Crooked Branches

Every time I heard their laugh, I shook my head. When they laughed those who passed them by looked at Siobhán and her friends as if they were an unimpressive freak show.  Michael, the boy she spoke to, wore ragged clothes. His skin was pale in hue, absent of color, and he was as thin as a toothpick. He wore round glasses that weren’t chic or in style. There were rumors that he, Michael, was dating Laura, because they’d been caught kissing behind the stairs one day. I tried to picture that. How his doughy face and her beautiful soft skin could merge for a kiss, but I failed—even to this day I can’t imagine it.

I once ran into Michael in the hall. He was ugly close-up. His facial hair grew disproportionately. Some hairs were really long, and others were little seedlings barely breaking soil. His odor was awful. He smelled like a wet rag but tried to mask it with cologne, only making it that much worse.

Siobhán attracted attention everywhere she went, but I don’t think she enjoyed it. She had perpetually red cheeks. Her arms looked like plump white marshmallows. She always bought a ham croissant at lunch. She ate it slowly and chewed it with a smile on her face. This would always remind me of my father. The way he drank his coffee in the morning. His newspaper would be in his hand and his mug in the other. I would sit in front of him and eat my breakfast but there’d be times when he would fold his paper ever so slightly to see my face and smile. Siobhán had that same smile on her face.

All day, the same smile would be painted on her face, even when the popular crowd would meow at her when she walked by them in the hall. I would feel sorry for her these times. So sad, I would think, she doesn’t know they’re making fun of her. I walked slower, and turned around to see.

Sometimes she’d look back at me with pleading eyes, and I’d look away nervously. I saw each meow the popular crows spouted as the pellets thrown at the town fool. There must have been hundreds of those pellets at Siobhán’s feet rotting away. The oddest thing for me was that Siobhán never seemed to notice these things, and when she did she’d look at those who made fun of her dead in the face and laugh, or howl, or meow. I always pictured a visitor walking down the hall, wondering what sort of animals could be loose on campus that could be making that noise.

Sometimes, I would wonder whether I knew her from another life. Maybe she’d done something terrible to me then, and that’s why I disliked her without knowing her. I pictured old family feuds ending in violent death. Maybe, in our past lives she’d taken something from me. Something I held dear. She must’ve accused me of a crime and I went to jail an innocent man. I pictured dying in that jail swearing to God that I would hate her forever.

It was during one of these daydreams that I heard my name.

“Ivan, you’ll be paired up with Siobhán.” Mrs. K looked at her and me and smiled. Schadenfreude at its most vile. It was as if she knew that this was the worst thing that could happen to me. I would be outcast if I were her partner. I could feel my stomach sink. The rest of the class turned and looked at me. Their eyes wide with pleasure that in some way they were safe. I turned to look at Siobhán. She was looking out into the fields through the window. Nothing seemed to faze her. I don’t even think she noticed that Mrs. K had partnered us up. I looked to see what she was staring at. Right outside the window there was a squirrel and a blue jay. A smile appeared on her face. I looked over again and saw that the squirrel was being attacked by the blue jay for getting too close to her nest. I smiled as well. When I turned back to her I noticed she was looking at me. Her face was serious, and she continued to look at me. I glanced away. When our eyes met again a smirk grew on her face.

As class ended, I went to Siobhán’s desk. I knew we had to plan out the details about our meeting.

“Hey, Siobhán.” I came up to her with hands on my backpack.

“Good day, Sir,” she answered, still sitting in her chair. Her mouth curled to a smile.

“Did you hear what Mrs. K said? About the project?”

“I surely did.” She made her voice deep and glottal. I wanted to make sure she’d do her part, because I was not about to do all the work. I didn’t know what her standing was in the class, but I was sure it wasn’t good.

“We have to set up when we can meet.”

“Okay. That’s dandy, mister,” Siobhán said in her British accent. I was immediately floored that she could not be serious. Not even for one miniscule second.

“We ride the same bus. So, we can just get off at either your stop or mine,” I said somewhat more forcefully than I wanted to.

“We do?” She got up and began packing her things in her bag. She carried with her a box that was open on her desk. She’d been playing with it when I came up to her. From the open top I could see inside there were hundreds of cards. They were separated by a thick piece of cardboard. It looked worn, and it was taped smack dab in the middle. On one side there were Pokémon cards, and on the other side there was Magic: The Gathering.

“Yeah. I sit in the middle, and you sit in the back.”

“I never noticed.” She put the lid back on top the case and put it in her bag.

“So, when do you want to start on it?” I asked.

“Well I don’t know… When do you want to start it?” She pulled her bag up and placed it on her shoulder.

“How about next week?” I said. I wanted to have enough time to make sure I was prepared.

“Can we go to your house?” She seemed a little worried. It was probably that her parents were weirder than she was.

“I don’t know about that,” I lied. “My parents don’t really like me bringing friends over.” I just didn’t want them to think I associated myself with her. They were very strict, and I was worried what they would think about it.

“Well, Ivan-san,” she said in a kung-fu fashion, “we must go to my house then.”

We got to the door to exit. Her friends were waiting for her. Laura was the first to speak.

“Hello milady. Art thou ready to go?” Laura’s voice was sweet, and her floral smell made me blush. Her cheeks flushed as well. She was so beautiful. In every way she moved, she excited my senses. She was demure, only making me find her that much more attractive.

“Yes, dear.” Siobhán answered. “Ivan-san, we shall meet next week at my house. I guess. Get off the carriage at my stop, dear sir. Au revoir.”