The Hydrogen Theory: A Novel

Chapter 2: Greetings

Tyler needed to get to school. Outside of the orphanage he began walking, trying to figure out which route to take. The day was alive with personality. The sky, rich of blue and dusted with cotton ball-like clouds. And the type of slight chill in the air to make one more greatly appreciate the warmth of the sun on your face.

The area surrounding New Hope was peaceful, somewhat understanding of Tyler's predicament. He appreciated the reprieve. Although Tyler never asked for any favours, it was nice for him to know that nature had been on his side that day.

He changed his mind. Tyler hadn't been travelling in the best direction. He had unsurprisingly grown used to the route to the Southern African University but of course, all of that had to change. And as he turned around he noticed a striking, pearly white Mercedes Benz sedan, parked several metres away. After detecting the beast of a machine, he came close enough to catch a glimpse of a female figure standing beside it. With the sun in his eyes, Tyler was unable to derive anything else from what the sight had been feeding him. With each step forward though, he began seeing a clearer picture of the attractions ahead. Tyler was now close, and he saw her.

She was about his age, he thought to himself. The car she had been accompanied by had caused some doubt but he would later come to learn that he was not mistaken. He spared a moment or two for a few thoughts on the subject before moving on.

His eyes were locked on her from the second that the proximity between the two had been close enough to make it matter. The beaming sunlight in the background kissed the outlines and tips of her teased, blonde hair. She wasn't leaning against the car or slouching. Even the idea of her movement caused by breathing seemed to be too unfitting. Tyler noticed this. As Mason was about to pass her by, he felt that the moment had been calling for something; perhaps a word or two. Tyler minimally obliged as he walked past. "Nice car." Tyler adjusted the strap of his bag and continued onward. He had only managed to make it a few footsteps away before receiving a reply.

"Thank you, Tyler."

Surprise, and confusion stopped him dead in his tracks. He turned around once more and witnessed the girl dropping her raised shoulders, exhaling a full breath, gathering herself.

"Hi... I'm Emily."

Tyler had been caught off guard. To Mason, clearly the young woman had been too physically striking to be someone he had met before but forgotten about. Even though Tyler had been just as bad at remembering faces as he was at remembering names. He had known for sure though that this wasn't one of those cases.

He began to question. "How do you know my ...."

"I don't." She quickly answered. "I recognise your face. I know your name and I knew where I could find you but we don't really know each other."

Tyler began running possible explanations through his mind; A long lost family member was the first one, yet the internal stir that was created as he saw her made him push that idea to the side. Crazy stalker? She didn't seem the type, and who would feel the need to stalk him, he thought to himself. Maybe she was an employee of the government. Tyler was stumped.

Emily eliminated the space between them, taking one stride forward and lifted her light brown eyes to look into his. In Tyler's head, the influx of questions came to a sudden standstill, along with every other distracting thought and presence in that moment. His eyes correspondingly connected with hers. As they stared into each other's eyes, Emily felt as though the entire universe had shifted, imposingly moving the power and energy of the earth and stars, solely concentrating it into her vision of him. She held out her right hand, realising what she had already expected; that if their meeting was to be any kind of success, she would have to perform the greater part of the interaction. What she hadn't expected was the impact the first physical contact between her and Tyler would make. As Tyler met Emily's hand with his own, the universe shifted again, now in favour of Mason. As the same rush of energy felt by Emily was transferred to him, travelling through her brain, to the palm of his hand and the very tips of his fingers. Although this had all been but a feeling, it was a feeling more tangeable than anything he had experienced in a while.