The anger in his voice scared me, but not as much as the look in his eyes. "Don't you do that ever again. You have no idea how much you scared me." Tears formed in the corners of my eyes. I turned to the window so he couldn't see me cry. It was pitch black outside, the cold creeping in. He had been worried . . . about me? The car suddenly stopped making me jerk in my seat. "I'm sorry . . . I didn't mean t-" I choked my voice barely audible, but I knew he could still hear me. We sat in silence as the car idled in the middle of the road. Before I knew it tears were streaming down my face. It was happening all over again, the fight, the tears, the anger, the disappointment at the end of the day. His arm reached for me across the seat wrapping softly around my body. A shiver ran down my spine, the feel of warmth spreading through me. His skin was so warm compared to mine. I looked to him hoping and praying with every bit of my being that he had calmed down. And he had. All traces of anger had disappeared. The creases in his face had smoothed out, his eyes heavy lided and tired with the look of the world's pain resting just beneath the surface. "It's me, I'm a freak. I-I just can't love. I'm sorry. But ... thank you, for loving me." He turned away from me resting his head in his hands. I could feel the cold creeping back in, the warmth from his arm was gone, and the pain was back. How'd I get myself into this? What had I missed that had let me fall this deep? I wished I'd just minded my own business. Since the day he'd stepped foot onto Loughtsville Academy grounds my life had went down. He had seemed to catch every girl's eye with one wink or that perfect smile. Literally, everywhere he went a pair of eyes followed his path. And of course I was the only one who hadn't noticed him by lunch. "Oh my god! Evie, have you seen him?" I looked up from the dying excuse of what should've been a sandwich, "Hm? Who?"
Her mouth gaped open. "The new guy duh! Marco!"
"Haha Polo, yeah I heard." She slapped my wrist hard, I could've sworn she was becoming more and more like my mother.
"No stupid, NOT Marco Polo." Marie kept staring at me, "Have you even seen him?"
"Do I care?" Sarcasm practically dripping off my tongue, I dropped my sandwich into the trash can, untouched, and unwanted. "I'll see you tomorrow Marie." It took five seconds to get out of the cafeteria, but even longer to get around the building. I took my time staring up into the sky wondering if I'd ever get to go home without having something to do first before I left. The sky was gray with clouds, darker than normal. First bell ring and I stepped up my pace, the place would be flooded with students if I wasn't quick enough. I guess I should have been more careful, or more importantly I should have been looking where I was going. Two more steps and I slammed square into his chest. My bag fell books flying everywhere. "Oh! Dammit!" I stomped my foot ready to kick whatever inanimate object I'd just stepped into. But instead of the wall I was expecting I got a tall brooding boy staring humorously back.
"Sorry, I'm not among the most graceful or alert compared to some of the people here." I stretched my hand out for him to shake, he took it swiftly letting it go almost as fast as he'd taken it.
"Sorry, I'm also not as alert." He stared looking uneasy as I bent down to pick up my stuff.
"Really?" He bent down next to me grabbing some of the textbooks that had spilled out onto the floor.
"Ha, no I'm alert, I just didn't feel like moving."
"Oh great, so you saw me coming and didn't move? Thanks that helps." The words rung out bitter, and I flinched at the sound they made, "Sorry, again."
"It's fine really, I should be the one saying sorry." Yes you should. Stop! Remember, calm. I looked back up at him completely unaware that he was staring back. It took me off guard. His eyes were so blue, and his dark hair accentuated it even more. I lost my breath for a moment struck by his appearance. His expression was the strangest thing I'd ever seen, it was torn between angered and slightly awed.
A clear ring shot through the school."Oh shit! Second bell! I'm going to be late!"
He looked up from the floor, "Same here. Do you happen to know where Biology would be?" I pointed out his direction, walking the other way. He nodded a thanks and left. All through Spanish I kept replaying everything in my head. It was so frustrating! I just couldn't shake him out of my mind. This never happened to me, only Marie clung to every cute boy in school, I just watched unaltered. I didn't tend to fall for boys really, it wasn't easy for me. I never actually think of anyone so much like I did him, over and over again. What was wrong with me? Class was finally over ending my agony. I trailed slowly out into the hall. When I walked through the door for Art I almost bit my tongue. There he was, sitting in his new seat, right next to me. Why couldn't he sit somewhere else? There were tons of different seats he could've sat in! A swarm of girls encircled him staring and gawking. Great. I squeezed myself past the crowd of giggling classmates, trying not to get stepped on. I sat down without looking in his direction. I didn't need another hour painfully trying to focus on the teacher. It was so hard not to think about Jeremiah. Whenever I thought about him, an extra dose of adrenaline coursed through me. It was wrong, too wrong. I didn't even know him. Mr. Heade called everyone to their seats breaking apart the group of girls that encircled Jeremiah. After handing out the supplies we slowly eased into routine. Without realizing it I was watching him draw long black strokes over the blank canvas in front of him. I quickly looked away, hoping he hadn't noticed. Unfortunately, luck had never really been on my side. He had noticed. And while I was unsuccessfully trying to work, he looked over at me. The same breath taking smile spread across his face. It never ceased to stun me. How could it? It was inhuman to be that beautiful, to be so absolutely perfect. It wasn't fair, "Evie." My head snapped up to look at him. Amusement flickered across his face. I quickly looked down, embarrassed by my sudden reaction. "What are you going to draw?" His voice was incredibly luring, but barley above a whisper. "I'm drawing abstract." His brow rose up in curiosity. "Why abstract? Why not a portrait or landscape, like everyone else?" I sighed, "Exactly, everyone else is doing that. Besides its boring, being different is good." He muttered something under his breath but I didn't quite catch it. It sounded like, "How much different is good?" I looked up again. Our eyes met, locking in place for the longest time. I scrambled my mind to think of something to say, but I kept drawing a blank. "Um, I like your black lines." Internal slap to the face. He thinks I'm an idiot! He chuckled trying to hold back the full force of his laugh. "Um, I mean, oh gosh uh, what do they make?" I intertwined my fingers making a balled up mess. He looked at the canvas then back at me. "It's abstract." His smile widened, "Copycat." I breathed. He shrugged, still smiling, but better suppressing his laugh. We turned back to our unfinished work. The day ended faster than I ever thought it could. I slammed my locker shut, almost skipping out into the cool drizzle of rain. Almost. I quickly walked to my car trying not to get too wet. Before I knew it I was home. The entire time I was driving, I had been thinking about Jeremiah. I felt pathetic thinking about someone so much, so when I got in through the door I rushed up to my room. I sprawled out across my floor and started on my homework. Calculus was getting increasingly harder each day. It took all of my focus to figure the problems out so I was distracted from thinking about Jeremiah. For the rest of the day I finished my paper for English, and when my mom got home, I helped out with dinner. When I finally went to bed I was too exhausted to think about anything at all. It took only seconds for me to drift quietly to sleep.