Stay Close, Don't Go

So far, the day was going pretty well. I would say smoothly, but it wasn’t smooth at all. I was, out of nervousness, being clumsy in the halls and stuttering over my words. Being over whelmed was messing with my brain function.

By the time lunch rolled around, I couldn’t have been more thankful. Janie found me again and dragged me off to where she ate lunch with her friends. It was better than being alone I guess.

“So Madison, 'ow are yeh likin’ it ‘ere so far?” Janie asked me, some of her friends nodded as if to ask the same question.

“It’s good, I guess. I only got here yesterday.” I told them, shuffling around with my bag. They started to talk about how odd it was I that I was already attending school, but I began to ignore them.

Again, like earlier, I spotted the same guy that was in my science class. He wasn’t looking around, or eating, or sitting with anyone. Instead, he sat Indian style on the grass with a book in his hands and his head down, obviously reading.

Janie caught on to my lack of attention to her and her friends and tried to see what was up. “What are yeh lookin’ at Madison.”

“Who is that?” I asked, looking at her before gesturing towards the guy. She looked at her friends before back at me, a smirk forming on her lips.

“That is the younger Sykes brother, Tom.” She started to explain, “His older brother, Oliver, is like a legend ‘ere at Tapton. He’s in a band, parties like mad, and it’s dead hot. Tom just kind of lives in the shadow of Oliver. Has hardly any friends at school, and is pretty shy. I ‘ear that he’s a partier though, but no one really sees him.”

As she spoke, my eyes wandered back to Tom. In a way, I guess I felt kind of bad. It must suck to live in someone else’s shadow, especially when they aren’t even at the same school anymore and are still being talked about.

“He’s kind of cute I guess.” Mercy said, jumping into the conversation. “But as far as we know he never has girlfriends or anythin’. Probably cause the one girl we know he dated used him to get with his brother. Harsh really.”

I nodded in agreement but kept my eyes on him. He was intriguing, no doubt. Again, he must have felt my eyes on him because he raised his head and started to look around. His pretty blue eyes glanced over in my direction. Suddenly embarrassed, I looked away and down at my shoes. It was like playing mind games.

That same feeling of anxiousness came over me again. There was just something about him, something I couldn’t quite put my finger on, that made him that awkward mysterious. The little wheels in my head were turning with thoughts.

Trying to steal another glance at him, I lifted my head up and made it seem like I was talking to Mercy before letting my eyes wander over to him.

What caught me by surprise was that he was already staring back at me. His eyes were captivating. A moment later an odd look swept over his face, though I couldn’t see well since he was far away. Blinking a few times, he looked away and stood up, gathering his books before walking away; not bothering to glance back.

&&

Over the next few days I’d been pretty busy. Between unpacking and arranging the house along with school work, my first week in Sheffield was pretty stressful. Janie seemed to notice too, by Thursday she was begging me to go to a party with her tomorrow tonight.

“C’mon Madison, it’ll be fun. Do yeh drink or dance? Even if yeh don’t, it’s supposed to be a totally wicked party.” She tried to convince me. I just glanced up at her from my notebook, not buying it.

Suddenly, a little spark caught in her eye like she got an idea, “Oliver Sykes is holdin’ it at his house, Tom will be there. I’ve seen yeh eyein’ him like a project, maybe you can meet him.”

Correction; I wasn’t eyeing him like a project. I was eyeing him out of curiosity. Though, over the past few days he hadn’t bothered to make any more eye contact with me, I still found myself watching him in class.

I think he was avoiding me on purpose. We ended up having science and study hall together, but he hardly even looked my direction. It was like I was the plague or something. They had said he was shy, but I didn’t think he was shy enough to actually avoid me.

“Alright, I’ll see if I can go.” I told her, defeated. She smiled triumphantly and went back to talking with Mercy.

Lately, I didn’t mind them much. They were better than the other people who tried talking to me just because I was American. It made me feel a little less awkward in a way.

“So I’ll head over to your house tomorrow at six, and then we’re off to Tom and Oliver’s, ‘kay?” She said as the end of lunch bell rang. I had no time to agree or protest before she walked off without me.

I guess I’m going to a party tomorrow tonight, at a guy’s house who I’d never met, in a town I hardly knew, and with people I wasn’t too confident with. This would be interesting.