hobbledehoy

What An Odd Name

"I like that sweater!" Says a young girl who sat in front of her dorm room door, with a tinfoil hat on her head.

"Seriously?" I ask, surprised.

"Well, don't you? Of course you do, why wear something you don't like? That'd be ridiculous." She snorts, shaking her head and laughing like that was the funniest thing in the world.

"Speaking of ridiculous..." I gesture to the pointy shaped tinfiol sitting on her head, "What's with hat?"

"Aliens." She replies seriously.

"Ah, I see," I nod and decide to play along as I finish putting away letters, "I heard about the recent abduction in Kaysville."

"Strange, right? What could they possibly want with a golf player, they're so boring!" She exclaims, sounding annoyed, "I'm much more interesting than them."

"I'm guessing you're not from here," I laugh at her frustration, "Golf is everything."

"I firmly believe food is everything."

That one made me smile, a real one; "I can agree with that."

This girl, this beautiful girl had a beautiful smile. And she stood up, and took enough steps to stand right in front of me. She took off her tinfoil and replaced it with a different hat, one for the cold--with a owl face on it.

As she made these actions, I studied her. Long black hair with purple highlights reached down to her chest, and I noticed she was wearing a new MALEFICENT shirt. I guessed she was an Asian of some sort, she had a slight accent, lightly tanned skin, and small eyes. I didn't mean to come off stereotypical, I know that not all Asians hold those features, but this one did; and I found it absolutely stunning.

"You have a gold speck on your eye." The girl blurts out, after taking her own time to study me.

Taken by surprise, I reply; "You have a freckle by your ear."

Then I mentally face-palmed myself for being such a retard.

"It's actually a birthmark, but whatever," Her smile grew, "What's your name, mail man?"

"Um... Hyrum?"

"Am I supposed to comfirm that?"

"No, sorry. My name is Hyrum Aniston," I say sheepishly, "And you are?"

"I'm Merlynn Park, just got here!"

"Welcome to Pine Parks... Merlynn? That's an odd name." I said, not intentionally trying to sound rude, I just sometimes say things without thinking about it, my bluntness is a problem.

"Says the guy called Hyrum."  Merlynn shoots back teasingly.

"It's a Mormon name!" I say defensively.

"You're a Mormon?"

"Technically," I shrug, "But I haven't been to church in a long time."

"Why not?" Merlynn questions.

"It's not my scene."

Merlynn gave me a doubtful look, as if she could see through my lie. The truth is, I just don't like being trapped in a building full of sticky and sweaty human beings, simple as that. But saying that out loud makes me look strange, so I keep it to myself.

"Do you spell it like the wizard?" I ask awkwardly.

"No, that's for a boy," She giggles, "I spell it, M-E-R-L-Y-N-N."

"That's... Interesting." I say, putting away the last piece of mail.

"You have to go now, don't you?" Merlynn points to my empty cart.

"Um, yeah, I do. You know, going to hang out with my bros; chill at parties, hang with the babes." I say as coolly as possible, rocking on my heels awkwardly.

"Well I wouldn't want to keep you from all that fun," Merlynn winks and slowly backs away, "It was nice meeting you, Hyrum."

"Yeah, you too! Maybe I'll see you around or something."

"Maybe." Merlynn smiles at me once more, and gives me the oddest look; like she just wasn't sure about me. Then she walked away, and into her dorm room.

I exhaled loudly and found myself staring at her door, which was obviously wrong on so many levels.

"Get a grip, Hyrum, you have a history test tomorrow." I shook my head and pulled the cart along behind me as I made my way to the elevator.

Stepping inside, I knew that there was a goofy smile plastered to my face.

And as the elevator doors shut, I felt as if my heart was opening up.