He sits in the far corner of the mundane room, staring, marveling. She sits near the front, seemingly attentive, each of her long, golden hairs in place, tucked behind her pierced ears. He doesn't care about formulas, or the periodic table. All he cares about, all he stays for, is her. The only thing that brings a smile to her otherwise sullen face is him. They are perfect for each other, in theory. Oh, if only it was that easy.
She wants to turn around, glance at his soft eyes and loving face. She wants him, but shouldn't have him. She douses the fire of desire within her with her feelings of determined loyalty. He is constantly disappointed, and part of him wants to give up on her. His brain is only a small part of him, he decides. He doubts he can ever let her go. He buries his face in his crossed arms, settled on his desk. Even without his music, he can tune out the classroom.
"Mr. Brown?"
"I don't know.." he mumbles in response to his teacher's inquiring, and replaces his head in his arms.
The knotting feeling in her stomach is growing. She asks to be excused to the restroom, and of course is not refused. He watches her every move. Even her mannerisms fascinate him. As she walks to halls that feel so empty, her heart goes numb. She sits on the cool floor and leans her head against the steady lockers. Steady. Steady was what her life use to be. Now its filled with twists and turns, whirlwinds.
Still sitting in his desk through the excessively long biology period, he ponders his feelings for her. He wants her, but can't have her. In his mind, he likes to blame Colin. If only he was here first. If only.
Slowly, she rises to her feet, and paces to where she wishes she didn't have to return to. She touches the metal handle, but pulls away, like a fatal disease infects it. Taking a deep, calming breath, and wiping away her hot tears of frustration, she opens the door. Plastering a fake smile on her perfect face, she enters and sits in her seat, looking at no one. As she had walked in, his head snapped up in attention, just to hear a friend of hers mutter "Freak", of course in his direction. Another tittered at the first's unoriginal comment. Not like he's never heard that before.
She clears her mind to work on the tasks of biology upon her. He doesn't, he can never get her off his mind. The shrill bell slices through both their thoughts. She couldn't take another second off this torture. Gathering up her neat pink materials, she rushes to get out. He wants to follow her, but doesn't. He's sure anything he says will only make things worse. But he ventures toward her to initiate a conversation anyway.
"Hey Amy," he said, in his trademark mumble. He didn't think 'Look at me, I'm cheerful!' was the way to go.
"Ephram, I'm not really in the mood to talk right now. I'm not really in the mood to do much of anything these days." The last part was almost a whisper. She quickly shoved everything into her powder blue messenger bag and shut her locker, slammed really.
"It's going to get better, really."
"No, its not! Colin will never be the same! Ephram, I said I wasn't in the mood to talk!" She walked away to the front double doors that led to freedom.
"But I-I.." Ephram's sad stuttering was drowned out by the squeals of delighted high school students, the shouts of joy from excited jocks, and the tension lingering in the air.