The Fountain

When I began to step out of the fountain, I saw a shadow. I froze, my heart suddenly pounding in my chest as if I was listening to it with a stethescope. I'd thought I was alone. I bit my lip and closed my eyes. I was soaked from head to toe. How could I have been so stupid? If I was going to take part in such moronical behavior, I might at least do it at night, when no one else was wandering the campus. ...Maybe I could drop back down into the water. I could hide behind the ledge, and maybe the person would continue on their way and never even notice me. Before I could put this to action, though, the shadow moved, and a figured stepped out from behind the corridor wall that I thought would protect me so well from any possible onlookers. As the figure stepped into the sunlight pouring into the small courtyard, I realized it was a boy. He blinked at me as if I was the oddity in this situation, which I wouldn't deny if he were one of my fellow pupils or a teacher; but his presence in this courtyard made even less sense than my presence in the fountain. "Oh," he said, "um, hello." I blinked right back at him, "Hi." He looked confused as he motioned to me and pointed out, "You're...you're, um, wet." I furrowed my eyebrows and pressed my lips together, nodding. "And you're a boy." He laughed, and also nodded. "What are you doing here?" I asked. He grinned, "You get straight to the point, I see. What are you doing in a fountain?" I shrugged, "First of all, I'm only halfway in the fountain now. Second...I was in the fountain to get wet." He tilted his head back and forth, "I suppose that makes sense." I crossed my arms over my chest, "So why are you here?" He grinned, "I was looking for the Headmistress." I narrowed my eyes, "Why?" He smiled like he knew I wouldn't like his response, "She's my mother." My face went blank, and he laughed out loud. "I can tell you like her." He glanced behind him as voices echoed through the corridor off to the left of the exit to the courtyard. Classes must be starting, then. I hadn't heard the bell chime. But, then again, I never did when I was in the courtyard. I came here frequently– to read, to rest, to swim. The boy looked back at me, "I guess I better be going, then." I nodded, glancing over at my bag on the floor to the left of the fountain, "Me, as well." He bit his lip as I stepped the rest of the way out of the fountain and grabbed my bag, calculating how much time I had to change into dry clothes before the first seminar if the ten-minute bell had just chimed. "Do you come here frequently?" he asked, looking around the courtyard. I slung my bag over my right shoulder and shrugged, "Yea, I guess." He nodded, and started to walk away, but then I continued, "Wait–why do you ask?" he looked back at me and I paused, and then added, "Will I see you again?" He smiled and said, "Probably. I'm fond of sketching and you're–" he cut himself off, and then improved upon himself, "that's a beautiful fountain." He turned, then, and walked away, and I blushed as his shadow disappeared, and stared down at the water droplets dripping from my hair onto my feet.

© 2011