I'd Rather Live My Life Through Honest Eyes

[Elise's P.O.V.]

Lunchtime had come around, and all I could do was stare at the food on the plate in front of me and pick at it with the plastic fork I was holding. This was not going the way I had wanted it to go. The day I finally met the boy that, for the longest time, I was hopelessly infatuated with, was turning out horrible, as he was hanging around with the guy that I couldn't stand with my life. This was not good at all.
Plus, this wasn't exactly how I planned on meeting the guy of my dreams. I just hoped he wasn't a total jackass.
"Elise... hey, Elise." I slowly looked up to see Nick staring at me with a look of concern on his face. "You okay? You seem really out of it."
I smiled almost sadly at him before resting my head on the table, using my arms as a sort of pillow. "To be honest with you... no." I placed my chin on top of my hands. "I'm not okay."
He placed his arm around my shoulders, pulling me into a side-hug. "Does it have something to do with Gabriel?"
I snapped up immediately, a glare on my face. "What makes you think it's him?" I growled, nearly gritting my teeth.
"Lise, the guys and I know that you've been head over heels for him since the day we met and became a band. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but I thought you'd be making a move already."
I stood up from my chair and pointed a finger right to his face. "In case you haven't noticed, Nick, he's friends with the enemy! And I don't care how madly in love I am with him- when he's with the enemy, he is the enemy. And there is no way in hell I am associating myself with him now. Not anymore!"
With that, I tossed my uneaten food in the trash and stomped off towards the library. I needed some desperate alone time.

---

[Gabriel's P.O.V.]

Just great. I grumbled to myself, slumping against the wall. What did I do wrong to make a bad impression on her?
I couldn't get her out of my head. Elise. Her actions earlier were what confused me the most. Was Terrick really right about her?
...No, he had to be wrong. Something about her screamed that everything Terrick said about her was wrong. So what was the real reason for the way she did that?
I had taken to sitting some distance away from the curly-haired boy, along with the rest of the guys. I didn't want to listen to him talk crap about Elise (which he seemed to do way too much). Doesn't he ever quit?
My attention quickly turned to the sound of an angelic voice that sounded absolutely furious. Only Elise had a voice like that.
I saw her auburn-colored hair start to cover her face as she nearly sprang up from her chair and started yelling at one of her bandmates about something, though about what, was clueless to me. After a while, she threw her food in one of the trash bins and started walking away. I looked over to the curly-haired jackass boy and watched him jeer at her yet again.
“Stop stomping so much, Elise! Any harder and you’ll fall right through the floor!” he cackled.
“Suck my dick, asswipe!” she screamed, giving him the finger and walking faster towards the direction of the library. Once more, all I could do was stare at her.
Steven caught my gaze.
“Dude, if you wanna go talk to her, then do it!” he whisper-shouted, pushing me away from the wall and making me stand up. I mumbled to myself, brushing myself off before slowly walking off to follow her.

---

[Normal P.O.V.]

When Gabe stepped foot into the vast library of the school, he was surprised to find a vast array and assortment of books, magazines, and computers everywhere he looked. He didn’t need to look very hard for the person he had wanted to find- she was the only one in a Black Tide sweater, sitting alone at a table in the corner with her nose buried in a book. Walking closer, he saw that she was reading Sun Tzu’s The Art Of War.
Man, this girl gets more interesting with every passing moment. he thought.
Slowly, he walked closer to where she was before sitting across from her, quietly slipping into the seat on the other side of the table. Before he could open his mouth to say something, she slowly looked up from the book and met his gaze.
Gabriel had never seen eyes a more beautiful shade of blue in his life.
Eventually, he found his voice. “Hey.” he tried to put on a small smile for her.
She allowed herself to force a small smile back. “Hi.”
Her voice was a lot different than from what it was on stage or when she exploded at Terrick. It was soft, pleasant, and… well, quite beautiful. He made a mental note to observe both sides of Elise McCready.
“So… you’re Elise, right? The singer for Dark Waters? he questioned, wanting to approach conversation with her slow and steady.
She gave him a nod. “Yeah, that’s me.” she met his gaze again. “And you’re Gabe. The frontman for Black Tide.” she paused to brush a strand of her auburn hair out of her face. Silence lingered for a few seconds before she spoke again, her voice hushed and almost hesitant. “I saw you earlier.”
Gabe tried to hide his brief excitement at her statement. “You did?” he asked, smiling a little more.
“Mmhmm,” she responded, her smile growing faintly to match his. “You waved to me when I came out of the auditorium.” Was it just his imagination, or did she sound almost… thankful to him?
“But you were standing next to Terrick.”
Almost immediately, his heart skipped a beat. So that was why she was glaring in his direction… but it still didn’t explain why she was being so distant.
“Yeah, what’s that got to do with anything?” He knew he was screwed the second those words left his mouth.
Dammit Gabe, you just ruined everything!
Elise stood up from her chair and glared at him, staring him straight in the eye. “It has everything to do with what’s happening here. I knew there was a reason you’ve been hanging around Terrick. You’re friends with him.” Her eyes seemed to cloud over as she finished her sentence. “I can’t believe I’m saying this… but I want nothing to do with you now.”
If Gabe’s heart was made of glass, he was pretty sure he heard it shatter to pieces as she turned on her heel and walked away. He wanted desperately to call out to her, to tell her what was really going on. Why he was really hanging around with the curly-haired boy who was bringing the brunette girl down every day.
But he didn’t have the strength to even open his mouth.

---

“Why is this happening? To me, of all people?” Elise’s voice was muffled due to her face being in her hands, her eyes wet with unshed tears. “What the hell did I do to deserve this crap?”
At that moment, a halo of shoulder-length, wavy brown hair entered her line of vision before sitting next to her and pulling her in a hug. Brett.
“You okay, hun?” he voiced, resting his head on top of hers in an effort to calm her down. She let out a snuffle and shook her head.
“Terrick’s ruining everything for me.” she mumbled. “Everything would be going so much better if he had nothing to do with Gabe and the others.”
Brett frowned. He knew what she was feeling. Since he was Elise’s first boyfriend, he had an idea of what was happening thanks to Terrick playing mind games as usual. Instead of saying anything more, he simply squeezed her tighter. “Try not to think about it for now. It’ll be okay.”
She managed a faint nod and buried her face in his dark blue t-shirt.
I really hope you’re right, Brett. I really hope you’re right.