Strings Attached

~Chapter 11~

I have to give it to him though, that girl's an awesome looking chick. She looks like a Russian model straight out of a magazine, sans their tall and shapely figure. She is tall, but she's too skinny. And with baggy clothes and non-existent makeup, she's distorted the picture perfectness of her face.

After looking at her for half a minute, I don't really find anything interesting in her and look away. Now that I realize, everyone's been staring at her. Especially the boys. Poor girl! She looks scared, almost on the verge of crying. And sensing that, the two friends beside her take each of her hands firmly in theirs and walk off towards the fourth bench in the last row, at the far end of the class. Only then do people get the message.

I feel my eyes following the movements of the girl clutching the left hand of the new arrival. I'm wondering what's going on in her mind when she raises her head, turns it sideways and looks straight into my eyes. I can't describe the feeling that erupts in my stomach, but I feel dizzy. And not losing the chance, I throw a teasing wink at her. Almost at the same time, Poulomi looks at me, and acknowledging me, she waves to me in greeting. And I see Hidayah Ali's eyes grow larger in astonishment from where I'm stood.

"I'm gonna go sit near her," Seth announces resolutely, shouldering his bag and marching on the same route that the three girls took earlier. And needless to say, I follow behind him, ever ready to be around her, within teasing distance!

Chuck hasn't come to class yet, or he would've jumped straight towards the shorty. I won't tell him though; it'd be a cruelty to Poulomi. She genuinely seems reluctant to be confronted by him. I understand her. Chuck can be really threatening sometimes. And talking about the devil, he enters, or rather tumbles into the class fighting with some guy from Richie Rich's gang as everyone scrambles to separate the two from each other. Rich's cronies are pathetic, really!

We throw them a look, raise our eyebrows and without doing anything, we turn our backs on them. Fighting like cats. No elegance, I tell you! Our group has a policy of everyone fighting their own battles. When it gets out of hand, only then do we intervene. And it's a sight to behold. Hence, our 'bored' reaction. Chuck had to go pick a fight with that louse! He's losing his charisma.

Finally, me and Seth take our seats right behind the three girls, as Harte and Tyler sit behind us. Seth is immediately lost to the dream world, probably someplace where clouds are heart-shaped. Outrageous! Love-struck fool that he is, he can imagine the silliest things.

I don't care for these things. Love is for the lower IQ people, for fools. Those who don't have control over their minds. They let their mind wander, and it attaches itself to the first thing it finds attractive. My life is meant to be lived 'my way' only. And to me, my comfort matters the most. And I do just that.

To get myself comfortable, I lie back. And linking my hands behind my head, I stretch my feet forward, placing them at the back of Hidayah's chair, with shoes and all, now completely at my ease. The dirt on the soles of my shoes licks her headscarf and sensing someone behind her, she jumps up in fright. I let out a loud chuckle. "Sorry, I scared ya," I tell her, still grinning. When it comes to her, I'm never sorry.

The moment she sees it's me, she pulls her chair forward, forcing me to let my feet down onto the ground once again. Such a comfort killer! I've thrown so many of my signature grins at her, I'm amazed she hasn't melted yet. I wanna pull my chair closer to her, but Poulomi warns me not to with a glare and I let it go for a while.