Melanie’s cough echoes through the speaker, “I’m not feeling well, Duke. I think I have the flu.” She coughs again and I can hear a little phlegm this time. Her voice is scratchy and weak. My heart breaks for her. “Do you want me to come bring you medicine?” I’m about to head for the pharmacy when she rejects my offer.
“No, I don’t want you to get sick. You have lacrosse and I will not be blamed for your absence. Just go to school. I am going to sleep this off.” She sounds so exhausted and I begin to worry a little.
“Are you sure, Melanie? I don’t mind bringing you something.”
“Duke, please. I’ll be fine. I’ll call you when I wake up from my nap. Promise.” I can hear her smile through the phone and my worry subsides.
“Okay, baby, get some rest. Call me later.” I hang up and head toward the subway. I only have to wait a few minutes for the 6 train to arrive. As the train pulls into the station, I put my headphones on and begin to eat my sandwich.
About twenty minutes later, I walk into Forensics class and sit at my usual table next to Rob. “What’s up, Duke? Have a good weekend?” Rob takes his books out of his backpack and places them on top of the table.
&n
bsp; “Yeah, it was great. I took Melanie to go see the new Spiderman movie. She loves Jamie Foxx.” I laugh as I picture her laughing at Foxx’s corny jokes during the movie.
“Oh, how was it?” he asks excitedly. Just as I’m about to answer his question, Mr. Cerillo walks into class and shuts the door. “Alright, students, hope you all had a fantastic weekend. Today. we will learn how to extract and read our fingerprints.” The class vibrates with excitement and cheering. I can’t wait to do this. I love that CSI show and forensics has always fascinated me.
“Alright, we need to form groups of three, so just get together and I’ll pass out the materials.” Mr. Cerillo heads over to the supply closet and starts to organize the cloths and ink used for extraction. Rob and I look at each other, shrug our shoulders, and settle for just a group of two. I’m not too keen on working with other people who could affect my grades. I work hard for my grades and won’t have a slacker bring them down.
The classroom door opens and I look up to see a girl walk through, followed behind the guidance counselor. “Mr. Cerillo, you have a new student. This is Raya Winters and she’s a transfer from New Haven.” The counselor has Mr. Cerillo sign the acknowledgement and she exits the class, leaving Raya. The class is silent, everyone staring at the new student. She is short—about five-four—with long, dark brown curly hair, and she’s slender. I would say she probably weighs about a hundred and fifteen pounds. Her shirt is a light pink button down and her blue jeans add a nice shape to her petite form. She doesn’t look around the class but instead keeps her head down until Mr. Cerillo calls out to her.
“Welcome to Forensics, Raya. I am Mr. Cerillo. We are just about to start a new lab today and extract our fingerprints. How about you grab a seat next to Duke as his group needs another team member anyway?” He looks over at Rob and me and points toward us to show Raya the way. She makes her way to our table and sits down next to me. My nose immediately picks up a hint of vanilla and lavender. Shit, she smells good.
I clear my throat, “Hi, I’m Duke and this is Rob. So, I’m assuming this is your first day?” She turns to us and we are stunned into silence. Her eyes are a piercing crystal blue; as blue as the sky on a clear, sunny day. The blue tint is fascinating and her long eyelashes add to their intensity. I stare deeply into them and wonder where this girl came from. She has the eyes of an angel.
She smiles up at us, “Hi, I’m Raya, and yes, this is my first day. Can’t you tell from the awkward entrance?” she laughs.
Rob reaches over me to shake her hand. “Welcome to Lehman High School, Raya. I hope you stick with us for a while.” He winks at her and combs his fingers through his blond hair. Ha, he’s already putting the moves on this girl and it hasn’t even been five minutes.
“Thanks, Rob. I’m a senior, so this year is my last. I can’t wait to graduate.” Her smile is bright but then dims until the smile fades. She looks away toward the front of the classroom and I sense her body tense like something is bothering her.
“Hey, are you okay?” I ask.
She turns to me and her lips pull into a small smile “Yes, I’ll be fine.” I can’t help but not believe her, but what can I say, I don’t even know this girl.
“Alright, time to start the lab. Pass out the instructions and be sure to read them carefully. The blue ink is difficult to get off of your clothes, so please, no inking anyone.” Mr. Cerillo hands out the pamphlets and I pass them to Raya and Rob. Rob reads his instructions aloud as Raya examines hers in silence. I read over mine carefully and begin to set up the lab. We each write our names on the top of the sheet and create a column to decipher whose prints are whose.
Raya chooses to go first. “Here, let me help you with that,” Rob offers. He stands up to walk over to her and helps her ink all five of her fingers and plot them on her sheet.
“This is pretty cool. It reminds me of CSI,” she says.
“Ha! I love CSI. That’s why I chose Forensics as an elective.” I smile at her and she returns a smile.
“Me, too,” she says. Rob inks and plots his fingerprints next and I complete mine last. We compare our prints with one another and notice that Rob has a few extra ridges on his ring finger.
The bell rings and everyone starts to pack up and exit the class. “Class, please clean up the supplies before you leave!”
Rob asks Raya what her next class is and she responds with Calculus. He looks over to me, “Duke has that class next. It was nice meeting you, Raya. I’ll see you around.” He grabs her hand, raises it to his mouth, and kisses it gently. As he exits, Raya laughs loudly.
“What’s so funny?” I ask as I clean our table. She turns to me and helps me clean up the supplies. “Look at my hands. They are covered in blue ink and Rob kissed them. He left with ink on his face and I doubt anyone is going to tell him.” I look at her and we both burst into laughter.
“Rob is going to be pissed when he finds out! Ha-Ha! I should text him but I won’t.” I think, That’s what he gets for hitting on her so soon.
“He seems to be a sweet guy.” She continues to clean up and I walk over to the sink to wash my hands. Raya puts everything in the supply closet and helps Mr. Cerillo clean up the remaining tables. None of the students stayed behind to help clean; what a bunch of assholes. Raya walks up to wash her hands in the sink and I pass her a few paper towels.
“Thank you. I had fun in class today. I think I’ll enjoy this class” she finishes drying her hands and hangs the towel. I walk back to our table and grab my stuff, passing her backpack to her. “Thanks, Duke” she smiles again. Her smile is infectious and bright. You can’t help but feel happy when she smiles at you.
I place my hand by the small of her back and lead her to the East Wing. “Come on, let’s get to Calculus.” As we head outside, I hear my phone ringing and look down to see Melanie is calling so I answer.