Just Dropping In (Serenity)

[Aaron Walker]

It was sunny day, so of course AJ was outside. Of course he would go outside whether it was sunny or not. But it was more enjoyable when the weather cooperated. There was a large tree by the pond that he was determined to get to the very top of. So far he’d fallen twice, but not from very far up. Over the years, he’d developed the talent for being able to take a fall without getting hurt too bad.

There were a few other students milling about. From his perch, AJ watched them talking to friends or just enjoying a break in their day. Besides being outside, people-watching was one of his favorite activities. He usually had no clue what was going on with them, but he found it interesting. Almost like visiting the zoo.

As he tried to switch positions in the tree, his foot stepped on a small branch that refused to hold his weight. It snapped and AJ dropped to the ground. Standing up to brush himself of a little, AJ saw that he had almost landed on someone. “Oh,” he said, pulling a twig out of his hair, “Sorry, didn’t see you there.”

Noticing movement on his shoulder, he turned his head to see a small spider crawling on his shirt. “Well, hello to you too,” he said, holding his hand close to the spider so that it would crawl onto it.

[Serenity Knyght]

The day was nice and warm, the type of day Serenity liked being outside. She was in one of her rare calm moods. It was nice by the pond with the slight breeze from the water. She had noticed a boy trying to climb up the tree next to her, but said nothing. He was older than her, but he looked nice. Serenity being a people person, was tempted to talk to him, but she knew he was busy, so she waited for the opportunity to present itself.

She laughed lightly when he fell and looked away. When he spoke she looked up at him and smiled, "It's fine." Then she saw him pick up a small spider and her eyes widened. She squealed and flailed her arms, "Kill it! Kill it!" She backed away and shuddered. One of her biggest fears was spiders. She despised them, too many legs and ugly faces. Spiders terrified her.

"Just kill it don't play with it! That's gross!" Sery whimpered and hugged herself. She chewed her bottom lip and tried to keep from shaking.

[Aaron Walker]

AJ was glad the girl didn’t seem upset by his sudden appearance. He flashed her a grin and was about to introduce himself when she started shrieking. “Kill it?” he asked. “But this little guy won’t hurt me. So why should I hurt him? He’s kinda cute if you take the time to get to know him.” He watched the spider crawl around on the palm of his hand and smiled down at him.

He started to hold out his hand for the girl to see the spider better, when he realized she was whimpering. “It’s just a spider. Don’t freak. I’ll put him over here, okay?” He walked over to the tree and let the spider crawl off his hand onto the bark. Sheesh, he thought to himself. It’s not like I’m petting a rattlesnake.

“Um…” he asked walking back to the girl and reaching out his hand to touch her shoulder. “You okay?”

[Serenity Knyght]

Serenity relaxed slightly once he put the spider back on the tree. She had always been extremely terrified of spiders and snakes and a lot more. It wasn't her fault, her mother just sheltered her a bit when she was little. Spiders were the worst though. She hated the way the crawled around and had fur. She had never once liked spiders and didn't think she ever would.

"I'm...I'm fine. I'm just really scared of spiders. I have been since I was little," Sery said quietly as she took a deep breath. She was a glad he wasn't a jerk. Surely if Lucah had seen the spider he would have tortured her a bit before setting it back down, but that's how 'big brothers' were. She put a small smile on her face and swallowed the lump in her throat.

Serenity stuck her hand out and spoke quietly, "I'm Serenity. Or Sery if you prefer. You are?" She asked with curiosity in her tone. She flipped her blond hair out of her face and looked up at him with her bright blue eyes sparkling.

[Aaron Walker]

“But spiders are cool. I mean most of them can’t really hurt you. And they keep the bug population controlled and all.” AJ said. “Their not my favorite, but I don’t really mind them either. I run into them a lot though.” He smiled back at the girl. He was considering picking the spider back up. Maybe if she got a good look at one up close and saw that it didn’t scare him, then she wouldn’t be scared either.

He looked down to see the girl’s hand held out toward him. “Oh. I’m Aaron. Aaron James actually. But mostly everyone calls me AJ.” He smiled at her again. “Nice to uh…meet you.” AJ never really was great at the whole meeting new people thing. Not that he didn’t’ like it.