Chapter 5
"So I said to him…" Millerna chatted happily with Allen. "…And then that bastard said…"
"Really… Oh… That's too bad…" Allen said now and then during Millerna's charming story. At the moment, he did not find himself totally immersed in Millerna's seductive wit and charm, in fact the girl was now immersing him almost to the point of boredom. If Millerna was another girl, then Allen would blew her off long ago and had even almost done so at one point. It was a good thing that Allen had that deep, unconscious instinct in his head that kept him from doing most of the idiotic things he could have done in the past. Allen followed this unconscious instinct by the nose, and this instinct cautioned him about his treatment of Millerna. Millerna was a girl that could have some- what was the word? –useful properties in the future. Such a girl should not be blown off so easily, for his own sake, he could stand Millerna's dumb chattering for the moment. It was useful to have someone like Millerna under your thumb.
Allen sighed. Outwardly the sigh appeared to be a reaction to Millerna's no doubt heart wrenching story that would assure her that he was listening. Inwardly, it was sigh of anguish.
He was standing with the wrong girl. Millerna wasn't the girl he wanted to fulfill his flirtatious appetite with right now. The girl he wanted to enrapture was standing over there, next to that damn motorcycle…
Allen gave another anguished sigh. He was having a bad week. Well, it started off just fine. Hitomi, the dazzling girl who hid her beauty away, the girl who shied away from others but in reality practically shouted out to all the bachelors of Gaea High to unravel her mystery and win her. And she was obviously painfully unaware of the attention; such innocence and naiveness was touching, no guy could resist her. She was the one girl Allen couldn't put his finger on: a challenge, and he liked challenges. For so long, Allen had kept an eye on her, despite his relationships, always looking for a clue, even a small gesture that would hint toward finding the key to her heart, or at least the hidden truth to Hitomi. And then that night, he, Allen Schezar, had witnessed Hitomi's incredible transformation, her metamorphous from a deeply colored caterpillar into a shimmering butterfly, a blinding miracle. The angel had even come to school with her hair cut: the boundary between her face and the world finally gone. She had thrown away the mist surrounding her face. It was truly a day to remember!
And that was when the week turned bad.
That stupid Van. Of course Hitomi would first turn her newly uncovered eyes toward that son of a bitch, Van and his motorcycles. Of course, Allen had then "accidentally" forgotten to return his motorcycle back to the Fanels in hopes of attracting Hitomi's attention as well. Hell, he had even bought the motorcycle from them just yesterday and dubbed his new bike Schezarade. But unfortunately the Schezarade had attracted all the girls but Hitomi. Hitomi was too infatuated with Van and his new Black Escaflowne to notice him.
Damn it, it wasn't fair. Why Van? Allen knew just as much about motorcycles as Van, if he didn't than at least he knew enough to please Hitomi! He was the more handsome, more charming, more popular…he had it all! But Hitomi never turned his way!
It also didn't help that Allen was two years older than Van, thus losing to a little sophomore.
Allen let his mind ponder this as he feigned active interest in Millerna's little story. His thoughts drifted back to that Friday night and he relived the memory of Hitomi arching her long, pale neck back as she cut away the long chains attached to her head. Perhaps that was the root of the problem. Nodding to Millerna when she made a small witty remark, he concentrated on that night. What had gone wrong? Ah yes, now he knew. Van was the one who, after the trauma, had comforted her, in his own little way, and had taken her home. Allen had just stared at her, lost in the newly surfaced brilliance and too infatuated to say anything. So of course Hitomi would warm up to Van first.
"It's so obvious," Allen said out loud to himself.
"Yeah, I know! The answer was right in front of my nose the whole time!" Millerna agreed with him, finishing her story.
Blinking slightly in confusion, Allen quickly regained his composure with a cheery wink. But a few moments later, his calm composure was once again challenged at the sight in the parking lot.
Even Millerna turned around to see what the noise was about. There was Van and Hitomi, both standing at the looming presence of the Black Escaflowne. They had been chatting warmly with each other, the girl blushing shyly and boy beaming happily at his luck. It was a normal scene that Gaea High had been seeing for the past few days. Nothing terribly unusual.
Until Hitomi did something totally unexpected.
Hitomi kissed Van.
At school.
In the parking lot.
Out in the open.
Hitomi kissed Van!
It had just been a gentle brush of the lips, not intense making-out, nothing remotely impressive had this taken place between another couple. Yet it still caused a tremor to pass chillily through the crowd.
And Van, bastard he was, had merely grined in spite of himself when Hitomi had shyly pulled away. He looked like he wanted to continue kissing Hitomi but wisely did not. Hitomi then boldly moved her arm through his and they both walked into the school building, both unnoticing the stares and the murmurs that suddenly came up around them.
Allen bristled with anger. Fuck that Van, he thought angrily. Fuck you Van.
Hitomi should have been my girl!
"Well, would you look at that," Millerna remarked, voice surprised as they watched Van and Hitomi walk arm and arm away.
"Right. Look Millerna, I'll see you later," Allen said briskly and abruptly walked away. This was turning out to be a very bad day.
Maybe he would have given up on Hitomi right there, but then he wouldn't be Allen Schezar. It wasn't too late for Hitomi. Allen was certain for sure that Hitomi really liked him, she just didn't know it yet.
Sorry Van, he said mentally, you're a good guy but this is one thing I won't let you down on. Van really was a good guy. He was, after all, the younger brother of Folken Fanel, a good friend of Allen's.
At math, Allen's spirits lifted. This was a class he and Hitomi shared. Now would be a good a time as any to woo her away.
As Allen entered the classroom, he stopped by the teacher's desk, which was now empty as the teacher had not arrived yet.
"Well well," Allen murmured to himself. It looked like the teacher was planning a seat change today. "And what is this?" Allen fingered the seating chart, complete with the class names all on their own little post-it notes, a mischievous smile forming on his face. Calmly, he located his post-it and efficiently switched it to a seat on the right of Hitomi's post-it. As an afterthought, Allen switched all the post-it notes around his note so only girls surrounded him and Hitomi. There, that took care of any pathetic rivals for the moment.
He sauntered casually over to his desk as the teacher walked in and announced the seating change. Allen smirked as some guys looked over at him in jealousy at his good seat.
"Man, Schezar gets all the luck," a jock nearby seethed to his friend. His friend agreed and they both threw looks of envy in his direction.
Hitomi, to his disappointment, did not bat an eyelash when she discovered that she sat next to Allen. Demure and regale as ever, she had merely gracefully slid into her new seat and folded her hands calmly over the desk, not caring it seemed.
Oh well. That could be changed in the future.
Allen slunk back in his chair, elbow leaning on the desk behind him, head notched at an angle well-positioned for eyeing his favorite girl, legs casually relaxed, head resting on a loose fist. A corner of his mouth tilted up and he half-closed his eyes to give them a dreamy yet mischievous gleam. This was his sexy pose that included his irresistible charm that girls loved. He aimed all that charm toward Hitomi. No doubt the charm would hit all the other girls around him, but that was just an added bonus. Allen sank comfortably in his position and patiently waited for her reaction.
Hitomi placed her chin in her cupped hand and tried to ignore the people around her. She was uncomfortably aware of the staring coming at her from all directions, most of these stares came from jealous girls. Why they were jealous Hitomi didn't know. Shifting nervously, Hitomi especially tried to ignore the gazes of Allen from her right. In fact, if she wasn't mistaken, Allen was only looking at her. He looked like he was striking a pose for heavens sake.
What did I do deserve all this attention? Hitomi wondered. Then her thoughts floated over Van's face. Today she had bundled up her nerve and kissed him, in return for last night's kiss. They were just talking like normal, well Van was normal, Hitomi was a bundle of shyness. And they were standing so close together and there was Van's face, just floating above her. And then, Hitomi just looked up at him and kissed him, surprising herself and Van. She had pulled back quickly, afraid of Van's reaction but she had sighed in relief when Van smiled at her. It seemed to be the most natural thing after that to link her arm through Van's and they headed inside the school building together. They then had to part to their separate lockers unfortunately, which was well because people had begun to stare openly at them.
At this point in her reminiscing, Hitomi realized that she was smiling like an idiot. She moved her hand over her smile, amused at the sight she was probably making: a girl staring into nothing and smiling carelessly.
"Kanzaki, what's the answer to problem 5?" The teacher called out.
Hitomi removed her hand from her mouth. "2x2," she answered clearly.
"Correct."
Hitomi resettled herself and cautiously swiveled her eyes to the right. Damn it, why he is still looking at me? she thought at the sight of Allen's gaze. She sighed in both frustration and boredom and her head sank down onto a pillow of her arms. This was going to be a long period.
Allen frowned disappointedly. As far as he could tell, Hitomi had almost no reaction to attention, minimal reaction if any. Although at one point she had started smiling but Allen was not desperate enough so as to assume that she was smiling because of him. He had thought for a moment that she had glanced over in his direction but as she then put her head down in her arms, that was probably not it.
Hard to get¸ Allen reasoned to himself. He looked away from her tapped his desk impatiently. It's not fair, he thought to himself. Why of all girls did Hitomi have to be the one who ignored him? It was all Van's fault of course. Allen was smart enough to tell that Hitomi was too enamored with Van to notice his attentions. And she was the innocent type, which made it all worse: that meant she was probably more devoted to Van then usual.
Allen gritted his teeth and willed the clock to move faster. When the clock refused to answer his demands, Allen clenched his teeth. Math was such a bore, and there was still half an hour until lunch.
Allen put his head on his arms as well. Life is so cruel, he thought depressingly to himself.
A/N First, just to clear up one issue, Allen is a senior and Hitomi is a sophmore, but they're in the same class. How you ask? Well let's just assume that Hitomi is really good at math and is taking math at a level two grades ahead, therefore she is taking senior level math. Thus she is in the same math class as the seniors.
Second, I'm going to try to finish this story before school starts, which is in September. So I predict that this story has about 3-5 more chapters to go, but don't hold me to that.
And third, what anime should I do for my next fanfic? See my bio for details of the story.