Eyes of Light

"Alright students, tomorrow we’re going to start the Earth science block, so be prepared,” Mr. Fulton smiled, pushing up his glasses just as the bell rang. I sighed with relief, jumping out of my seat as the chatter began to start up and follow the students out of the room.

“Science is so… bleh,” Anna muttered, rubbing here eyes. I had a feeling most of us would be catching up on our sleep in here. Josh wasn’t here today, so I’d be in PE by myself. Great.

“At least he isn’t mean,” I pointed out, holding my binder to my chest.

“True, true,” she sighed, following me out the door and into the packed hallway. I didn’t need to stop at my locker, so I kept forward, but Anna quickly followed. “You have Advanced English, don’t you?” she muttered, sighing.

“Uh, yeah,” I breathed, biting my lip with sudden nerves. “Yeah. I’ll see you at lunch.”

“Right,” she smiled, turning down the hall to get to her class. I kept forward, looking around at the older kids who were whispering, and then I remembered the new kid. I guess coming the second day of school wasn’t too bad, but it still got people talking. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued.

Sighing, I stepped through the door and hurried to my seat in the back, setting my binder on the table. People started piling in quickly, their voices carrying, and their eyes set on the clock. Just in time, the bell rang, and everyone scrambled for their seats, quieting down some. Mrs. Holster quickly entered, a smile covering her frail lips.

“Quiet down, quiet down,” she sighed, setting her book on the table. Everyone did so, slowly, and began to face her. “Yesterday we went over the rules of my class, which I’m expecting you all to remember, and today we’re going to go over this book-” she smiled, holding it up. It was Romeo and Juliet, of course; the first assignment for English.

“Now, it’s a classic most definitely, but I don’t expect all of you to have read it on your free time. But we’re going to analyze the key points. I do expect everyone to know the plot, even if it’s a rough touch. Now-” she stopped, the door creaking open. Everyone turned ever so slightly, some all the way around, to face the person entering.

A boy a couple years older than me entered. His hair was dark, the ringlets messy. He was slightly tanned and definitely toned at first glance, but he was also thin and tall. Everyone seemed to turn back around and take the rest of the moment of silence to talk, but I kept my eyes on him. He had freckles splattered across his right cheek and neck, his eyes narrowed and dark. He turned his back to the class and reached his bare arm out, handing a note to the teacher. She gave him a welcoming smile and glanced down at the note, grabbing her pen to scribble something onto it. She gave it back and cleared her throat, setting her hand on his shoulder.

“Class, settle down,” she ordered, everyone sighing and turning back around. I was one of the only freshman in this class; three sophomores, some juniors, but the rest were seniors. It wasn’t very comfortable and I’d get switched out if I could, but my dad was proud, always being the grammar geek. I was more interested in art and old folk tales. I think I got that from my mother.

“We have a new student already on this fine second day of school,” she announced, the boy standing next to her holding no emotion in his face. He was blank, stern looking. “Why don’t you tell them your name?” she smiled encouragingly, but the boy just looked up at her and said nothing, the whole room going silent. She waited, blinking once, and let out another sigh. “Shy, are we?” she muttered, but the boy still said nothing; instead, he looked around the room with a bored stare, his eyes settling on me for a moment. I felt my stomach flop as he narrowed his eyes and cocked his head ever so slightly, his eyes sending daggers within a second. I looked away immediately, wondering what his problem was.

“Oh… alright,” she cleared her throat, obviously nervous herself. “This is Nick.”

He seemed so… well, I didn’t like to judge, but he seemed so rude. “Go ahead and take a seat, right over there,” she pointed to the row I was in, but three seats away luckily. I sighed silently, and shifted uncomfortably under his gaze as he passed, turning swiftly and plopping down into his seat. I couldn’t help but glance over, his slumped posture saying that he didn’t want to be here: not one bit.

“Everyone’s eyes up here,” Mrs. Holster instructed, my attention being pulled away from the mystery boy. “Now, who wants to give me their summary of the book? Anyone?” she called, glancing around the now silent room. She sighed and turned around, circling her desk to grab her stool. “Looks like I’ll go first,” she muttered to herself, plopping her plump body onto the cushioned seat.

“When I think of Romeo and Juliet, I think of forbidden love. Who else thinks of that?” she questioned, everyone slowly raising their hands. I followed, glancing over at the boy known as Nick; he was the only one without his hand up.

“Nick, I understand you’re new, but this is new for the rest of the class as well. So I’d like it if you participated.” Everyone turned around to face him, his eyes shifting around the room.

“I am,” he muttered. His voice was calm despite his stern face, soothing almost. I turned to face him, my interest piquing. “You asked who else thought of Romeo and Juliet as a forbidden love; I don’t agree.”

“You… don’t?” she raised her eyebrow, scratching her head. “What do you think then?”

He sighed and shifted in his seat, placing his hands in his lap. He looked around, still not phased from all the stares, and began to speak in a warm voice, but it seemed detached.

“That isn’t forbidden love to me. They’re both human, aren’t they? Just because they come from different families and their parents ‘forbid-’” he paused, using air quotes, “them to see each other doesn’t mean the love is forbidden.”

“What would you call forbidden then, Mr. Jonas?” she questioned, her eyes holding intrigue.

“Do you know those old stories? Of creatures? Witches, wolves, vampires…. Things like that?” he sighed again. It was kind of comical, as if he were teaching her. “The stories say that when mixed creatures come together, even with humans, they can fall in love. That’s forbidden, but it’s more than possible.”

“Witches? Like those green things with black hats and stuff?” one of the seniors blurted. “Ew. Even if they were real, they wouldn’t fall in love with those ugly werewolves or whatever.” Nick snapped his head over to her, his eyes sending a glare that made her cower. If looks could kill…

“Those are stereotypes. Although they may apply to idiotic blonds like you, the rest of the world is an open book,” he snapped, the rest of the class giggling under their breath. The girl’s face turned red and she muttered something under her breath before turning back around, twisting her hair between her fingers. His eyes flickered over to me suddenly, a small gasp escaping my lips and I looked away, suddenly afraid.

“Mr. Jonas, please! We do not speak to each other that way. Next time it’ll be a detention, do you understand?” Mrs. Holster hissed, her eyes wide. He simply nodded, not letting out another sound. “You do, however, bring up a good point, but old tales and things of that sort are in a different lesson, now lets get back onto Romeo and Juliet, shall we?” she muttered, slightly flustered, her voice annoyed.

I bit my lip and turned my head to face him yet again as she went on about her theories, the ones that didn’t hold my interest anymore.

[&&light]

I sat at my Math table and looked up at the clock, my stomach growling uncontrollably. I knew I should’ve ate breakfast this morning. Sighing, I shifted in my seat, Anna’s face coming into view. She smiled, pointing to the clock. The bell rang a minute later and everyone seemed to sigh with relief, eagerly jumping out of their seats with a series of clatters and laughs.

“I’m starving,” she muttered, hurrying to catch up to me. I turned around to face her, backing up out of the room.

“Me too. I think, sitting through that class everyday is going to-” I stopped, grunting when I bumped into someone hard. I quickly turned around, my eyes widening as they met a pair of deep and narrowed chocolate eyes. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out and he spoke instead.

“Watch where you’re walking,” he grunted, clear irritation in his voice. He face looked detached, much like it did in English last period.

“S-sorry-” I began, my voice stuttering, but he just sighed heavily and kept on his way, his silky curls bouncing with every easy stride as he glided past everyone and out the doors. I blinked in shock, shaking my head. “Jerk,” I muttered, turning back around to face a shocked Anna, my cheeks flushed while her mouth hung open.

“Is that the new kid? The senior?” she giggled, pushing her hair out of her face. I nodded, pulling down my sleeve. “Wow; hot and harsh, that’s gotta be a good combination.” I stared at her for a moment, wondering how she could come up with that. I figured I had a lot to learn with Anna.

“Come on,” I breathed, making my way towards our locker bin. She followed, moving to her knees to access hers. I was lucky enough to withhold a top locker, I just had to be careful and not hit her in the head with it.

Shoving my bag in, I locked it back up and followed Anna out the doors and into the crowds of people that had first lunch. The cafeteria was only a few feet away, across the street, but it was already drizzling; a complete contrast from the sun yesterday. We hurried across, fighting our way inside. It was clean, surprisingly from the huge mess the seniors left yesterday, and it didn’t smell too bad… like cheeseburgers.

“God, I’m so hungry,” Anna roared, stomping towards the short line. I had to laugh, quickening my slow pace to follow her. “Josh is so missing out,” she smiled, sniffing the air at the aroma.

“Where is Josh, anyway?” I muttered, chewing on my lip, scanning the room. It was a nervous habit, to check my surroundings continuously. My dad said I was always paranoid as a child.

“Aunt Shirley forgot to get him his shots,” she giggled, rolling her eyes. “He should be here after lunch.”

“Oh,” I smiled, entering the small kitchen. The lunch ladies smiled as Anna and I gently took our trays, grateful that we weren’t being rowdy. We quickly punched our lunch numbers in and I was surprised I had even remembered mine.

We strolled over to the left side of the cafeteria where most of the freshman that had first lunch sat, and started forward, but something caught my eye. The kid known as Nick sat at one of the tables in the back, completely by himself, his eyes down at the tray in front of him. He was playing with an oven fry, his other arm propped on his elbow to rest his cheek in his palm. I suddenly felt sorry for him, and something told me to go ask him if he wanted to sit with Anna and I. it wasn’t usual for me to want to do something like that, but…

I shook my head and set my tray on the table, bringing my attention back to Anna. She was watching me with raised eyebrows, wondering what in the world I was thinking; if only I knew.

“I’ll… be right back,” I muttered, turning away slowly, pushing myself forward.

I bit my lip and shoved my hands in my pockets, avoiding the people who passed with their trays of food, blocking out their meaningless conversations. I got closer to him, but he seemed completely unaware, his eyes narrowed, like he was deep in thought. Slowly, I slid onto the bench and cleared my throat, his eyes snapping over to me. He dropped his fry and picked up his head, his face holding no welcome. I didn’t know why I was waiting for him to speak, but I wasn’t surprised when he didn’t.

“I, umm… I saw you by yourself and….” I trailed off nervously, his eyebrow raising.

“And?” he prompted, his voice still as smooth. I swallowed and shrugged, suddenly realizing that this wasn’t the best idea. He probably didn’t want to sit with a couple of freshman girls.

“And… I know what it’s like, to be alone, so I was just wondering if you wanted to come sit with me and my friend Anna,” I rambled off, locking his eyes. I suddenly felt light headed, like my breath was being taken away and I was being pulled into his deep gaze. His eyes were familiar somehow…

“If I wanted your company, I would’ve asked,” he said smoothly, his voice holding irritation.

“Oh…” I trailed off, looking down at the table, feeling like an idiot. “I mean, since you’re new and all… I just wanted to, umm, tell you that you could sit with us… if you wanted.”

“Well I don’t, so…” he mumbled, sitting up straight. I sighed, his words suddenly hitting one of my nerves. Standing, I backed away from the table and walked slowly. When I was close enough to Anna, I looked back, catching the side of Nick’s thoughtful face.

“Well… that was interesting,” Anna muttered between bites, cocking her head as I sat, wiping my sweaty palms on my jeans. Was I really that nervous? “What’d you say to him?”

“I just asked if he wanted to sit with us,” I shrugged, picking up my hamburger. I took a small bite and chewed thoughtfully, glancing up at her.

“And what did he say?” she mused, obviously knowing the answer. It was only amusing because I was irritated now… I hoped.

“He said no.”