Aphrodite

I’m still not entirely sure how I captured the attention of Anabel Dawson.

She was walking through the halls of the school, her skirt swaying back and forth and her heels clicking against the ground as she ignored the stares of everyone she passed. Occasionally someone would make a comment and she would glance at them, roll her eyes, and continue on her way. That day wasn't any different, the whistles and cold stares echoed through the halls and every eye followed her, even if it wasn't intentional.

Every girl envied the way she looked, the way she seemingly didn’t care, the way she captured the attention of everyone that had ever laid eyes on her. She used people like they were hers to take, and they were, they just didn’t know it. Every guy wanted to be with her, to have the honor of walking down the halls with her, even if there was a ten foot ditch between them. Not many people got the honor of getting close to Anabel though, and if you did, you deserved to get your picture put up on the wall of heroes.

We were in the same Chemistry class, my seat was at the front on the right and hers was in the middle, the centre of attention, just like she always was. It was the middle of the week, a Wednesday, and I wanted to be there just as much as everyone else did, but still I sat there, trying to take notes on the way molecules attached themselves together. I looked up and back, my eyes catching hers for just a moment, but that was enough. She smiled a sad sort of smile that disappeared as quickly as it appeared, like it was never even there and I tilted my head the side slightly as she smacked her gum, wondering if my mind was playing some sort of cruel trick on me.

The smile stuck with me all throughout the day, making everything else seem less important. My eyes trailed after her, trying to catch hers again but failing, falling short into the puddle around her feet that all the others found themselves in.

“You need to stop paying so much attention to her, that’s what she wants,” a voice came from behind me, making me jump. I had found my way to my locker, opened it just in time to stare, not noticing the boy, Christian, come up beside me.

“How could you not? Look at her,” I said, forcing my eyes to stay away. He laughed, a cruel laugh that echoed throughout the halls, and he slammed the locker that sat directly parallel to mine.

“I have, we all have. Move on,” he said with a bored tone in his voice. I knew he was right; he always seemed to be right, but that smile formed itself in my mind again and I grunted in reply, not wanting to argue with him.

I didn’t see Anabel again that day, God knows where she might have been, but for the first time, I felt like we shared something; something that no one else could see. Something that wasn’t barely hidden by her short skirts or given away in her ruby red smile, but something that only formed itself in my mind, where it was locked away for no one else to see.