Cleo, as she was known, sat glued to the screen as if it was her first time watching the movie. It was, in fact, one of hundreds. She was named after Elizabeth Taylor's character, Cleopatra, the beautiful Queen of Egypt. Cleopatra's beauty amazed Cleo, the story captivated her, the sadness overcame her when Cleopatra was bitten by the asp. She's watched every Cleopatra movie in fact and thought they were all below par in comparison to this one.
In two hours, she needs to get ready for her dance class but was so exhausted from helping her mom spring clean today, she decided to take a nap. She falls asleep almost immediately as her head hits the pillow. Her eyes are tired from watching the movie. Usually, in this tired state of mind, she dreams...
She's at the mall in a neighboring state. It's her first time visiting such a huge mall. It has over 200 stores! In the town she grew up in, the place to hang out at was a marketplace that had a few stalls set up twice a week, selling a variety of things like fresh produce, little trinkets, chocolates, pastries, some apparel and made-on-order sandwiches. She loves window shopping and her spirits are high. She smiles at everyone who makes eye contact with her but sadly, nobody reciprocates the smile. A little disheartened by this to the point where she thinks in jest: "Well, maybe I'm dreaming.... Maybe I'm invisible". She walks past a store where the sales agent is standing at the door and at first, she is taken aback by his physical demeanor. He is really tall and stood tall too. He has great posture and definitely has shoulders of a swimmer! He has hazel eyes that slanted downwards. She snaps out of it because she realizes she's staring. His lips were slightly upturned on the corners and Cleo is not able to tell if that IS a smile. She blinks. He said: "How're you doing ma'am?" Cleo shouts: "You see me?!" He laughs. Her cheeks turn rosy and they exchange a few words but his manager reels him back inside. Before disappearing, he says: "Meet me at the food court in thirty minutes", and runs off. She doesn't know why she has butterflies and her heart is pounding in her chest. She has to get herself together.
Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep... "No!" Cleo is disappointed that the dream has come to an end. She bangs on the alarm to switch it off. She washes her face and changes her clothes and hears her ride outside. She always travels with Arya because they are on the same schedule. Arya has been her classmate since they were six years old. They have become good friends too. Arya's mom is a housewife and Cleo wonders what that must be like. To have a meal ready for you when you come home from school as opposed to eating a bag of crisps for dinner. To have lunch packed for you in the morning so you don't have to eat from the cafeteria because that's your only option. To have someone give you a big, warm hug when you need it and don't want to explain why. To have someone take you to your extra-curriculars and watch you perform. They have arrived.
They greet their friends and have some cordial exchanges with others. The teacher introduces a special guest for this lesson, Zachary. Cleo looks up and her entire body goes cold and limp. He's the guy from her dream! She opens her eyes and notices many faces above her and Zachary is fanning her! He offers her some water and says: "Are you alright?". All she could mutter under her breath was: "I was going to be there in thirty minutes".
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