The Girl That Care Forgot ✓

26 • First Sight

Not when she had his name tied to hers. Not when he was always going to be a part of her.

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It was during the last period of that day that Eva first laid eyes on him.

She’d been sitting at the very back of the classroom, chewing on the cap of her ballpoint pen, when the door had swung open.

The teacher stopped explaining something mid-sentence and everybody turned to see who the interrupter was.

Eva thought the black hoodie he wore with red draw cords dangling down his neck looked very familiar. Wait… this was the same boy she’d run into the other day!

Her interest suddenly piqued, she focused her eyes on his physique, taking in the deeply set almond eyes and messy dark hair. He was quite tall too, and though Eva was a quiet girl, she wasn’t blind. Her eyes did notice his well-built frame and she felt her cheeks heat up due to it.

It wasn’t the first time she’d felt this way towards a guy— it wasn’t the first time she could appreciate a guy’s looks. But something about this one boy…

“You’re a whole ten minutes late,” the teacher muttered with disdain, eyeing the boy like he was a dirty rag.

“And?” the guy asked nonchalantly, looking bored out of his mind.

A few of the students chuckled and Eva herself had to bite down on her lips to stop the smile. Something about his devil-may-care manner seemed to capture all her attention.

The teacher just let out a deep sigh. “Since this is your first day here, I’m going to let it slip,” he said firmly. “But try this again, and you’ll find yourself in detention.”

The boy just rolled his eyes and strolled in as if he was taking a walk in the park. He commanded the attention of every single student in the room, and Eva seemed to like that. The way he was a natural at being domineering. At being powerful.

The boy’s eyes landed on the vacant seat next to her and for a brief second, he paused in his tracks and his eyes landed on hers. Eva’s breathing faltered. Her heartbeats quickened.

He tore his gaze away and began walking towards her, dropping his bag on the ground right beside the desk as he seated himself.

Eva stiffened at the unexpected turn of events, suddenly feeling all too self-conscious and overwhelmed that he was this close to her. She was used to being overlooked, but somehow, with this mysterious but intriguing boy sitting right next to her, she felt like she was going to be seen for the first time.

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When the final bell had rung and Eva was walking down the hallway that lead to the main doors of the school, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She whipped around, coming face-to-face with a familiar pair of pale blue eyes while at the same time her stomach coiled in discomfort at the gentleness of the gesture.

“Hey.” Terrence smiled, but it looked hesitant.

Eva knocked his hand off her shoulder and frowned at him. “What?”

He sighed, throwing her a sceptical look. “You can’t still be mad at me?”

She raised her chin and fixed him with a steely look.

He sighed again. “I miss being able to talk to you,” he said quietly. “I’m sorry if I pissed you off, it won’t happen again.”

Something inside Eva tightened painfully. He missed talking to her? Even though its been only three days?

Its been eight years; didn't her mother miss her?

“Why?” she asked suddenly. “All we do is fight. All the time.”

He smiled crookedly then, the left corner of his mouth raised higher than the right. “I miss those too. I don’t know why— maybe I’m an idiot.”

Eva’s lips twitched, but she pressed them together, not letting herself return his smile.

“You can’t say stupid stuff to me,” she said slowly, as if deeply thinking about this.

He nodded, “okay.”

“Or t-touch me,” she muttered, cheeks flaming, “like you did in class.” For a moment, she could recall his fingers slowly trailing down her cheek. It was so odd how soft Terrence was.

His cheeks seemed to turn a dark shade of pink and he looked away, not meeting her eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” he muttered, looking like he needed to be somewhere else.

“Okay then,” she said.

He turned back to meet her eyes, “okay what?”

She offered him a tiny smile now. “You can speak to me again.”

He grinned, “you mean we can be friends again.”

Eva didn’t say anything; she just shook her head to herself and started walking in the direction of the school doors.

Feeling like she was being watched, she lifted her head and found a pair of almond eyes on her.

The boy with the black hoodie was staring at her with a guarded look, as if there were a thousand things going through his head right then.

Eva felt her breathing stop for one long moment but then the boy turned away and walked out of the school, and her lungs began working again.

It seemed like this boy was going to be the death of her. But somehow that only drew her in more.

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Written on 21st July 2017
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