A Familiar Face (Rhys.)

[Miranda Suery]

Miranda had her hair up in a ponytail, her bright grey eyes looking over the many books on the shelves in the new bookstore that had opened up in Downtown Pilot Ridge. University was a whole new set of problems, and the brunette was itching to leave the confines of the school. She decided that she didn’t want a full course load: Biology, Geology, Calculus and Roman History would keep her busy enough. Her next essay wasn’t due for a couple more weeks, and the young woman decided that maybe a new book would spark her muse. She only had so much attention span for the Romans.

Her fingers trailed along the spines of the new books, the scent of unopened books in the air. It was better than that new car smell. Mira smiled brightly, her skin stretching across her cheekbones, making them more prominent than they already were. She was wearing a light grey sweater that seemed to suck her body in like a corset, when she was simply naturally that thing. Dark wash skinny jeans adorned her legs and her calves gave way to dark brown boots.

Selecting a rather large volume adorned with multiple rocks on the cover, the title embossed. Miranda smiled, putting the book on a nearby table. She wasn’t going to buy the thing, just look it over. But first, she wanted to make sure there was nothing else she would want to take a peek at. She was too engrossed with the task at hand to notice that someone she had attended Hammel with was also looking around, but not necessarily at the books.

Ms. Suery looked away from the shelf of books, her eyes making contact with a familiar face. It was Rhys Rockwood. A small smile crossed her face; he had seen her, she couldn’t simply walk by him now. Mira raised her hand in a subtle wave, wondering if she’d have time to look at the book on the table besides her if Rhys decided to approach her now.

Not that she would mind.

[Rhys Rockwood]

Late September in the northeast, and Rhys was still wearing khaki shorts and a plain black t-shirt. Sooner or later, he'd take notice of the temperature and adjust his casual clothing accordingly, but for now, he was blissfully unaware and enduring of it. He was just walking around downtown Pilot Ridge to pass the time. He preferred being outside rather than sitting around inside his apartment, so long walks or runs weren't uncommon for him.

While he was walking, it dawned on him that he rarely found anything on television entertaining while he was stuck at home. Rhys needed something else to occupy his time while there. Fortunately, as his attention focused on that little issue, he passed a bookstore. His brain was swift enough to put one and one together, so he doubled back a few steps and slipped inside, hoping something would catch his eye as he walked around.

His eyes wandered across titles on the shelves for a few minutes, and eventually something did catch his eye. It just wasn't a book. He vaguely recognized one of the young women in the store. She looked like a girl he knew a bit from Hammel, but he wasn't certain. He edged closer for a better look, eventually catching her looking at him. Rhys grinned a bit and dropped the act of not stealing looks at her, deciding a direct approach was better now.

"Um, hi," he said, a bit clumsy with his words. "I hate to say this because it sounds like an awful cheesy way to meet a girl, but you look familiar, and I'm pretty sure I know you. We went to school together, right? Here in town, the private school." So he wasn't the best with names all the time. Everyone has flaws.

[Miranda Suery]

He really hadn’t been there that long, staring at her anyways. But something like that just didn’t go unnoticed for her. Either it was just because he was doing it so blatantly, or she caught onto these things faster than the average person. It wasn’t everyday that someone was looking at her intently, and then walked right up to her to talk. She was pretty sure he hadn’t said a word to her throughout high school, but that would make sense, seeing as she was two years his junior.

Rhys was sweet, trying not to play the fool. Mira could tell he wasn’t exactly proud of the whole way he was approaching her, but at least he was trying, she gave him that much. With every word he spoke she was sure that he might be crossing his fingers behind his back – imagine if they didn’t know each other. That would be truly awkward.

“Yes, we went to school together,” she said, standing upright now instead of leaning all over the books. It wasn’t as though the private school was all that private anyways, most everyone seemed to know what was going on within it. “Rhys? That’s your name right?” She asked, a small smile on her face. She didn’t want to greet him so eagerly with the name. That would be strange, considering he obviously didn’t know hers.

“So what are you still doing in Pilot Ridge?” She asked, bright grey eyes on him, “Besides looking for a book?” People usually didn’t just walk into a bookstore without a reason – well, she didn’t anyways.

[Rhys Rockwood]

Well that was awfully kind of her, not making fun of him for the less than subtle approach, and he was quite relieved to hear that he hadn't mistaken her for someone else. It really would have been odd to have approached her like that only to find out he was wrong and she hadn't gone to Hammel with him a few years ago. Then again, he'd practically used one of the more common pick up lines to start conversation with her; maybe it wouldn't have been that bad.

"Yeah, that's right." Great, now he was a little embarrassed to not know her name. She'd managed to know his, and he couldn't even return the kindness. "I'm a bit surprised you knew that. I mostly just remembered seeing you around the grounds. I'm not sure we met more than once or twice at most, if even that often." He smiled a bit, ever a little too friendly for his own good. "So, can I get your name? I'm sorry I don't remember it. It's been a year or two since I saw you last."

"I'm not really looking for a book though. I was walking around and realized I needed to some way to pass some of my free time at home, and the TV just wasn't cutting. Happened to be walking by a bookstore and thought I would check it out just in case something caught my attention from the shelves. So far, no luck. I also live here in Pilot Ridge. I actually work as a recruiter for Hammel." Rhys winced a little mentally. He'd just started talking to her, and he was already running off at the mouth. He needed to remember that sometimes not speaking was just as good as spilling the beans on everything.

[Miranda Suery]

Mira grinned, she wasn’t offended that he didn’t remember her name, “Don’t be surprised, a lot of the girls in my year had a secret crush on you,” she said matter of factly, not including herself in the group. She wasn’t trying to hit on him, but if she came off that way, that would be his ego talking. She shook her head, “We never spoke, I’m Miranda,” she said with a sheepish smile, leaning her weight on one foot.

Her eyes opened widely as the man proceeded to rant; she was surprised he didn’t pass out from lack of oxygen. Still, a polite smile lingered on her face. “So you’re just killing time away from work?” She summarized for him, holding his gaze. Apparently some things never changed. Rhys had stayed at Hammel, working for the institute he had learned from. “How’s the work?” She asked, continuing to put the spotlight on him. It wasn’t that she wouldn’t be willing to share that she was attending the University now, but he hadn’t asked, and unlike him, she didn’t feel the need to tell him her life’s story.

“The books are a bit overpriced here anyways,” she said, picking up the large hardcover, flipping it over to show Rhys the $80 price tag on the bottom of the left hand corner. Mira smiled at the cover though as she lowered it, like it was the one true love of her life. “It doesn’t cost anything to look though,” she added, setting the book down once more.

She wanted to know if he just wanted to say hi, or if he was planning on lingering. Miranda, however, didn’t have the courage to ask. She just wasn’t that type of girl.

[Rhys Rockwood]

"Really now? Well huh...that information would have been useful five or six years ago. Could have a little bit longer of a record with women. Oh well, such is life and all that." Hearing that surprised him a little bit, and he thought back to any signs he might have missed only to decide it wasn't worth thinking about. It was practically a quarter of his life ago. No use dwelling on it. "It's good to have a name for you though. Nice to meet you."

Rhys laughed a little bit when she turned his long-winded statement into a sentence less than ten words long. She was clearly more concise than him. "Yeah, pretty much. The work isn't bad though. I get paid a nice amount for what I do, and the job has some nice perks. How about you? Going to school, have a job?" he asked, curious what the girl was up to in life. So far, all he knew was that her name was Miranda. A considerable amount more than he had known a few minutes ago, but still not much in the grand scheme of things.

When she showed him that price tag, his eyes widened in surprise. There was no way that bundle of paper was worth anywhere near that amount. "That's...a touch ridiculous," Rhys said, trying to put it lightly. "I mean...wow. Eighty bucks buys a sizable amount of a lot. Guess it's a good thing I don't really need a book and came in here more from boredom than interest."

[Miranda Suery]

“Nice to finally meet you officially as well,” she agreed, nodding her head a bit. So far so good. Rhys wasn’t annoying, and he didn’t seem to let the fact of half the student body having a crush on him, maybe more, Mira wasn’t sure about all the particulars. Surely Rhys had a woman in his life by now. “I’m sure you’ve more than made up for lost time,” she ventured, a little more on the friendly side than she was used to.

Miranda watched him laugh, it was contagious and she chuckled a bit. They were both receiving looks to be quiet so she smartened up, but a small smile remained. “A little of both, hopefully. I’m at the U of V full time and I’m looking for a part time job,” she said, her hands unanimated as she spoke, staying rather still by her sides. If she wasn’t nervous about being a public speaker, she would probably do well as a politician. At least no one could make fun of her strange hand gestures.

Sighing, Miranda glanced at the book again. “It’s a pity really, I don’t see how people are going to buy something that expensive, no matter what is on the inside,” she said. “That’s why I buy my textbooks online, they’re usually less than half the normal price.” She smiled, wondering why she was sharing this with him. It wasn’t really necessary information. “But window shopping’s always free,” she said out of nervousness now, glancing at the book again as though it could make the situation happy and light again. Nothing serious would come out of this, that was for sure.