Sentilia

Chapter 8

MAXINE

I woke up in my unmoved, undisturbed room. I was still burning inside.

His face was imprinted in my head; it wrung my heart and hurt my stomach. I was obscured by the urge I felt to fall asleep again, to see him again. I opened my eyes and tried to calm myself, but every time I blinked, I saw his beautiful face and was overwhelmed again. The pull and attraction I felt for him had nothing to do with the interest I might have had for Kleio. It was so much more intense.

Elis, Dr. Elis Skythe, was shorter than Kleio, but still towered over me; he had a muscular shape, but not too bulky. His protuberant squared jaw was covered in a short unkempt beard. He had a hint of a tan, blonde hair, and magnificent smiling eyes. His voice was low and husky. I kept replaying it over and over in my head.

He was the man of my dreams, literally; I hated the irony of it. I wasn't sure what the feeling of true love was, but I had definitively never felt like this before in my life. I was taken aback by the intenseness of the feeling, and I wasn't completely sure it was a good thing yet. He hadn't spoken a word to me, but the sight of his face was enough to drive me crazy.

I laid in my bed, concentrating on my breathing, long enough for the enchantment to wear off faintly, letting reality put some clarity back into my hazy mind.

I finally got up when the sun did. I went to get breakfast, and met my parents in the kitchen. I was careful, this time, not to show any signs of emotion.

To my surprise and relief, they didn't notice any change at all, or at least, they didn't mention it.

I could have sworn that day dragged on slower than usual, as if every minute was longer than it's habitual 60 seconds. Any of the feelings I felt during the night had passed. I was left impatient and anxious: I couldn't wait to go to sleep, hoping I would dream about him again. I tried to distract myself as long as I could with one of the books I had gotten from the museum — all the while asking myself what time was considered too early to go to bed.

The book was called "Romeo and Juliet", from William Shakespeare. I really got caught up in the story; I could feel every bit of romance, but also every bit of pain. For once I felt like I could almost relate to the characters, it made me feel a little less lonely.

Nowadays, finding a mate was such an easy computerized process. The book, however, reflected the heart; the love of the two poor souls was pure and true and it was such it should always be for us too. Though what I felt for Elis was the strongest I'd ever felt for anybody, I still had some sanity left. Enough to know that I could not love someone whom I'd just seen for a second, someone I'd never spoken to, a person that wasn't even real.

If I ever got the chance to live fully and appreciate a love tie like Romeo and Juliet—I couldn't help wishing—I'd never let that go.

I had read the whole book, and hadn't even realized it was dinnertime until my parents called me from the kitchen. I had gotten in too deep with Shakespeare's work.

I also had forgotten that we were all supposed to go to the neighbour's house for dinner, so I was fazed for a moment when I saw my parents waiting in the entrance.

"Are you ready?"

"Sure... yeah," I said, acting like I hadn't totally forgotten about it.

The annual dinner at the Clipperd's was not my favorite night of the year. Frankly, I didn't see the point of sharing a meal with them at all; it was a boring outing. Plus, their daughter Robyn and I were always forced to make conversation. Of course, she was completely at ease with me. She had other friends she saw regularly.