Adonis
Blue (3)
Margaret Grace
Chapter One (2)
Outside the school gate Ted finally caught
up with the boy.
‘I’m sorry’ Ted apologised. ‘It’s not your
fault’ said the other boy.
‘But these guys are good, actually’ The two
started walking.
‘I know that’
‘But…’
‘No worries. It’s usual’
‘Oh’ Ted stopped unexpectedly.
‘Come to my home, Jeanne’ Ted grabbed the
friend by the hand, who was surprised, and he started to run with short
steps.
An hour later, the two boys were standing
in the hair dresser Ted’s father ran - the boy was changed to a beautiful
boy with a neat hairstyle and Ted’s new clothing.
‘I have never had such a customer who’s got
a bright makeover as such’ Hairdresser Ted’s father himself was stunned.
Ted’s eyes were sparkled with the change
of his friend and his father’s technique of haircut. ‘Dad, you’re a great
hairdresser!’
That evening Ted’s family sat down the table
with his new friend. He hadn’t had a warm, nutritious food for a long time
as he usually sleeps in the open air drunk with a can of liquor.
After dinner, Ted invited his friend to his
room and chatted till midnight, telling him about himself. Ted wants to
become a makeup artist, leaving this town after high school. ‘My dad’s
stubborn and sees me talentless, but I’ll make it someday’ Ted said.
A few days had passed since the boy came to
stay at Ted’s place.
One late afternoon, the boy walked along the river bank, with that briefcase
containing art utensils as usual.
He heard a clear singing voice nearby.
He kept walking and found a girl by the river.
He stopped to listen to her song for a while, but she noticed him and
stopped singing.
‘I’m sorry I didn’t realise you
were there’ the girl turned to him.
He realised she was the girl Ted was looking in the classroom.
‘No, you shouldn’t be sorry.
It’s just that your song caught my attention’
‘I must not let my songs be heard by
anyone’
‘Your singing’s not so bad. You’re
gifted’
‘What?’ she was perplexed and looked
at his face directly.
‘Oh, you…are the boy who came to my classroom the other day…with
Ted’
‘Bingo’
‘I didn’t recognise you 'cos now you
look different from before somehow.
Your picture was not too bad, either, but Ted’s not so handsome’
He laughed.
‘I drew it that way on purpose.
He’s such a funny guy, and I did play a trick on him’
She began to laugh as well.
‘I saw him take it seriously. He’s stupid’
Her smile revealed her charm.
She is petite and chic with keen but sincere eyes.
She’s a good girl, so Ted’s got a crush on her, he thought to
himself.
‘I’m Stella. And
you?’
‘Jeanne d’Arc’
‘Well, isn’t that
a girl’s name?
And the Jeanne d’Arc is the name of the heroic girl in Orleans who
saved her nation…’
‘I heard so but I’m a genuine boy’
‘Did your parents give
you that name?’
‘No, I’ve got no parents.
One day I found myself alone with nothing in my memory but this name
and my age - now sixteen.
I’m not sure if it’s my real name or not’
‘Oh okay.
But, …parents are nothing but a mirage’
‘Huh’
‘They can’t prove to their children
that they truly gave birth to their children’
‘You’re right…and smart’
‘Thanks for your flattery’
Stella replied coldly.
‘I’m disgusted with the world’
‘I wanna be strong’
the word passed her lips, who is sitting on the river bank with him.
‘Stronger than anyone else’
‘You’re tenacious’ he said looking
at the water in the river.
‘You must be hardworking and overloaded’
Stella held her breath in
amazement.
‘You’re such a miraculous
boy.
I’ve never seen such a boy before.
You know, all the guys are just cowards and hopeless’
‘Well, I’m strange’
he smiled bitterly.
‘All you need is just let yourself go - you’re free as a bird
- and you will find what you don’t realise now…’
‘Jeanne’
The voice from the back turned the two’s
heads back.
Ted was standing there.
Ted noticed Stella and blushed.
‘J, Jeanne, dinner’s ready’
A week later, Ted rushed home looking for
his friend.
‘Jeanne, Jeanne! Guess what? Listen, I made
it! I got my girlfriend!
Jeanne, where are you? She’s Stella, the girl I’ve ever liked!
Jeanne!’
At that time he was standing
at the platform in a train station.
The train came, he got in,
and the door shut.
He took a seat, and the train started to move.
As the outside view came into his sight, he opened his briefcase and
began to make a conté sketch of the mountains filled with thrifty
green.
When he began to paint the sketch with watercolours, a girl who looked
like an arts college student came to his seat.
‘You paint?’
Her voice made him raise his head and look
at her.
The books dropped from her arms with a thud.
