Curse of Curves

Thedemon boy displaying himself in front of us decided sitting behind me would be humorous, so he took the empty desk behind me. There was something about the way he was looking at me that set off my panic mode.

“What’s your name, sweetie?” The teacher asked him, still giving him a kind smile.

“Arrow,” came his smooth reply, reinforcing the fact that he was sitting behind me.

No, no, no, that guy cannot be sitting behind me. I can’t get involved with someone like that. No I shouldn’t even be in the same vicinity as him.

I cringed in my seat, trying to force myself to be invisible. Someone like him would ruin my flawless record. That can’t happen to me.

I tried to force myself to relax and focus on the teacher’s lecture over the first trimester. But what made it really hard to concentrate on was the fact that he’d smirked at me. And moreover that it had made me blush. I know the blush was just because it had flustered me, but still! I should not have blushed (no matter how faint it was) because now it seemed like it gave him some kind of sick incentive to harass me.

Because as soon as the bell rang, I was darted out of my seat and into the hallways. There was no way I was going to get involved with a kid like Arrow.

But I felt a certain… presence behind me. One that could only belong to a certain somebody named Arrow.

The ominous creature just kept following me through the halls. Every time I felt that maybe he was finally gone, I’d glance behind me… only to see him three feet behind me.

It went on for a minute straight… until he finally turned to a locker at the side, where the kids in that vicinity dispersed in attempts to get away from him.

Okay, so, he’s not that scary, but he’s a creepy stalker kid who I suspect was following me on purpose by the way he was all up in my Kool-Aid.That’s not a ‘proper’ thought. I would’ve been different if he was following from a little more of a distance, but he was just rightfu- freaking there. Not to mention the weird smirk he gave me in child development class.

Two slip-ups in ten seconds? At least they were only in my mind…

*~*~*~*

Lunch was not any better. Not only was he attracting mine along with everyone else’s attention.

“Why did the teachers let that into the school?” Megan asked the table, but her eyes rested on me, signaling that she wanted my answer.

“I wouldn’t know,” I replied in the professional, distant tone I always used. The kids I sat with at lunch always say that I’m cold towards them.

It’s not that I want to be, it’s that I have to be. For my grade’s sake. Friends, girlfriends, acquaintances; they all took time out of my schoolwork. I needed as much time as I could possibly get for studying. If I didn’t my grades wouldn’t be perfect; I wouldn’t be perfect.

That’s all my parents want from me is perfection.It’s rather sick. Even so, everyone here seems to pull it off so easily. Underneath, I was just struggling to hold onto my image. I wonder if the rest of them are collapsing under this burden too.

When I looked back up at where Arrow had parked himself, everyone had scattered from him and he snickered at the scene he was making.

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes as I turned back to my food. “That’s not human!” Brandon cries at the sight of everyone fleeing the vicinity around Arrow.

“Do you think it’s the Devil’s work?” Kaylyn questions. To be honest, I was alarmed at the seriousness in her voice. Though, it shouldn’t surprise me, if she had been there, I’m sure she would’ve started the entire Salem Witch Trials. She thought just about everything that was an eyesore to her was ‘the Devil’s work’.

“Don’t you think that’s a bit presumptuous?” I asked, raising an eyebrow at her. Just keep in mind, these people are not my friends so I can tell them what I fell like telling them.

“Ethan,” She starts. “Haven’t you seen what he looks like?”

Even though he kind of scares me, I still need to be a role model and set a good example. “I don’t believe that his appearance had anything to do with his personality.”

With that said, she quieted down and ate her food. She couldn’t possibly oppose me; no one could. I both loathed and loved that. It was one of those cliché ‘blessing and a curse’ deals.

I felt my eyes being pulled back to the boy in question as he returned from throwing his trash away. Before I could look away, his gaze caught mine and I saw him grin.

And then he winked at me. I gasped at that display, causing the food in my mouth to catch in my throat as I choked.

As quickly as the choking came on, it went away. Too bad half the cafeteria noticed it and was gaping at my less-than-perfect behavior.

It took me a second to realize that I was blushing too. Instantly, I forced myself to calm down and stop acting so flustered.

I looked again when I heard Arrow laughing. He was laughing at my pain! How incredibly… sadistic…

I removed myself from the table I was at and went to throw away whatever I hadn’t eaten on my tray and followed the potential trouble-maker out of the cafeteria.

I had to remind myself to keep calm as I called him over. “Arrow? May I speak to you for a moment?” I requested, using that same, mature, professional tone I always used.

When he saw it was me, he grinned.

Oh no… I mentally slapped myself as I wondered, what exactly have I gotten myself into?