Smile

His Eyes

The weekend passed slowly and Monday crawled to take it's place. The rest of the week went at the same pace, but at least it was peaceful to say the least. Ashton was at home recovering as well as his blonde bimbo. And although Chris and I weren't talking as much we weren't awkward like before. It wasn't until Tuesday the next week that anything really happened. Blondie was back and she was back with a vendetta to settle.

I was standing around with Ky, Euriah, Tank, and Reece, a moppy haired football player from our grade, when the bitch bumped into me. She turned and scowled and I nearly puked. Her nose was still black and blue and a tint of greenish yellow from when I broke it but now she had this large angry looking bump on the corner of her mouth.

"Bro, is that a herpe?", Reece pointed to the thing festering on her lip.

It twitched and I nearly fainted.

"No, you idiot", she spat. "It's a cold sore".

"Cold sore, my ass", Euriah mumbled.

"Whatever. I don't have time for you people", her eyes narrowed at me.

My blood heated up. "Say it again and I'll break your nose again", I was serious but then again I wasn't. There was no way I was letting any part of my body get within breathing distance of her.

Her face twisted into a snarl as she stomped away.

"That is so fucking nasty", Euriah shrieked wriggling around like a maniac. "I can't believe Chris talks to her".

I winced at his words but it went unnoticed. "Yeah, me either", I murmured, melancholy replacing the fury.

"I mean she's trash!", he continued. "I honestly thought he was gonna get with you".

Ky swatted the back of his head. Did Ky know how I felt about Chris? No, it would be impossible since I didn't even know how I felt. I shouldn't feel anything. Justin and I were seeing each other now, so there was no point in having any feelings toward Chris at all.

"What are you thinking about?", Justin said waving his hand in front of my face. After school he had popped up to help me with my homework but I had finished before he got here and now we were sitting on the couch watching Netflix.

"Nothing. Just sort of spacing", I lied. Really I had been thinking about Chris. It was so strange how quickly we had become friends and how, even quicker, we had stopped.

Justin pulled me onto his chest and we watched Family Guy for another hour.

"I gotta go", he said standing up and stretching.

"Mkay". I walked him to the door.

Leaning in he gave me a slight peck on the lips. "See you later, babe", and with that he was gone.

I went to sit down but there was a knock at the door. Groaning I went to answer it. My eyes bulged from their sockets. "Hey, Chris. What's up?", I asked trying to sound like I wasn't shocked he was here.

"Hey, can I come in?"

"Sure...", I stepped out of the way for him to get in.

Chris sat down on the couch and waited for me. I closed the door and taking a deep breath sat down. Why I felt so nervous, I don't know, but my face was on fire and I could feel my pulse at the base of my neck.

"I saw Justin leave", Chris blurted out randomly.

I nodded, "Yeah. We were watching Netflix".

Chris nodded slowly looking at the TV, "Oh".

"Yeah". We sat there in silence watching the next episode of Family Guy load. Jeez, it was taking forever! "So, how are you?", I asked the silence too much to bare.

"Good. Good... How about you?", he asked although he didn't sound very interested.

"Good". We were silent again.

This time Chris broke the silence. "Are you and Justin... together?", he looked up at me with something indescribable in his eyes. Oh those eyes. The eyes that reminded me so much of the ocean--the ocean that he was afraid of.

"We've been on a couple dates but we're not official or anything", I explained feeling the need to tell him that last part.

"Oh, okay", he paused looking down at his hands. "Are we... okay?".

I looked at him with wide eyes. His question had completely thrown me off guard. "Y-yeah. Of course". We were weren't we?

"It doesn't feel like we are".

My face fell, "I know".

"Why?", his eyes searched mine wildly searching for something.

"Look. I saw your messages to Ashley and I got pissed", I told him truthfully.

"All of them?", he asked in horror.

"Yeah", I paused trying to find the right words. "Am I really just a neighbor to you?", as much as I tried to hide it the hurt split through my voice.

He moved closer then hesitated settling back in his original spot. "No. You're my friend".

I laughed dryly, "Yeah. Friend". The word cut so deep I felt it scraping at my heart.

"That's not what I meant", he said realizing his mistake.

"Yes it is and it's fine. I'm with Justin anyway and you're with Ashley. It doesn't matter", I felt the tears start to surface but I was not going to let him see me cry. I stood up and walked to the door opening it. "You should go, I have things to do", I lied the words barely escaping my mouth.

Chris got up but I didn't dare look him in the eye. I was going to break any minute and I refused to do it in front of him and those eyes, those eyes, would snap me in half.