ren bowed and left, closing the door lightly behind him.

Ren slowly strolled home, looking up at the solitary bird in the wonderfully rosy evening sky. He smiled sadly at the picture; for the bird was all but different from the lonely bird. His heart yearns for a partner, someone that could look after him, someone that truly likes him for who he is.

Actually, it is not that hard for Ren to find a companion; most of the girls in the school have a crush on him, and his parents are the owner of a major multi-national company, meaning his parents are the most influential and wealthy people on earth, and few would dare reject or oppose him. But Ren was sick of that. Tired of having everyone pave his route for him. Tired of having everybody living in fear of him. Tired of people hankering after his money. He sighed, the irony of his life evident. He did not choose or want such a life, yet so many people envy it.

It was then, when he bumped into something. Looking down, he realised it was not a something, but rather a someone. Careless him. He looked closely, and saw a almost kitten-like girl, blushing madly, with vivid black hair, and donning the uniform of a private school in the vicinity. Ren attends the other, and both of them, like the 6 billion other strangers on earth, have not met each other before.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the two youngsters; both are holding their breath, not sure on what to say to each other, the awkwardness increasing with each passing second.

“Uh… sorry for bumping into you.” Ren shattered the deafening and unbearable silence, and the mysterious girl, without so much as a warning, fainted.

Ren caught her in mid-air, head, body and all, just before she fell out of reach. Another silence fell upon the scene, a girl with a pale face and extremely delicate features, there was another uncomfortable silence in the air. Even though Ren flirts a lot, he never did have such close contact with such a beautiful girl before. After a major self-conflict, he finally decided to bring her home.

Five hours later, after the strike of midnight, the girl woke up, finding herself in a dark and spacious room, and covered in a warm blanket. She flipped the show-white blanket away, on the king-sized bed, and rose up, her eyes taking in a classy and oversized apartment room. She took silent footsteps on the soft velvet floor, when she tripped over something, and she fell on the floor, cushioned luckily by the velvet. She flipped around on the floor to find what she tripped over when she realised it was not an object, it was a person. A long-haired, handsome boy, sleeping on the floor soundly.

The boy did a roll as well, and they were now face-to-face. She lay there, taking in his unbelievably remarkable looks, and as she did so, a weird feeling of warmth swept over her, and she was enthralled by him, by a boy he had never met before, much like a mother looking at their newborn.

He reached out with his arms and hugged the nearest thing in range (unfortunately, it was the girl) and held her tightly. Her first reaction was to squirm away from his grip, until she heard what he was murmuring. "Don't go, mother... don't go..." made her stop, and think of herself, without her mother at all. She relented to his fierce hug, and even in a dream, his tears flowed out, with a smile on his face. She was almost crying herself, when she was reminded of her harsh life without her mother.

His tears stopped, and the two strangers, were still hugging each other. She somehow felt that even though he looks to be a very dependable young man, he still has these dreams now and then. From her escape, she was feeling lightheaded, and fell asleep in his arms.

Somehow, she awoke in the same bed, and in the same settings, only with the sun already shining through the glass panels of a window. She rubbed her eyes, wondering whether last night was a dream or not. Sniffing the air, she smelt the wonderful aroma of strong coffee and of toast.

"Say live and let die... live and let die..." the never-old song by Axl Rose was playing through unseen speakers, providing high quality music throughout the whole apartment. She stumbled into the living room, immaculately clean, and towards the boy from last night.

"Nyahh!" she screamed, realising what happened was true, and she was sleeping with a guy. The guy in question was happily munching on a breadstick, donning an apron, and taking out two plates of toast, coupled with raspberry jam, and some margarine.

“Good morning. You fainted yesterday evening, so I took the liberty to take you back to my house. Is toast okay with you, or would you rather prefer some congee?” the boy replied to her scream calmly, and she unconsciously grabbed a piece of toast from one of the plates, and took a bite. She later wolfed it down, as she had not eaten for the past day, and was extremely famished.

“Take your time. If you want, I could always prepare more.” He smiled, placing the two pates of toast, along with the spreads, on a coffee table. She sat down on the sofa close by, and devoured the bread without giving a care to the spreads. At one point, she almost choked on the toast, when Ren quickly got a glass of milk for her. “Slow down. You cannot expect to finish three meals in five minutes, so really, take you time.” He sat leisurely in the opposite sofa, watching the girl swallow piece after piece of toast, until both plates were clean, even of the crumbs.

Picking up the empty plates, he asked ,”Any more?”

“Um…. Some meat would be good.” She said shyly, and he smiled, not knowing why she is so hungry, but willing to feed such a remarkable lady. He set off for the kitchen once again, whistling to the tune of the song.

“Um…” she started, but did not seem to be able to continue on what she wanted to say.

“Yes?” he paused, mid-step, with head turned backward, facing her.

“Thanks for all you have done." she thanked her, both for the unconditional help he had given to her when she was unconscious, and the free breakfast.

"You don't need to thank me. After all, I can't actually leave you alone, right?"