Jungle Princess ✔

Chapter 6: Mini Me

Rain wasn't foreign to the city of New York. And as Amarissa walked to the subway with Tamsin, they became very familiar with the rain.

"I can't believe you forgot to pack an umbrella!" Amarissa screeched as they were soaked to the skin, hair hanging in their faces like a willow tree and makeup streaked like a tie-dye shirt.

Tamsin just threw her head back and swallowed the rain, clearly enjoying herself despite her melting panda look. "This is awesome!" she yelled, almost running into an umbrella lady.

The sidewalk was a sea of umbrellas, and yet they were still rained on. New Yorkers on a rainy day weren't the most generous in terms of umbrella sharing. At least Rihanna would let them stand under her umbrella.

Finally, they reached Union Square, where the pavilion that Amarissa thought always looked like a hat on stilts sheltered them from the rain as they descended the steps into the subway station.

They boarded the Lexington Express together. Their drenched appearance attracted attention from the passengers, but Amarissa ignored their whispers. With Tamsin she felt invincible. Until Grand Central Station. This was where they parted ways, as Tamsin had to take a different subway line to hers, since she lived on the other side of the East River in Long Island City.

"I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Amarissa was never good at saying goodbye, even if it was just for the day.

Tamsin hugged her, wet but smiling. "You can call me if you want," she said casually, swinging her bag over her shoulder and stepping away.

Amarissa shrugged. "I'll call if anything amazing happens," she joked.

Tamsin laughed. "Yeah, like meeting a totally gorgeous guy on the train," she joked, shaking her head in disbelief. Tamsin believed all guys on the subway were creeps. Even the hot ones. But for Amarissa, love on the subway was a romantic idea. An idea she could write a novel about.

"See ya, Tammy!" Amarissa blew her a kiss, to which Tamsin poked her tongue out. She hated being called Tammy, which was why Amarissa did.

Now she was alone. Ricardo was either in detention at Tompkins Square Middle School or at Tompkins Square Park, doing heaven knows what with his friends. Amarissa didn't feel responsible for Ricardo. He was responsible for himself. There wasn't much an eleven year old boy could get up to in this city. All she knew was that he always came home alive. Somehow.

Amarissa leaned her head against the window and watched the darkness blur past, with the occasional flash of daylight and subway stations crowded with people. Amarissa didn't take her eyes off the window, until she saw someone vaguely familiar take the seat across from her.

Amarissa flicked her eyes over to the two people sharing her leg room, one of them being a guy with a caramel complexion and striking green eyes wearing a navy hoodie, and a girl about Ricardo's age with long dark hair and almond shaped brown eyes in a sparkly pink my little pony top and jean skirt. The girl looked familiar, but in a completely different way to someone she had met before. It was more like someone who was...herself. The girl looked like a miniature version of Amarissa!

Amarissa tried not to stare, but it was difficult. The girl bore such a striking resemblance to herself that it was freaky.

And then there was Jungle Eyes. Once again, she heard birds and felt a tropical breeze across her face, which was still speckled with rain drops. When she blinked she realized the breeze was coming from the train's doors sliding open, letting in more train passengers. Wow, this boy was like a drug. And she didn't have to sit in his lap to get high.

His leg accidentally brushed hers as he adjusted his seating position, and that touch alone was enough to transport her to an island, far away, where the water was so blue it was green, and the jungle was lush and dense with life. What was wrong with her?

"Hey, excuse me, but are you okay? You look a little pale."

Someone was speaking to her. Someone with the voice of a tiger, deep and rolling in the depths of a strong heart. Amarissa glanced up. It was Jungle Eyes, piercing her soul, and speaking. To her.

"Maybe she has diarrhea," the girl beside him suggested innocently. Jungle Eyes laughed. Even his laugh was like a tiger's laugh.

"Don't you mean diabetes?" He corrected her. When he laughed his eyes sparkled, like the sun through an emerald leaf.

The girl shrugged. "Same thing, Deandre."

Deandre. What a musical name.

Deandre shook his head. "No, they are completely different things, Lai," he told her. "Trust me, I'd know."

Lai glanced at Amarissa. "So which one does she have?" she asked.

Deandre furrowed his brow and spoke again. Directly to Amarissa. "Are you diabetic?"

Amarissa shook her head. "No, no. To be honest, I'm just tired," she replied, resting her head on her palm and swallowing her throbbing heart. She must look like the little mermaid when she had emerged from the rocks in a spray of ocean. Wet.

Deandre nodded, smiling slightly. "OK, good. Just checking, 'cause, you know, I recognize symptoms of hypoglycemia," he said.

Amarissa squinted at him. "Are you a doctor?"

Deandre shook his head. "No, I'm just diabetic."

Amarissa raised both eyebrows. She had never met a diabetic before.

Lai rested her head on Deandre's shoulder and whispered, not so subtly, "So does that mean she's got diarrhea?"

Deandre laughed. Amarissa frowned. "Hey, little girl. Diarrhea is when you shit your pants, and TRUST ME, I don't have that," she snapped. Then immediately regretted it. People were staring. Amarissa cringed.

But Lai's reaction wasn't what she expected. Lai just giggled. "You said 'shit.'"

Deandre shot Amarissa an amused grin. If Amarissa was wet before, now she must be radiating with heat from the warmth she felt from that single grin. All the rain drops must have evaporated off her skin by now, however her hair was still a damp mess.

Deandre noticed this. "Was it raining?" he asked.

Amarissa nodded ruefully. "My friend didn't pack an umbrella, so we got the worst of it."

"Why didn't you bring an umbrella?" Lai asked.

Good question, mini me, Amarissa thought. Amarissa always depended on Tamsin to bring stuff, to start conversations and to drag her to new exciting places. Never before did Amarissa consider initiating one of their adventures and doing things herself.

Before Amarissa could answer this simple, straight-forward question, the speakers announced a stop - a stop way past where she was supposed to get off at.

"Oh, no! I've missed my stop!" Amarissa panicked aloud, forgetting that she was in a public space. A couple of people laughed. "Yeah, go ahead and laugh. Like it hasn't happened to you before!" Amarissa retorted.

Deandre watched her with an amused expression on his face as the doors opened to 86th street station. Amarissa stepped off the train, hearing a faint goodbye in her wake before the doors slid shut. She turned around and saw Lai waving at her, and Deandre's green eyes piercing her soul through the moving window.

When she closed her eyes she could still see the imprint of his eyes on her dark inner eyelids, and that's when a realization dawned on her, other than the fact that she would have to either walk the six blocks home in the rain or catch another train.

Amarissa knew Jungle Eyes' name, even the young girl who was with him. But they didn't know her name. For once she was a mysterious stranger, and the idea made her shiver with excitement.

Amarissa pulled out her phone. "Tamsin, guess what? Something amazing happened..."