Time Is Ticking

♥♪♫Evan♥♪♫

After sprinting to my locker to grab my science book, seeing as after this class, and the next, I’d need it, I hurried to my English class, scrambling to find a seat just as the bell rang. Some kids looked at me with slight discomfort as if I’d interrupted something important.

I sighed as I noticed the teacher waddle her little way into the classroom, a smile plastered on her face as if she was a child who’d succeeded at stealing a cookie from the cookie jar while her mother wasn’t looking. Her eyes danced, as if she enjoyed that cookie and was holding onto the hope that her mother wouldn’t find out and give her another one after dinner.

I looked at the table I was at, there was no one here really but there were belongings on the table.

“I missed you at lunch Evan.” I jumped a bit in my seat as Ray pushed someone’s bag onto the floor and replaced it with his, claiming the seat as his own. He smiled at me and took out a notebook and opened it to a blank page.

“Yeah, I kind of have been out of it since first hour…” I told him truthfully. He looked at me with a concerned expression.

“Why, what happened?” He asked, absentmindedly taking out a pencil and writing a heading on his paper as if he just knew we were going to be doing work today.

My mind flashed with the memories of Luka when he first walked into the classroom and the whole room suddenly rendered as inferior and unimportant and all there was was him and his strange aura that matched one of a confidential file. I remembered how he irked my very being and just made me so unbearably upset that I just stormed out of the classroom after asking the teacher a question that I was sure even the wisest of man wouldn’t be able to answer.

Then I thought back to how I broke down in the bathroom and felt so stupid and weak, and how I just wanted to hate myself, or Luka, but it just wasn’t going to happen, neither my mind nor my heart would allow it to be so.

Then finally I remembered walking outside during lunch time, fuming over my issues and frustrations, and noticing Luka bounding up the stairs of the bleachers with a look of hope on his face, as if at the top there was the ultimate meaning of freedom up there. I went back to the thoughts that crossed my mind when I debated whether or not I should confront him and apologize, or childishly hold a grudge.

Lastly, I thought back to how I struggled to find the right words to apologize and how I got so lost in my own world that I forgot where I was, or even doing. I felt the urgent need to hold Luka when he was staring at me with tear-filled eyes and a horrified expression. I saw again the pain that resided in his eyes and sensed again the fright and terror going on in Luka’s mind. The way I held him in my arms with such tenderness that I didn’t even quite understand.

Not wanting to spill all those details to Ray, I just settled for a simple, “That new kid happened.” Ray frowned at me and then his expression turned to one of immense interest when he took another glance at my face.

“Oh, is there a new person I don’t know about yet? Maybe I’ve seen him already in one of my classes, care to explain him to me?” He asked. Ray had this way of speech that sometimes confused me. I’d noticed that the things he said always had mystery to it, as though entwined with each word was a hidden meaning.

“Well,” I began anyway, “He’s got light brown hair and deep brown eyes. He’s wearing a white button up shirt and light brown skinny jeans with really old Van’s on.” I told him. He thought for a moment, tapping his pencil to his lips.

“Oh!” He exclaimed, “You must be talking about Mr. Quiet and Mysterious.” He smiled. “Well, that’s what some of the girls are calling him now.” He laughed. “Although, the buzz around campus is that some of the jocks are planning his beat down, either sometime later today or tomorrow.” He blinked at him. I thought back to Luka. Beat him? The guy didn’t even speak, what was the reason?

“What, that doesn’t make any sense. The guy doesn’t even talk, so why would they do that?” I asked, something about the topic making me increasingly upset.

“Well, you know Ashley right? Ashley Verndale?” He asked me. I nodded my head. “Well, apparently she went complaining to her male fan base about how he was a complete jerk to her and called her a bitch. So now they want his head because she basically ordered his demise.”

“Well, from what I know about him, you’ve gotta really get on his nerves to even get him to write you a word, so she must have been really pushing his buttons.” I said. “But common, he probably, and most likely only wrote her a note on a piece of paper. She couldn’t have, nor should she have taken it to heart.” Ray shrugged and then a smirk tugged at the corners of his lips.

“Maybe he wrote in all caps.” He teased. “She seems like the type to not like getting yelled at, in any way.” I rolled my eyes but they landed on the teacher as she began to move and suddenly notice that the bell has rung and it has been time for her to start class for about ten minutes now.

“Alright class!” She shouted above all the murmurs of conversation. “I’m going to officially start now, so listen up!”

After telling us basically her whole life story, asking questions and assigning us a project, she let us go back to our own devices again while she sat back at her desk and started typing away on her computer. I packed up my things that I’d taken out for absolutely no reason at all.

“Why do you have your chemistry book?” Ray wondered, leaning over and peering into the contents of my bag.

“So, I don’t have to go to my locker.” I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Why didn’t you bring your English book, it is English class after all.” He pressed. I shrugged.

“No one ever needs their English book on the first day. Did you even bring yours?” I shot back at him. I reached into his bag pulling out a thick green book that each one of us in my grade obtained. I snorted. “Why are you always so precise and prepared?” I asked.

“So I can stay ahead.” He replied simply.

The finalized tone in his voice threw me off completely. It was as though he had a plan, that he always would have a plan, and no matter what happened, his plan would always be followed through.

I didn’t have time to ponder it though, as the bell rang and students shot up to get in their brief moments of chatter in before they had to part ways yet again. I waved to Ray as he headed in the opposite direction of me.

I found my way to the art room, annoyed with the fact that people had already settled down in groups. It was quite surprising actually. But what surprised me more was a brown haired figure slumped in a chair near the back. I smiled at the empty seat next to him and took the liberty of mentally claiming it mine; making my way over there and making it mine was a different story.

The tables and chairs were tightly compacted together because the room was already on the small side. So I had to maneuver myself around, over, under and through things to get to my destination. I earned some displeased looks from guys and looks of embarrassment from girls that I’d accidently bumped into. I muttered my apologies and rounded the desk, plopping myself in the chair right next to Luka, who snapped his head up with a start seeing as he wasn’t paying any attention to the outside world that wasn’t his mind.

“Hey.” I said calmly as I slouched in my chair. He looked at me, almost as if he didn’t honestly believe that I was sitting right there. After a moment of our awkward stare down, he nodded and then turned his head from me, staring across the room at what was probably nothing.

I sighed at looked straight ahead. I didn’t know what to do, say or even think about. It was strange, I always had something to think about to pass time, but not this time. I cast a sideways glance at Luka. He still wasn’t looking at me or paying any type of attention to life, but at least he wasn’t breaking his neck to look everywhere but me.

From this angle I could at least get a good look at the side of his face. He looked like an overall teen. He had brown hair that went just past his ears and hung just above his eyes, touching his eyelashes. His hair led me to his deep brown eyes; they reminded me of chocolate and caramel. His nose was a bit on the large side, but it was still fitting nonetheless. My exploration ended at his lips, small and pink, the perfect shade.

To be honest, I could look at him all day.

So far at his face anyway. I’ve yet to explore the rest of him.

That just happened…

From here though, I could tell his skinny and lean, not scrawny, you could just see the muscles in his forearm, the flatness of his abdomen. He undoubtedly had an amazing body, but I couldn’t know for sure, further observation had to be made.

Again, those words just happened.

Soon enough the art teacher, Mrs. Rose, strolled in the room, a colorful canopy of color flowing around her that just bended against her brown hair. You see, Mrs. Rose had a very, strange, style. She liked colorful things, things that are put together in a seemingly random fashion. She was by far the most daring woman I’ve ever met, because all the other girls I know wouldn’t dare; wear a dress made of different patches of floral print, all of them happened to be a different color and a different type of pattern.

Mrs. Rose quickly engaged in a conversation much like the one she does every year. She tells us about herself, her family, why art interests her and what her favorite find of art is, which her answer is always indifferent because and I quote, “Each piece of art is different, no matter what style or what artist. Every new piece is unique and adventurous, that is why I can’t say that I have a favorite type of art.”

She then goes around the class and makes us all tell our name and something interesting about ourselves. At this moment I worried about Luka. I don’t know why he was the first thing to come to my mind, but when she said the word presentation, I just had to glance over at him and see the expression on his face. I wondered what his was thinking when I saw that his expression never faltered, he just continued to look bored and rude.

To everyone’s surprise, when it came to be his turn, he slouched even more in his chair, making him sort of resemble a turtle, it was cute. He and Mrs. Rose had a stare down, communicating telepathically before she smiled.

“Alright class! That right there is Luka Mayfield. He’s new this year and I want you all to make him feel welcome, do you understand me?” She passed her eyes across the room, making sharp eye contact with everyone while we all muttered a chorus of “Yes ma’am.” But I could have been the only one that actually used the word ‘ma’am’.

She left us the rest of class to chitchat, saying that she wanted to get some final things in order before she assigned us anything to do. So I turned to Luka, he seemed to have a smirk playing at his lips; maybe he was trying to stop a laugh of triumph.

“What class do you have next?” I asked him, trying to make some kind of conversation, something to do while I waited out these last fifteen minutes of class. Plus, if I was going to properly become Luka’s friend, some type of conversation is needed. He doesn’t have to talk if he doesn’t want to, that’s fine if he doesn’t. Just, write me a note, show me something so that I don’t feel like a total clueless idiot who’s trying to befriend someone who’s making it literally impossible.

He looked at me for a moment, a twinge of annoyance in his features, but he soon relaxed, grabbing his backpack and pulling out a notebook and gesturing to the pencil I was twirling in my hands. I let him pluck it from my fingers after I just stared at him like a toddler at a grocery store. He scribbled on the paper and pushed it over to me.

Science, I’m pretty sure.

“Same here!” I said almost a little too excited. He smirked at me, a small one, like that kind of smirk that you make when you don’t really mean to in the most simplest of situations.

The bell rang while Luka was writing something down, in quick and small handwriting. Shall you sit by me in that class as well? He asked with a smiled tugging at the corners of his mouth. I laughed, grabbing my back and waiting for him to grab his before we exited the art room.

“I will, but only if you want me too.” I looked at him, hoping that he wouldn’t object to the idea. He seemed pretty alright when I sit next to him, I won’t bother him if it seems like I’m getting on his nerves.

I don’t know what it is; I just want to be close to him, whenever possible.

And it’s just that small little fact that makes me nervous. I don’t know where the feelings and urges like that are coming from, and it scares me. All I know is that after lunch, something sparked in me, and I can’t quite understand what it is.

He nodded as I led him to the science room and we found ourselves seated in the back of the room, far away from whatever insanity is bound to happen in this class.

“Hello and a good afternoon class.” Mr. Cole greeted as he cleared his throat and the bell rang. His eyes scanned over the class, looking at very individual and then me just came back to general attention of the class.

He started class off by telling us a little bit about himself. For instance, he’s in his mid-thirties, has been married for six years and has a son that’s eight and a daughter that just turned four a couple days ago. And for some reason, when he described his youngest child with just a gentle smile, I could imagine a little red headed girl with long curly locks and big hazel eyes just bouncing up and down next to her dad as he just strolled along, enjoying her silly company.

Is Mr. Cole a red head? Oh, well of course not. He what I guess you could consider, ‘attractive’, but I’d like to think that was just among the female population, not the gay male population, because he just, didn’t seem like he fit the bill. Mr. Cole looked as if he was the popular surfer guy in high school, short blond hair and nice sun kissed skin and a broad build. He held a strong facial structure and had cloudy and mysterious hazel eyes.

If I was a girl, I’m pretty sure I’d occasionally fan-girl over him, but nothing like I would the history teacher, Mr. Grant. Now, that was a man that I found undoubtedly attractive. But, I’ll be nice and leave him to the female population.

Mr. Cole then passed out a contract to all of us. Something that made us promise to follow rules and allowed us to conduct experiments of every kind in class. We had to read it, sign it and then have a parent sign it.

He then explained the main points of our learning this year. It was really boring and basically the same as every class today. I found myself sighing, glad that this was the last class of the day and I could go home, do my homework and then wait for my mom to cook an amazing meal so I can eat whatever stress I have away and laugh because I don’t get fat and everyone else does.

“I want you and the person you sit by to become best friends, because a lot of projects that require partners will be important parts of your grade.” He told us, maneuvering his way around the room as most teachers do as they lose themselves in the role they play in a teenager’s life. “To start that off, I want you and your partner to think on a reaction. I need to approve it, therefore you need to know by tomorrow, and the following day I will need you to demonstrate said reaction to the class. Understood?” The class nodded and made noises of understanding although most of the noises sounded very unintelligent.

I didn’t notice I was smiling like a goon until Mr. Cole passed me, giving me a strange look as he did. I wiped the grin off my face immediately after he walked away and continued with whatever he was talking about.

I couldn’t help my excitement.

I loved reactions, especially the dangerous ones that could possibly make me explode as well as the chemicals that were effectively mixed together. It used to be something I just randomly did in my free time. I’ve always loved doing this type of stuff, which is particularly the reason that science is by far my best subject.

With just shy of ten minutes of class Mr. Cole let us loose to talk about our project with our partners.

Are you any good at this kind of stuff? I felt the cool metal of the spirals on his notebook touch my hand, bringing me out of whatever thoughts I was just having. I nodded at him, smiling.

“Best subject.” I replied smugly. He rolled his eyes at me and I laughed.

Good, cause I’m not good at anything that has to do with this subject. He admitted, not looking at me as his pushed the paper my way. I shrugged.

“Don’t worry; I’ll help you out where you need help.” I assured him. He smiled at me and I smiled back.

I studied his smile and thought back to what Raymond told me in English. Luka wasn’t even that bad of a guy. Sure he seemed to be an asshole, but he wasn’t, and not a lot of people are gonna know because they are so, cliquey and simple minded. Just like those people who protest gay marriage because it’s ‘wrong’ or ‘disgusting’ or ‘sinful’. Those people just are too straight minded to open up to change.

I bet that Ashley girl was just being the annoying bitch she is and he rightfully cussed her out because he didn’t want to be bothered with her shit. And since she just seemingly innocently went to her little minions, and told them otherwise, they’re going to beat him up? What shit is that?

I sudden jolt of aggressiveness shot through me and as I thought about the little word going around, I got mad. Just the thought of someone hurting Luka because of something so trivial pissed me off.

Just at that moment the bell rang, startling me seeing as I’d been so deep in thought. I looked at Luka and grabbed his notebook before he could put it away. I opened to a blank page and scribbled my information on it, telling him to shoot me a message on Facebook and let me know when would be a good time to work on the project. He nodded and took the book away from me. I looked at the clock, and I needed to go.

“I have to catch the bus, but don’t forget to add and message me.” I said as I walked out of the classroom. Just before I left I made sure he heard me. He smiled and waved me off, assuring me that he’d remember.

I opened the door to my house and my nose was met with a variety of scents. There was chocolate and vanilla and my favorite, caramel. I kicked off my shoes and wandered into the kitchen where I knew this magic was happening. I found my mom leaning over a bowl of some kind of mix. She had her ear phones in and her music was blasting, singing occasionally to the current song.

I watched in amusement as she danced around the island and took a cake pan out of the cabinet, totally oblivious to my presence.

I snuck up behind her and swiped some batter out of the bowl with my finger. I licked my finger as she spun around and held up the floured rolling pin. Her face a mixture of irritation, anger and shock, but she sighed when she saw that it was just me. She plucked her headphones of her ears and gave me a hard look and I looked back at her innocently as if I did nothing wrong.

“You know how I feel about people sneaking up on me.” She said coldly, turning back to her cake mix. I shrugged.

“You left yourself open.” I countered. She snickered and looked back at me.

“I shouldn’t have to be guarded in the comfort of my own home.” She said and carefully poured the batter into the flowered pan. I rolled my eyes.

“Anyway, so what are all the sweets for?” I asked changing the subject seeing as it was pointless now. She placed the cake into the oven and set the timer. I looked around and saw plenty of cakes already made and frosted, why in the world did she need so many? We were going to get fat if we ate them all.

“There is a new family that moved in a few doors down. So I’m throwing a neighborhood party to make them feel welcome.” She said. “Oh, speaking of that, Evan honey, will you deliver the invitations?” She asked. I sighed; it wasn’t like I had anything else better to do, other than homework, but that could wait, it wasn’t that much.

“Sure mom, so the whole neighborhood is going to be at our house, when?” I asked as she handed me the cream envelopes with cards in them.

“Friday afternoon.” She cheered. I didn’t understand her fascination with large crowds of people. I liked to keep my friend circle at a fairly small size so I can keep track of all of them.

“Okay, uh, does each card have a specific destination?” I asked.

“The addresses are on the front. Have fun!” She said cheerily as she plugged her ear buds back into her ears and continued with dancing around the kitchen.

I rolled my eyes and turned back to the door, shoving my feet back into my shoes and flipping through the invitations. I dropped my back by the door and left the house, making sure I closed the door and hoped no one would try to mug my house while my mom was obviously in her own world of music and sweets.

It was about five o’clock when I was standing in front of the last house, invitation in my hand and legs making my way up the driveway. It was a cute house, with pots of red and white small flowers sitting on either side of the porch. A brand new ‘welcome’ mat greeted me as I rang the doorbell.

The door almost immediately swung open and I looked up into shocked eyes and I opened my mouth to speak, but I had nothing to say. I dunno if my day had just gotten better or what, but I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face while Luka stared down at me with complete and utter shock and confusion.