Repaying Her Blood

Chapter four: Grey eyes

Marissa

"I still can't grasp onto the fact that you are gone and that you are never coming back."

"Want to tell me why Gracie hasn't met up with us at least once today?" Miles crossed his arms, staring holes into the side of my face.

We were in the middle of English when Miss Harrison announced that we were doing partner work. That time Miles and Gracie didn't leave me to go and find a partner for myself. Gracie decided to ignore us and befriend Elijah, one of the popular boys she spoke about. She really did want new friends after all.

"We may or may not have had an argument after I left to go look for her." I glanced sourly at the work we 'focused' on.

"You get into lots of arguments. What was different about this one and why wouldn't she even speak to me?" He asked me curiously with disappointment swirling in his blue eyes.

"She told me that she wanted other friends. Friends that took more risks than us." I shrugged, colouring in a random letter in the title of our poster.

"I take risks, don't I?" He tilted his head.

"Not educationally. She means like break the law." I rolled my eyes, sending subtle daggers her way. "Miles, do you think I've changed?"

"I would be lying if I said you haven't changed one bit." He nodded, tapping his chin with his black pen.

"In what way do you think I've changed?" I asked him, needing to know if Gracie was right.

He thought out his words carefully. "You used to be more like Gracie. Now you're more...mature I think."

"You think Gracie's immature." I snorted, my lips parting at his statement.

"I mean she isn't childish but she definitely doesn't choose her decisions with caution," he muttered. "It's what I like most about her though."

"Gracie said the same about me too," I drawled out, staring at the paper thoughtfully. "If you're both thinking it then..."

"It's not a bad thing, Marissa," he chirped.

"Thanks but I know that you're just trying to be nice." I sighed. "Maybe I have disappeared in some way. When I look back on how I used to be, I can kind of tell what Gracie and you mean. I miss the old me too."

"You just need someone to bring it out again," he told me, grabbing a purple coloured pencil.

"Like who? I have you and Gracie-" I stopped mid-sentence, "probably just you now. I really messed up, Miles. I said such horrible things to her yesterday."

"Hey, it'll be ok. She'll find her way back to us, Mar. Just you wait," he reassured me, looking at a bubbly Gracie who was in a deep conversation with Elijah.

"I wonder for how long though," I murmured, staring into Gracie's direction where she seemed more...elated than she ever did with us.

†

Opening my locker roughly, I rifled through it to collect one of my books that I had borrowed from the library. I had nothing else to do at home than read so today I was going to go home and finish up the last of my book. Its due date for the library was soon anyway.

I held the book closely to my chest as I strolled down the corridor. It was quite weird at five O'clock as school had finished two hours ago. Nobody but the teachers and a few other students who were finishing up homework were here.

Hearing my own footsteps whilst I walked down the corridors was unusual and beyond creepy. Each step was crisp but loud. The echoes from my shoes should have been part of some sinister scene in a horror film.

My footsteps stopped though when my eyes landed on a dark figure in a black hoodie with a brown bag in their hand. They were  texting on its phone whilst it leant against some lockers. I couldn't tell whether it was a boy or girl but whoever it was definitely could have joined my horror film.

Once their fingers stopped moving over their phone, they proceeded to shut it off and slip it into the front of their hoodie's pockets.

I watched from afar as they lifted up their hood to reveal a boy with a strong jawline. He had a stubble that suited him well and dark black hair that swept over his forehead.

Abruptly, his head turned my way and his eyes stared directly into my eyes. They had a grey tint to them, which would have had me running for the hills if the boy didn't walk off right afterwards.

I stood there for a few moments just memorising my brief encounter with the boy. His eyes were something alright. They were the slightest bit grey around the iris and a bit blue as well. It was a mixture of those two colours. It kind of reminded me of a steamy lake in the Scottish highlands.

Stepping out of my frozen composure, I ambled out of the school, imagining those haunting eyes again, again and again.