Aria, the new girl

Ren's heart had never beaten so fast. He couldn't even describe what he was feeling. It didn't make sense to be in love with a girl he had never seen, yet his heart raced faster with each step she took toward him.

He felt his face turning red and couldn't look away until, just before sitting in the empty desk in front of Ren, she noticed him. Their gazes met, and he immediately regretted it. He knew his expression was weird, and he feared he had already ruined the first impression she would have of him.

He didn't have time to uncover the truth; she quickly sat down as the class was about to begin, and it was so fast that he couldn't see anything in her expression that revealed her opinion of him.

The next ten minutes were spent in shock. He paid even less attention to the class than usual, just waiting for his heart to calm down and for his mind to comprehend the situation.

She couldn't really be the girl of his dreams, could she? He knew it was impossible, and yet, the girl sitting in front of him, playing with her black hair during class, was the spitting image of the person he had dreamt of for as long as he could remember.

What if she really was the one? What did it mean? Could he see the future? Did he know he would meet this girl? Or did she have some kind of power to travel through his dreams? Perhaps they were destined to meet. Regardless of what it was, Ren could only feel one thing:

Magic.

Living magic stood before him, breathing, taking notes, existing. It was a feeling he couldn't recall the last time he had experienced. It filled him up inside.

Ren didn't look at Leo again; he didn't want to reveal what he was feeling. He also couldn't think about what he would do about the girl afterward. Would he talk to her? Ask her out? Right now, he needed to pour all that inspiration out and returned to scribbling in his notebook.

His story was coming to life. All the great knights of the kingdom were searching for lost hope while the Small Shining Knight waited because he knew he would be useless alone. That's when he saw a new woman arriving at the court.

Obviously, she was just like the girl he always drew. She seemingly knew the answer, the answer to save the kingdom, but it was vague. It couldn't be that easy; Ren knew the story needed to keep the reader's attention with conflicts and obstacles.

How to proceed then? Ren pondered. The knight and the lady must embark on a journey, but the knight was still the worst in the kingdom. Why would he be chosen? There must be better options...

Lost in thought, he didn't notice the time passing. He didn’t even leave the classroom during the breaks. Soon his classes were ending, and he still wasn't sure how the plot would progress. Nevertheless, he kept trying while improving the design of the characters; after all, it was all still a draft.

He was thinking about the lady; he didn't want to give her a dress. He disliked the archetype of weak and defenseless female characters, but he also didn't know if he wanted her to be a warrior. Maybe she had magical powers...

"What are you doing there?"

That's when he snapped out of his own little world and started hearing the murmurs in the classroom as students conversed among themselves. Apparently, class had ended.

He looked up to the source of the voice and saw the girl's face very close to his own. Her eyes sparkled, and she showed an expression of curiosity towards Ren and his drawings.

Why is she talking to me? What's happening?

Without the answers to his questions, he looked down, noticing the page filled with different designs of a character clearly based on Aria. Even though he had the image in his mind before meeting her, he didn't want her to see it; if her first impression of him was still intact, seeing that would surely destroy it.

He quickly closed his notebook, not knowing what she had seen, and stared at her without saying anything. With each passing second, he felt more foolish, and the awkward silence became increasingly difficult to navigate. Luckly, she seemed more able to have a decent conversation.

"I'm Aria. What's your name?" asked the girl, slightly frowning and leaving Ren even more desperate.

"Ren! My name is Ren! And I'm late, I need to go home."

Without saying anything else, he grabbed his things in a disorganized manner, with papers falling to the floor, and stood up, heading straight for the hallway of the school.

"Ren! Wait, Ren!"

The voice belonged to Leo, who was trying to get his friend's attention, but Ren wasn't ready for any kind of conversation. He had a lot to think about and left the school without looking back.

He began walking home; it wasn't a long way, and in less than twenty minutes through the peaceful neighborhood, he would be in his own sanctuary.

With each step he took, regret grew. Now he was sure that Aria thought he was a complete weirdo. There was no way she would find him normal after that interaction, and any possible connection with her had ended before it even began.

Still, a very positive feeling enveloped him. Every time he thought of her, an uncontrollable smile appeared on his face, something he hadn't felt in a long time, barely able to contain himself as he hopped back home.

He even stopped to buy a cookie in a store close to his home. That cookie was nostalgic, even though Ren couldn't explain why. He used to eat it a lot when he was a child but stopped eating it when he moved to this town. For some reason, now felt like the right time to start eating the cookie again.