Chapter Text
There was a kid in the back of the class.
Dressed in black and green. Two silver rings curved through the left side of his bottom lip, catching the light whenever he moved. Teal threaded through dark hair like streaks of artistic marker.
He leaned back in his chair, knees hiked up against the desk with his notepad resting on top. Slender fingers held onto a pencil as he tilted it back and forth, gaze drifting from paper to where she sat then back again.
They were the only two who ever sat in the very back of the class. The reclusiveness suited her. It was perfect for taking notes and even better for watching without being noticed.
The classroom was silent aside from a few hushed whispers. Papers shuffled and pens scratched steadily against paper as students worked through their assignments.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched the kid beside her. She wasn’t sure if they shared the same reason for hiding in the back. It looked like he was drawing something, but from where she sat she couldn’t be certain, not unless she made it obvious she was staring.
She lowered her gaze to her own notebook, a mess of black letters across the off-white page. Above it was an open textbook and she flicked her thumb against its edge, feeling the pages brush against her skin.
Her grades - and her notes - would not thank her for the escapism.
The fabric of her skirt slid against the seat as she leaned forward, crossing one leg over the other beneath the desk as she tried to focus on her notes, but it was hard not to notice him. Hard not to feel unsettled by his presence.
Was he looking at her?
It felt like he was. Yet whenever she glanced his way, his attention seemed fixed on the drawing pad in front of him.
She exhaled slowly, pressing her pen against her lips, teeth lightly biting the plastic.
Mysterious wasn't the word for someone whose expression shifted between brooding and boredom.
It was more...
She paused, lowering the pen to her notepad, trying to name the feeling. She wasn’t even sure why she was giving him so much thought.
Her pen tapped lightly against the page, attention divided between her notes and him.
Tilting her head slightly, she peeked up from her notes, but he was already looking at her.
Bright, fervent amber stared back at her. His lips curved upward into a soft smile, chasing away the sullenness that had been there before.
Her fingers loosened and the pen slipped from her hand and fell with a quiet thud against the desk.
Heat rushed to her face and she immediately looked away, staring down at her notes as her pulse beating loudly in her chest.
He had caught her looking.
But that wasn't what caused her to blush. It had been the moment their eyes met. His expression, dark - almost intimidating - had shifted into...
Bliss.
Later, in the library...
She chewed her lip as she concentrated on the essay for one of her classes. Notes and various books sprawled open to pages she was referencing.
This was a problem.
She was certain she had sat down alone.
When she had taken her usual seat by the window, the table had been empty. The room quiet, filled only with the soft sound of her breathing and the occasional rustle of turning pages.
Before long she had lost herself in her work and when she had finally paused to take a break, her gaze lifted-
To find that he was there.
The kid from the back of class.
Sitting across from her, one leg crossed over the other, black-painted fingernails resting lightly against the spine of a book in his hands. His amber eyes lifted to meet hers and she noticed the faint shadows beneath them, the dark lines that hadn’t been as obvious in the warm classroom lighting.
She blinked.
He blinked back.
The intensity in his eyes made her blush, and she lowered her gaze.
The moment lasted only a few seconds, but it had felt like minutes.
When she finally looked back toward him, his attention had already returned to the book as though the moment between them had been nothing more than two people silently acknowledging they occupied the same space.
Maybe it was coincidence.
Maybe she was overthinking it.
Maybe he just preferred the window seat like she did.
But the pattern repeated too often to feel accidental.
Outside of the strange kid's presence, Shannon — an extrovert who had adopted her on the first day of school — filled the rest of her life.
She stood beside Shannon’s locker, watching students pass, her school bag held loosely against her chest while Shannon gushed about the new transfer student. Most of the time she simply let Shannon ramble, the words fading into the background while she nodded occasionally.
“…and I swear he looked right at me.” Shannon continued, nearly bouncing with excitement. “He’s definitely my type.”
"You should ask him to the costume dance." She suggested once Shannon finally paused.
Shannon hummed thoughtfully, turning toward the small mirror inside her locker. She ran her fingers through her long blonde hair, fluffing it out before snapping the locker door shut.
When the metal door closed...
A pair of intense amber eyes waited behind it.
The kid from the back of class stood leaning casually against the lockers, arms crossed over his chest. For a moment she wondered if he recognized someone behind her, but his gaze was too focused on her for that to be the case.
Nervously, she fussed with her hair, fingers tucking loose strands behind her ear.
For the second time that day, she found herself unable to look away.
He stared at her, intensely.
She stared back, unnerved.
It felt as if he were memorizing her. The shape of her face, the color of her eyes, the movement of her arms as they clutched at her bag.
She couldn’t stop the heat creeping up her neck and across her cheeks.
“What are you—” Shannon stopped mid-sentence, following her gaze.
The instant Shannon looked his way, the kid straightened then turned and walked away without a word.
None of this felt accidental.