The Butterfly And The Pirate

The first day I met Rue Fuller I hated her. We were sitting in our senior year biology class at Storm Coast Tech and she walked in late, a mess of brown curls and crooked glasses. She was eating, of all things, cookie pops cereal. Straight out of the box with her hands, like a child. She sat down in the only empty seat as the professor lectured on, which just so happened to be the chair next to mine. She smelled like apple conditioner and cookie pops, and I watched as she scattered her books and pens across the shared table.

Then she saw me eye the mess and smiled.

“Sorry, I’ve got a bad habit of leaving my stuff everywhere. I’m Rue,” she said.

“Arturo,” I muttered, sliding a discarded pink pen that had rolled over to my side of the desk back to her.

“I think we’re going to be great friends, Arturo,” she grinned.

I seriously doubted that.

But everything changed on Halloween of that same semester.

I had managed to go the last few months interacting with Rue Fuller as little as possible, only talking to her when necessary in class or nodding politely in the hallways when she passed with her gaggle of friends. Why did girls always have to travel in packs of twos or threes? I never had any sisters or any friends that were girls really. I never had a real girlfriend either. In fact, I absolutely abhorred social gatherings, especially ones put on by our university or ones where I had to interact with other people. But when my room mate Nix guilted me with I’ll owe you one and I can’t possibly go to this Halloween party by myself and please Arturo, you never want to hang out with me, I caved. I tied a red bandanna around my head and threw on a white shirt and went as a pirate.

When Nix came out of our shared bathroom in a full rainbow-colored paper mâché pinata costume, I was starting to have second thoughts. But I was in too deep now. Nix was a good friend, and I hated to let him down. So I could endure one Halloween party. For him.

The basement underneath Sigma Chi’s fraternity house was dark and musty. Loud music boomed from speakers set up against one wall and there were so many people crammed into this one room that I barely had room to shuffle across towards the drink table. Nix was in his element and easily melted into the crowd, dancing to the music. The rainbow head of his pinata costume swayed to the beat. I rolled my eyes and hunted for something to drink. Preferably something strong.

That’s when a butterfly came shuffling out of the crowd, clutching a red solo cup filled to the brim with something pink. Only it wasn’t a butterfly, it was Rue Fuller in bright orange butterfly wings. She saw me and her eyes went wide.

“Oh, it’s the boy from my biology class!” She giggled.

I shrugged. “Yeah, that’s me.”

“Arturo! How the heck are you!” She laughed and went to slap a hand on my shoulder, but she missed and hit my drink instead, spilling lime green something all over my shirt.

“Oh my gosh I’m so sorry! Let me clean that up! Wait, I’ll find some napkins if you’ll just let me…”

“Stop!” I said maybe a bit too loudly.

She retreated, her cheeks flushing. “I was only trying to help. Here let me just wring this out and I’ll get something to clean this and…”

I stepped back and walked away, headed for the outside porch. I needed some air. My white shirt was now bright green but mercifully Rue hadn’t followed me. I just needed a second. Why did that girl have to be such a spaz?

I must have been out there for longer than I thought, because before I knew it the party was winding down and the last few partygoers were stumbling out the back door, heading for the main campus. I drained the last of my drink and headed inside to look for Nix, but there was no sign of my roommate or his rainbow pinata costume. Figuring he had headed back to our room already, I decided to do the same. It was a quiet Halloween night at Storm Coast Tech, and I was relishing the silence as I turned down the road that would lead me to my dorm, when I heard someone cry out.

I paused, thinking it must just have been my imagination, but then it came again. Someone was crying out for help. I looked around. In front of me was the road to main campus, with all the buildings lit up in orange and black. Behind me a ways was the Sigma Chi fraternity house. But to my right was a grassy hill that sloped sharply downwards before ending in a patch of trees.

“Hello? Whose there?” I called. It was so dark I couldn’t tell if anyone was down there or not.

“Help! I’m down here!” The voice said again.

Then a flash of orange appeared from behind one of the trees. Rue Fuller had fallen down the hill.

“Are you okay?” I called.

“Arturo? Is that you?” Rue called.

“It’s me!” I shouted. “Rue? How did you get down there?”

“I dropped my keys!” She yelled. “They slid down the hill and when I went after then, I fell! I think I broke my arm!”

“Fuck,” I muttered, running a hand through my hair. Of course it was Rue that would do something dumb like that. “Okay, just hang on I’ll figure out a way to get you up!”

I looked around but I was alone. I would have to figure this out on my own. Carefully, I picked my way down the steep hill in the dark. Twigs snapped and rocks tumbled as I clung to the side of the hill, praying to whoever was listening that I wouldn’t fall and break my neck. After a few minutes of climbing I reached the bottom.

Rue had been crying. Her sparkly orange makeup was streaked down her face and she had a nasty cut down her chin. And her left arm was definitely broken, judging by the sharp unnatural twist in her elbow.

“It’s okay Rue, I’ll get you out,” I reassured her. I didn’t quite know if it was all the drinks I had or my sudden instinct to take care of her in that moment, but something came over me and I became focused and determined.

We had two options. Try and climb up the hill again, which wasn’t going to happen with Rue’s broken arm, or take the very long way around, which would lead us around the edge of campus and eventually towards the front gates. Rue saw the deliberation on my face as I weighed our options.

“We’d better get walking,” she said through sniffles.

“Did you find your keys at least?” I asked.

She nodded, jingling her keychain with her good arm. A blue stuffed dog toy hung off the end of the keychain.

“You’re ridiculous,” I said.

She smiled through tears. “I’m creative, Arturo. There’s a difference.”

We trudged through the trees in the dark, slowly picking our way across the ravine as the full moon hung high and bright over our heads.

“Fitting isn’t it,” Rue said after a minute. “A full moon on Halloween night.”

“I guess,” I shrugged. “I’m not superstitious.”

“What’s your deal, Arturo?” Rue asked me. The antennae of her butterfly headband bounced in rhythm with her curls as she walked.

“My deal?” I asked.

“Why are you such a wet blanket?” she asked.

I flushed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know,” she went on. “A wet blanket. Boring. Beige. Human Grape Nuts.”

“Okay, I get the picture,” I said. “I guess I’m just a private person.”

We stepped over a shallow puddle and followed the curve of the ravine. I wondered how much longer it would take us to get to the campus gates from here. I could see the lights of the dormitory buildings glowing on the hill above us, taunting us with their closeness.

“Mmm, no. There’s more to it than that.” She said. “Where are you from?”

“Shouldn’t you be more worried about your broken arm than where I’m from?” I said.

“My arm isn’t getting any more broken and if you don’t make some conversation and distract me until we get out of here then how much pain I’m in is in all I’m going to think about. So please, Arturo. Where are you from,” Rue said. Her butterfly wings flapped across her back as she gently leaped over a pile of stones.

“Florida. Miami,” I said.

“What brought you all the way out here to Storm Coast Tech?” she asked.

“Full ride,” I said.

“Oh, so you’re like really smart then,” She grinned. “What’s your major?”

“Double major in computer science and chemical engineering,” I shrugged. I had never been one to brag.

“Holy butterballs, you’re like a real genius!” She laughed. “What about your family? They must be really proud of you!”

“It’s just me and my grandma,” I said. “My parents aren’t really…around.” I have never told anyone this stuff about myself, so why was I opening up to this girl all of a sudden?

“Oh,” she said. “That’s nice. I have a big family. I’m the youngest of eight.”

“Eight?” I asked in surprise.

Rue grinned. “Two brothers and five sisters. It’s never boring at our house.”

“I always wanted siblings,” I said.

“Well I’ve got plenty to spare!” Rue said.

“Where did you grow up?” I asked.

“Right here on the Storm Coast,” She laughed. “Surfing and swimming and sand castle building are my specialties!”

“I’ve never built a sand castle before,” I admitted sheepishly.

“What? But you grew up in Miami! Are you telling me you never went to the beach?”

“Grandma doesn’t like the sand,” I said.

“That’s ridiculous,” Rue said. “You and I will have to take a beach trip sometime. I have so many different ideas already! We’ll build the best sandcastle anyone’s ever seen!”

I thought I saw Rue flush in the dim moonlight, but she quickly turned her head away and went back to picking over the rocks and sticks in the ravine. We were rounding the last edge now, and the silver front gates of the campus were just ahead. To get there, we would have to walk up into the student parking garage, cross the top deck, and walk through the gates back towards the school. I told Rue as much and she just shrugged.

We walked in silence for a moment before I asked, “How’s your arm doing?”

She smiled. “Not any more broken than it was before I fell down that hill!”

I chuckled. “You are such a spaz, Rue Fuller.”

She flushed and turned away again. Had I said something wrong? We reached the bottom deck of the parking garage where grass turned into concrete. Our footfalls echoed in the empty garage as we winded up and up and up towards the top. In the yellowed light of the parking garage, I could finally see just how broken Rue’s arm really was.

“That looks bad, Rue,” I said as we reached the top level.

“Thank you for pointing that out, captain obvious,” she said.

Had I hurt her feelings somehow? Nix would know what to do. Part of me wished it had been Nix that rescued Rue tonight instead of me. Then again, looking over at her now as the parking garage light reflected in her brown eyes, part of me was glad that it was me.

When we reached the top level of the parking deck, we realized that it was now early morning. The first golden yellow rays of the sunrise were peeking up over the edge of the horizon.

“Wow,” Rue whispered, walking towards the edge of the parking deck to get a better look.

“Beautiful,” I said, but I wasn’t looking at the sunrise.

Rue’s cheeks blushed as she studied my face, her eyes darting from mine to my lips. But then suddenly I sneezed so violently that it rocketed off the concrete floors. Rue retreated, taking a step back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I was…”

“No it was my fault I…”

“But we can…”

“We should probably get you to a hospital.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, sure. Let’s go.”

We didn’t speak all the way back to main campus, where one of Rue’s friends was waiting to drive her to the hospital. I didn’t see her again for the rest of that year, and I wouldn’t see her again for a very long time.

5 years later

“And our employee of the month is Arturo Valdez!” Winnie Rumpkin cheered.

I had won employee of the month at our big publishing firm for the third time this year. I was starting to make a name for myself amongst my colleagues. I was working up the ranks, licking the corporate boot until I could have my own office and write my own columns. It wasn’t until I was in a coffee shop one day that I thought of Rue Fuller again, because she was there. I was sure it was her. Her hair was shorter and her glasses were gone, but it was her. She had her back to me in the crowded coffee shop before I said,

“Rue Fuller?”

She spun around. She had grown up a bit, we both had. But she was still the same girl. I noticed the blue dog keychain sticking out of the pocket of her trousers.

“Oh my god, Arturo? Is that you?” She said. “I can’t believe it’s you!”

I ran a hand through my hair. “It’s me! But how are you?”

Rue looked around for an empty table. “Sit! Please! My cappuccino is getting cold, let’s catch up!”

“I always wondered what happened to you, after that night,” I said, taking a seat. “How’s you arm, by the way?”

Rue laughed, beautiful and clear as a bell as she sat across from me. “I was in a cast for six weeks but it healed just fine, thanks for asking! I do have a scar on my chin from that night though.”

Sure enough there was a thin white line abut two inches long underneath her chin.

“Where did you go?” I asked. “I asked around a few times, but no one seemed to know where you went.”

Rue dipped her head slightly. “I… I dropped out. I was failing school, and it was becoming a financial burden on my parents.”

“Right. Eight siblings, I remember.”

“Seven,” she shrugged. “Anyway, I’ve got my own dog washing business now that’s doing pretty well. What about you? What are you up to these days?”

I filled Rue in on all the details of my life; my job, my little studio apartment in the city and the cat I had just adopted, even the details I thought she might find arbitrary. This was Rue Fuller, and she was always interesting. We talked for hours without realizing it, and the café was closing down for the night. One lone employee was sweeping around our feet. We got the hint and headed for the door.

I paused by the handle. She stopped next to me.

“Rue I…”

“The sneeze,” she said. “That day. You were about to…”

“Can I? I mean I really wanted to and…”

Suddenly Rue stood up on her tip toes and took my face in her small hands. She kissed me gently before stepping back. I had a gut feeling, what it was I had no idea. But what I did know was that I wasn’t going to let her get away this time. Carefully I took a step towards her again. She was looking up at me hopefully with those beautiful, big brown eyes. I ran my hand along the back of her neck and brought her lips up to mine slowly.

“Can we try again, Rue?” I asked quietly.

She nodded.

I kissed her long and deep, holding her close to me. Her body was so warm against mine.

“Arturo…” she whispered.

My name coming out of her mouth was the most beautiful sound I had ever heard. I decided right then and there I would do anything for her, anything to keep her in my life.

“I love you, Rue.” I said. “I think I always have.”

She flushed and kissed me deeper.

Arturo and Rue lived happily ever after. They had a big wedding and three beautiful children. They spent their days building sandcastles and watching sunrises together forever.

The end.