Ardata knew how to read people fairly well. As a social media icon, that was kind of needed in order to get the views on her blogs. She can't humiliate a person if she doesn't know how their mind works.
However, she could easily say that she didn't understand why Trizza kept trying to provoke Vantas.
It wasn't like he wasn't an easy target sometimes; once you hit enough buttons, that kid could rant for hours, doing his best just to prove you wrong. It was usually pretty entertaining to watch him and Trizza argue until the bell rang, making them all late. They'd always blame each other for it and run off before any detentions could be handed out.
But lately, Ardata couldn't help but not find it funny anymore. Something about Vantas changed while they weren't looking.
She couldn't exactly say what changed about him; it was just obvious to her something did. Vantas was shiftier, always looking outside the window as if he were expecting something. His steps seemed louder, trying to be noticed nowadays like he expected nobody to see him coming already. All of his movements were somehow more rehearsed, like if he didn't consciously move his body, it would just go still.
Ardata thought that maybe he was on something at first. She saw a few people turn on to cigarettes, alcohol, or some other drug and how they changed up fast. She even smelled smoke on him once in gym when they had to partner up, so she figured he got hooked on cigarettes. She dismissed it after she realized it smelled more like a campfire rather than nicotine.
But really, that didn't make her want to stop Trizza from messing with him anymore. What really wanted to make her stop was his eyes.
Ardata's parents, back when they worked from home, always wondered if she was some type of psychic. She was always able to read someone's emotions just by looking into their eyes long enough to figure out something about them, even if they didn't know it themselves.
Vantas' eyes changed at some point. Changed to something dark.
He blinked less and they shifted more, calculating people within the room with a passing glance. He was always aware of everyone's movements, as if expecting an attack on all sides. The red that occupied it had dulled slightly, as if a little life had gone out of it, replaced by wariness and caution.
Whatever it was that went missing in them, the color, and the emotion, was filled by something else. Something she didn't recognize. Something that was reflected in the rest of his body language and his speech.
Ardata couldn't decide whether it was like watching scared prey looking for predators, or the predator itself looking for its next victim.
She hoped Trizza would stop messing with him before that gaze turned onto her. She really did.