Fragile(3)
Author: M. Leighton

As she disappeared behind the gazebo, Hardy couldn’t help but wonder what had happened to her in her short life to make her so appreciative of such mundane things as the sun and the park and a balloon. He was surprised at how desperately he wanted to know the answer to those questions, to know the answers to her—her life, her mind, her heart. He knew there was nothing that he wanted more than to know her.

Lost in thought, Hardy mused silently about the girl as he mindlessly followed Cheyenne. By the time he came to his senses, they were already back where they’d started and Cheyenne was slapping her car keys into his hand.

“You drive. I need to change clothes,” she stated, her tone indicating she was still irritated.

Deeply shaken by the girl with the red balloon, Hardy stared blankly at Cheyenne for several long seconds. He knew his hesitation had cost him—something wonderful most likely.

In his mind, Hardy threw caution to the wind and turned from Cheyenne to jog back to the tree, back to the bench. Back to the girl. He knew she wouldn’t be there, so in his head he scoured the park for her, his eyes scanning every head and every face for hers. But she was nowhere to be found. He knew that when he’d let Cheyenne lead him away, he’d lost his chance to find out the name of the girl who, without a single word spoken to him, had stolen his heart.

CHAPTER TWO

5 months later

For the first time he could remember, Hardy was actually anxious to get to class. Normally, he dawdled as much as he could, pushing his arrival to the outer limits of what his teachers would tolerate. He’d learned many years ago that being the star quarterback had its advantages.

On this day, however, Hardy was practically pushing people out of the way to get to the Chemistry Lab. He really couldn’t have cared less about being late; he just wanted there to be a reason for Cheyenne to shut up.

For well over a week, she’d talked incessantly about her upcoming birthday, dropping hints about what she wanted. Only a complete idiot would fail to see that she wanted a butterfly necklace. Her obsession with it had started wearing on his nerves after about an hour. And that was over a week ago. She was wrecking his patience and he was an exceedingly patient guy.

Scrambling through the door to get to his seat, Hardy paid little attention to the tiny brunette standing at the front of the room talking to Mrs. Goodman. He just wanted to put his head down for a minute or two before class started. Cheyenne had given him the beginnings of a nasty headache.

When the bell rang, Hardy raised his head and bent to retrieve his Chem Lab workbook from his backpack. When he straightened, his eyes collided with the curious green eyes of the girl sitting next to him.

Hardy was stunned. As he drank in her delicate features, they all looked familiar but for the shoulder length dark brown hair. When this girl had so mesmerized him before, she’d been bald. Hardy still recognized her, though. He would’ve recognized those eyes anywhere.

The corners of her mouth curved into a serene smile. For some reason, the image of an angel popped into his head. Hardy was certain if he ever got to see an angel smile, that’s what it would look like.

And feel like. Being near the sun itself couldn’t have made him feel any warmer.

Suddenly, Hardy was compelled beyond reason to find out who the girl was. He didn’t know why it mattered so much. He just knew it did.

He smiled back at her, but before he could speak, a waspish voice cut into the moment.

“Stare much,” Cheyenne’s voice buzzed from the seat in front of him. From the corner of his eye, he could see that she’d turned her head to glare at the new girl.

Hardy cringed inwardly as blood rushed to his cheeks. He was sure he’d only blushed twice in his life. Both times had been in front of this girl and both times had been because of Cheyenne.

“Just ignore her,” he said off-handedly, rolling his grayish blue eyes.

The new girl smiled again, first at Hardy and then, surprisingly, at Cheyenne. When Cheyenne snorted and turned huffily back toward the front of the room, the girl looked back at Hardy and winked.

Much to Hardy’s dismay, Mrs. Goodman chose that exact moment to begin class. Hardy would’ve given anything to talk with the new girl for just a few more minutes.

“Before we get started, I’d like for you all to welcome our new student. Her name is Miracle St. James and she comes to us from North Dakota. Welcome, Miracle.”

“Miracle,” Hardy said aloud. He hadn’t really meant to. It just sort of slipped out. But it got her to turn in his direction again, so he figured it was worth the embarrassment. “Cool name,” he said casually, trying to play it off.

“What kind of name is Miracle?” Cheyenne muttered from in front of him.

Miracle didn’t deign to answer, or even really acknowledge her in any way other than to smile again. Her lips curved peacefully, as if she were completely unruffled by Cheyenne’s attitude.

Throughout the rest of class, Hardy stole numerous glances in Miracle’s direction. He wasn’t sure why he found her so fascinating, but he did. It only heightened his curiosity that she paid no attention to him whatsoever.

At one point, Miracle appeared to lose interest in what Mrs. Goodman was saying. He watched her turn toward the window and stare out at the sunny day, absently tapping her pen against her cheek. He found himself wondering what she was thinking and if she was smiling. He imagined that she was. She seemed always to be smiling.

At the end of class, Hardy purposely took his time packing his things away. He was secretly hoping Cheyenne would get frustrated and go ahead of him so he could have a few minutes with Miracle. But she didn’t. In fact, Cheyenne quickly made it impossible for him to linger once she started to antagonize her.

“Can you believe that girl, just staring at you like that? I mean, come on. Rude much?”

At least she was pretending to keep her voice down. She was loud whispering in what Hardy knew was an attempt to get her point across without seeming too venomous. Hardy was pretty sure Miracle could hear her, even though she showed no outward sign. She seemed pleasant and cool as a cucumber.

With a sigh so loud it bordered on a growl, Hardy slung his bag over his shoulder and stalked out of the Chemistry Lab ahead of Cheyenne. He could hear the clack of her shoes as she scrambled to keep up.

“What is your deal?” she called from behind him once they were in the hall.

When Hardy neither slowed nor acknowledged her, Cheyenne lunged forward, grabbing his arm.

“Hey! What is your problem?”