Unofficial Valentine

Unofficial Valentine

By E. M. Areson

The wind whipped around tossing around the few remaining fall leaves as well as the usual litter. The air was smoggy, that's usual, at least I thought so. Back home that’s how air has always acted, but New Haven is a big city, so I’m not very sure. The sky was darkening overhead, and my feet crunched along the old concrete, and my short sleeves were not enough to keep me warm.

 Already I was about seven blocks from the school, the city's ordinance about not using cars for intercity travel seemed a lot less environmentally friendly now that I had no clue where I was except that if I didn’t home be tomorrow I’d probably be in the morgue. Or just as likely never seen again by anyone except people I’d rather never meet. I turned another corner and came upon a ‘v’ in the road.

I think I should go right... but that house… I can hear the music from here. And the lights are out from the streetlamp in front of it… I’d have to go past in the dark… That’s doesn't look safe… My thoughts arose a sickness in my gut. I wish, pollution or not, we wouldn’t have moved away from New Haven.

 I stepped off into the left street and I hurried to get out of sight of the partying house. This street was even more unfamiliar than the one I had just left. The smog was more condensed here and was going uphill. I passed several houses that looked empty and I assumed their owners were either dead, dying or at the party down the street.

 When I got to the top of the hill the road I was on intersected another and I looked to my right. It was very dark, and the litter of old furniture and trash bags didn’t encourage me any about my chances of not dying. The school was a couple of buildings down to the left and how I had managed to get so lost I had gone in a circle it was beyond me. I started to walk down the street when I saw a guy and froze.

After looking for a moment, I realized he was about my age, a confirmed fact from the expected graduation year on the class jacket he was carrying on his arm. He had blondish red hair and was nerve-rackingly tall. I tried to turn down the other road before he saw me.

“Are you okay miss?”

He saw me. I thought about running but that wouldn’t do much good, I was lost and he was probably a lot faster, “Uuu… I’m good.”

He walked up to me and I quickly took another step back. “I’m fine really.”

“You look lost. You’re the new kid from New Haven, aren't you? You're in my bio class, I’m Leif. Seriously, my families really big into history. Our cat’s named Queen Elizabeth.,” He extended his hand for a shake and I reluctantly agreed. “You don’t need to be afraid of me. I’m a pacifist.”

“What’s that?” A bit of my fear left, maybe walking with a classmate wouldn’t be so bad as walking by myself.

“I don’t believe in fighting or violence of any kind except self-defense. Well, if you're sure you're not lost I better go home see you,” He posed for a moment trying to remember my name.
“Clio isn’t it?”

“Yeah, I was named after one of the Greek muses, goddess of the arts. In mythology, Clio was the muse of history and a proclaimer of heroes… I… I’ve never lived in a car-less town before,” I looked over at him, he was kinda cute.

“You’re lost.”

“I’m only a little-” I had to laugh a little. “I’m so lost I don’t even know exactly how I got here.”

“You live in the town center or in one of the newer houses on the outskirts?”

“78 Lunthar St. I remember walking about five blocks to city hall... and from there another three or so blocks to school,” I started playing with my fingers, twisting them around each other.

“Oh yeah, I know that neighborhood. Come on, there’s a shortcut,” He turned back the way he had come and handed me the jacket he was carrying. “You look a bit cold.”

“Thanks, I didn’t think it should be this cold this time of year. Always a lot warmer in New Haven,” We passed the school and crossed a neighboring yard into an ally.

 The ally was narrow and my shoulders were inches from either wall. It was dark and weeds tried to pull themselves up through the layers of litter, old leaves, and forgotten concrete. I could barely see the end of the ally but it appeared to let out near an old factory. We climbed over a pile of bricks that looked about a hundred years old and home to about twelve million bugs. Half of which I had the misfortune of seeing.

“More people, more pollution, more heat. Therra Hut” He pointed at the building at the end of the ally. “They say the factory at the end of the ally is haunted. Do you want to be stupid and go goof off in a condemned building where eight people died? We could be just like the kids in the novel for Mr. Gertel’s class, you know, the ones that got themselves killed,” His sarcasm dripped from.

I laughed a little, “I think I’d rather not.”

He laughed too and squeezed out of the ally, “Me neither.”

 The factory really was creepy and I could see why people said it was haunted. I gladly followed past the factory wall and out into another street. We took a right then a left and bit by bit the houses got nicer. The gate of my house finally came into view and I ran up to them. My family's new home was still exactly where I’d left it this morning.

I turned to Leif, “Thanks for walking me home,” I had to blush a little.

“Your welcome, it isn't any trouble really. In a way I almost hope you get lost again so I can have the pleasure of walking you home,” He smiled charmingly. It felt a bit flirty but I didn’t really mind that.

I took off his jacket and offered it to him, “Here’s your jacket back. Thanks again for letting me borrow it.”

He held up a hand, “Keep it, I know where it is if I ever need it.” Now it was definitely flirty… I still kinda liked though.

I blushed a bit more and opened the gate and asked, “See you in Biology tomorrow, then?”

“Definitely.”

 I could feel him watch me out of the corner of his eye as I walked up the pathway and he turned down the sidewalk. As I opened the door I saw him turn to me and wave as he finally walked out of sight. I went in the house up to my room. I put the jacket on my bed and took a hot shower.

That night it wasn’t about the troubles of moving, pollution control laws, or the new school I thought of as I drifted to sleep. I thought of a modern teenage guy with the name of a Viking, the chivalry of a knight, the violence of a monk and wit of Mark Twain. An unlikely combination, never the less, I thought he was a good unofficial Valentine for my first Valentine's Day in Therra Hut.

Photo by Carmen Peñaranda