when a heart breaks / rowen

Rowan shivered as the wind began to pick up. He hated overcast days. The sky looked dark and dreary, about to break into tears any minute. When the first drop fell, Rowan pulled his jacket tighter. His bare feet were freezing, yet he liked it better than wearing shoes. His think skin pounded the pavement with every step, long oblivious to the roughness of cobblestone roads.

By now, the rain turned into a light drizzle, the ones where the mood is always sad and depressed, more so than a full on storm. As the tears fell from the sky, Rowan had the impression that someone was crying above. The tiny flecks of water flowed down his own face, creating a river of sadness on his cheeks.

Today was gloomy that’s for sure.

Rowan picked up his pace. He needed to get to the forest before the rain really picks up. He took off running, his feet splashing in puddles, spraying extra soakiness to his black wool jacket. By the time he reached the treeline, his clothes were soaked through.

He entered. A girl was leaning against the lightning-struck willow near the entrance. He stopped. The girl was missing an arm. Rowan couldn't help but stare.

Rowan stood transfixed, his eyes unable to look away from that horrible stump. His brain kept nagging him to move on, to keep walking and hope the girl never noticed. Maybe she didn't even know he was here. She looked deep in thought anyway, and the rain made it hard to see or hear very well. But something about the missing arm bothered Rowan. It was the product of the Capitol's harsh treatment, that's what.

Suddenly, the girl's eyes flew open, glaring at him. Rowan could feel the blood rushing to his face, and he quickly looked away, ashamed of himself. Hadn't his parents always told him to be a polite person? He slapped himself mentally as the girl lowered her head. Rowan could still feel her eyes on him, though.

Rowan silently studied the girl. She was about his age, maybe a bit older. Pale skin, hazel eyes, bleached blond hair. She looked, well, normal. Except for the missing arm. From the girl's shoulders, you really couldn't tell the "abnormality." But as your eyes travel downward, you'd find that the arm stopped abruptly.

Pity, Rowan thought. Such a pretty girl to suffer this fate.

The girl turn her back to him, obviously upset. "Staring. That's what everyone does." She said, barely audible above the patter of the rain. Rowan felt terrible. He didn't mean to make the girl this angry/sad. He looked down at his bare feet. "I- I'm sorry." He stammered. "I didn't- I wasn't- I- I..." He trailed off. He wasn't very good with words.

Rowan’s mind was going mushy. That powerful, calculating, photographically-memorizing machine of his coughed, sputtered, gave a final wheeze, and died. That’s how it always was when he tried to talk to strangers. ”Uhhh… er, um…” Even though his brain shut down, his mouth apparently didn’t get the message. It continued sputtering and slurring and he could do nothing about it without his brain.

And then the girl looked him directly in the eye.

Well, that did it. Inside Rowan’s head, his broken brain exploded. Tiny pieces were hurled at the walls of his skull, beyond repair. Outside, he could feel his temperature rising, redness going to his cheeks. Now that his brain no longer existed, he couldn’t even do anything. He awkwardly stood there, his mind blank and his eyes staring off into space, which just happened to be into the girl’s eyes.

”It’s no problem,” the girl said, though somewhat spiteful.

Gradually, Rowan got a new brain (Through the brain order hotline, 1-800-NEWBRAIN). ”Oh, um, hi, uh, sorry for, uh, staring. Um, I’m going to practice, uh, archery now, so, uh, see you later?” He started taking quick steps to flee this awkward and embarrassing scene.

OOC: Oh no! What happened? I hope you get better!

Rowan turned as the girl brushed his wrist, taken aback by the gentleness of the touch. She looked shocked at her action, withdrawing her arm immediately. "Look..." She said, "I'm really sorry about that, I mean... it really wasn't a ... a big deal"

Rowan raised his eyebrows. He didn’t really understand this girl’s apology. After all, wasn’t it him who was being rude? Certainly, the girl’s attitude toward him was a bit hostile, but he really couldn’t blame her. Who didn’t feel anger towards those who treat them rudely? ”I- I’m sorry? Why are you apologizing? You did nothing wrong. It should be me who apologizes.” Rowan was surprised at how easily the words flowed from his mouth. Just a few seconds ago he had been brain-dead and unable to say anything. Something about the closeness of this girl made him more relaxed. ”I’m Rowan, by the way.” He held out his hand.

As Rowan was speaking, he could see that the girl looked uncomfortable. He felt the same way. His palms were a bit sweaty and his heart was running a marathon. He shifted his weight from side to side as the girl introduced herself as Mylenne. The fact that she only had one hand made for a very awkward handshake. When their skin touched again, however, Rowan felt a chill go up his back. Must be the rain. It was coming down harder than before, but he could sense that it was at the maximum.

As the rain flowed down both their faces, Rowan studied Mylenne’s face. Full lips, broad cheeks, pale blond hair. And brown eyes. Kinda darker than it appeared, with almost no reflection of light. Rowan felt himself get pulled into those eyes, captivated by them. He tried to look away but couldn’t.

Luckily, Mylenne’s voice brought him back to the outside world. Rowan cleared his throat and blushed, embarrassed. What would this girl think of him, staring into her eyes like that? Probably as some sort of perverted creep.

"It's just that... I guess I didn't want you to feel like you had to leave" Mylenne was saying. Yeah, I don’t want to either, Rowan thought. What the frick was he thinking?! Maybe he was some sort of perverted creep. Either way, he didn’t want Mylenne to know what he was feeling. Surely she would never talk to him again, worse yet, never even look at him. ”Well,” he finally said, after much internal battles about whether to just leave. ”I’m not in much of a rush. Why not just stay and chat?” He sat down on a nearby log.