Anonymous Attraction (EN)

[Amber’s POV]

Eglantines High School, Dijon, FRANCE

12:05 PM, September 4, 2002

Judging by the giggling of some girls in the cafeteria over the last few minutes, you would have thought Brad Pitt had just walked into the High school.

“I swear, Amber, he is so gorgeous,” Brenda whispered, stifling a laugh behind her hand. “His name is Lenny… you should see his eyes! Apparently, he’s a student, but he works here to pay for his studies.”

I simply nodded. Not interested in the slightest.

It was always the same thing with Brenda. She always had some gossip or some guy she was crushing on.

“But what I noticed were his shoulders… he looked like a boxer,” Dorine added. “Did you see his shoulders?”

I looked at Dorine with a look of utter despair. In our group of friends, Dorine and I were both in our first year of the Literary stream, and she was also my best friend. We had known each other since Year 8.

As for Brenda, she was in the Economics and Social Sciences stream, and finally, we had Emmy, who was in the Science stream. The little geek of the group, basically!

“Personally, it was his height that impressed me,” Emmy piped up without looking up from her school planner.

“Nooo!” I cried. “Not you too!”

Seeing my dismay, everyone burst out laughing.

“When you see him, you’ll understand!” Brenda said cryptically.

“Pff… I doubt it… I don’t have time for that this year. Dorine and I have our French, Maths and Science Baccalaureate exams to prepare for!” I explained.

Our form tutor’s back-to-school speech had made me a bit stressed.

“Oh! What a killjoy!” Dorine laughed, grabbing me by the shoulders. “It’s only the beginning of the year! Relax!”

Dorine was completely right, but I was usually the anxious type. To make her happy, I gave her a big smile.

I wasn’t really a person you could call an extrovert, nor an introvert to be honest. My friends knew that once I got going, nobody could make me stop talking.

I would describe myself more as an ambivert… halfway between the two.

Once we had our trays in hand, we headed towards a table for four, when suddenly the usual hubbub grew louder.

“Lenny!” someone yelled from the other side of the room. “Come eat with us!”

Brenda nudged me with her elbow:

“Look! Speak of the devil…”

“…and he shall appear!” Dorine finished, bursting into giggles.

I decided not to turn around. This Lenny guy had enough admirers as it was!

“I’m here to keep an eye on you, not to eat, you kids!” he replied in a very deep, cheerful voice.

I gritted my teeth.

Typical cheap charmer voice!, I thought.

I was absolutely starving! I turned my attention back to my tray.

I took a huge bite of the mushroom crêpe that was served as a starter.

God, I loved mushrooms!

The girls had finally changed the subject (at last!) and had moved on to the thorny topic of flare trousers. Were they still in fashion or not? How could they recycle them if they weren’t?

Life’s big questions, basically!

I was still buried in my food when I felt a presence beside me. The girls had stopped talking too.

With my mouth still full, I slowly raised my head. Given how tall the person was, my neck was completely tilted back.

Who on earth was this giant?

“Young ladies, is everything alright for you?”

Hearing the voice, I instantly realised who it was. I dropped my head back down towards my plate.

The other girls replied in unison, “Yeees, sir!”.

Which apparently made the guy laugh.

“Don’t worry! You can call me Lenny. I’m your new supervisor, and if you ever need anything, please don’t hesitate,” he explained in that same playboy voice. “You’ll find me in the supervisors’ office or out in the courtyard.”

“Thanks, Lenny!”

The reply, still in unison.

As he walked away from our table towards another one, I slowly looked up to watch him.

A tall, dark-haired guy wearing slightly low-rise jeans and a plain black T-shirt that did indeed outline broad shoulders.

I hadn’t really had time to see his face, but his voice and his walk were enough to define the man: a cheap Don Juan.

Unlike a lot of girls (not all of them, of course!), I had never fallen in love at first sight. Even the best-looking guy did absolutely nothing for me based on looks alone.

I needed more to be attracted. A deeper charm than just the physical.

I could see physical beauty… I wasn’t blind! But it still remained the number two criterion when I fell for someone.

“So? What did you think of him?” Brenda asked, once Lenny was out of earshot.

I shrugged slightly to show my lack of interest.

“Just as I imagined: full of himself and superficial. Apart from maybe a decent look, he’s just a completely hollow Easter egg,” I retorted..

“That’s a bit harsh after seeing him for barely two minutes!” Dorine said, sounding outraged.

“Actually, you were the one snubbing him by not answering,” Emmy pointed out calmly.

I smiled to myself. Always so perceptive, that one!

The bell for the end of break rang. We got up from the bench where we had settled down after lunch.

“Amber! Wait!”

I turned around and saw Sacha running towards us.

Tall, blonde, with slightly messy hair, he almost always wore the smile of those Year 13 Science students who never get stressed.

He caught up with me and naturally put an arm around my shoulders.

“Hey, gorgeous! I tried calling you last night, but your landline was busy and I was out of credit on my mobile. My dad wouldn’t buy me a new top-up card,” he explained with a laugh.

“Sorry, Sacha. My brother hogged the line for the internet all evening,” I replied with a sigh.

“Right, we’ll leave you to it then! See you at break!” Dorine called out.

The other two girls followed her lead.

“I wanted to ask you if you’d like to go to the cinema this weekend? With your friends and everyone. I’ll bring some of my mates too,” he suggested.

I pretended to think about it when suddenly I heard a voice behind our backs.

“First day back and already playing the charmer?” Lenny asked.