Short Story 2: A New Connection

Short Story 2: A New Connection
Julian’s P.O.V

‘Dear Big Sis…

I met a girl recently…and I think she’s a witch.’

“Shit!” I deleted the entire text and stared grudgingly at my screen. “Who the fuck writes ‘Dear’ in their emails anymore?”

Letting out a sigh, I closed my eyes and thought about what to write to my sister or how to place the pressing issue at hand. My ginormus crush on Dixie Vaughn, the ‘goth’ girl that had stolen my heart at first sight.

The first day of college had been the most uneventful day of my life; completely different from what I had imagined the day to be like. But when I had entered my first class of the day, thinking that this would be just as eventful as a middle-aged professor with glasses entered with a pile of books and began introducing the subject and himself to the class…in had come Dixie, wearing all black, her hair in braids and metal hoops and a dragon tattoo on one hand, that covered the entire length of her arm.

Her crop top had grabbed just as much attention as her belly button piercing and the tight leather pants. She had ignored the whistles and the cat calls and sat right next to me in the front row and removed the airpods from her ears to pay attention to class. The professor had shown open displeasure at her choice of clothing, but had kept his mouth shut and began teaching class without any further questions.

And that was when I had looked into her sea green eyes and felt myself lost in her gaze…like a complete and utter fool. I was only thankful for the fact that Dixie had only given me a side glance and a smile before getting back to working on her paper.

There had been plenty of interaction after that and Dixie had been sitting next to me ever since. I had made a few friends from our class as well and we did often hang out outside of campus. Once day, my friends and I had been able to sneak into a club to party and that was when I had seen Dixie once again, this time with three other girls, who dressed very similar to her.

“So either she’s in some kind of girl group, a cult or she’s a witch.” I sighed, just as my phone started to ring.

Picking it up, I found that it was none other than my sister. “Aren’t you supposed to be a witch? How did you turn psychic?”

“Julian, I always know when you want to talk to me,” was her simple answer. “Now tell me, what has you so troubled? A girl perhaps? A witch?”

“No way…” my mouth fell open in surprise. “How?”

“Well…it might have something to do with that half-assed email you just sent me.”

Almost dropping the phone, I jumped up to check the email that I should have discarded…but instead, I found it in my outbox. “Fuck!”

“Language!” Freya scolded me, before getting right back to the topic. “So? What’s her name?”

“Dixie Vaughn,” I sighed, rubbing at my eyes because I knew my sister wouldn’t be letting this go anytime soon. “She’s in my class and she’s really cute and if you must know, she dresses in all black and has a dragon tattoo on her right arm.”

“That’s awfully descriptive,” Freya mused. “I didn’t think you even remembered how Molly dressed and she was your first love.”

“Crush!” I corrected her immediately. “She was just a crush and I was in kindergarten!”

“Fine…if you say so.”

This is exactly why I was afraid of asking my sister. She never let things slide. Molly, the little girl that I had a crush on in Kindergarten, had been brought up plenty of times in the last few years of my life. Especially since I failed to get a girlfriend in my teens. It wasn’t that I was uninterested in having a girlfriend, but I had seen the way Cameron was with my sister; the way he had loved her and how he had changed our lives for the better. After witnessing that kind of love, it has just discouraged me from having meaningless flings. But Dixie…I just knew there was a possibility of something more with her.

“How about you just go up to her and talk?” Freya said now, disrupting my train of thought. “I know it might be long-shot to assume that she’s a witch, but even if she were, witches can choose their own mates. It’s not written in stone like wolves. Take our parents for example.”

“Please!” I scoffed. “I’d rather take you and Cam as my example than our parents, It’s one scenario I try to forget at all costs.”

“Alright,” Freya immediately changed the subject. “But talk to her, okay? Ask her if she wants to hang out. Become her friend before you proceed to the next step.”

“Okay. I’ll try.”



With Freya’s words fresh in my head, I waited in class on Monday for Dixie to arrive so I could just…talk.

The side glances and the secret smile were getting me nowhere. I needed to take matters into my own hands if I wanted to have a chance with her.

As usual, Dixie arrived with only five minutes to spare before class started. For a second, our eyes met from across the room as she scanned the seats for me. Purposefully, I had taken a different seat today in the second row…to see if she would sit beside me still even if I changed seats.

Dixie lowered her head with a smile and walked up to the second row to take the seat next to me. Hope bloomed in my chest. So it wasn’t just a co-incidence, was it? She sat next to me every day because she wanted to…

I waited for a couple seconds as she sat down. My palms were sweating and I felt my heart race in my chest as I stole a glance at her. For once, she was wearing a dark blue crop top rather than black, but they were paired with black jeans. Her hair too was loose as it fell to her forehead in short bangs at the front and to her mid-back behind. And then I decided to get on with it.

“Hi…”

“Hi…”

Both of us said at the same time.

Both of our heads snapped towards each other as our eyes met for a searing second…and then both of us began laughing without reason.

“Julian Wilder,” I held out my hand to her, making sure to wipe away the perspiration before I shook her hand.

“Dixie Vaughn,” she placed her hand in mine…and it felt like electricity had just zapped through my entire body.

I didn’t understand if she felt it or not, but if the slight up-tilt of her lips were any indication, then yes, I think she felt it too.

“So…um…do you wanna…hang out?” I asked her nervously. “Get coffee some…time?”

“I think I’d love that.” Dixie smiled at me genuinely, making my heart do summersaults inside my chest.

“Cool…” I said like a fool.

“Cool.” Dixie laughed. “See you after school.”

And that was how I nervously stumbled into a new connection…the very first relationship of my life and hopefully, the last.

Was Dixie a witch? Only time would tell, but till then, I was going to enjoy our little coffee date after school…and possibly more in the future.

\------The End-----