cole & evangeline

06 - a hidden meaning

Eva decided that she liked Ms. Atterbury. Her teacher was upbeat, lively, loud, and interesting.

Instead of going through the standard procedure of passing out a syllabus and going over class rules (which, frankly, would not make it any easier for Eva to bear with her never-ending cramps), Ms. Atterbury spent the first half of class getting to know her students, inquiring about their hobbies, their interests-and most notably-, their dreams ("No, I'm not asking what your parents want from you, I'm asking what is it that you want. What do you want for yourself?"). Evangeline was surprised when, for the first time in her life, an adult asked her about what she wanted in life, what she wanted for her future.

Evangeline saw Ms. Atterbury becoming, in the foreseeable future, a close confidante. Her teacher talked as if she came from a life of bustling streets, friendly handshakes, confrontations with friends or foes, and mostly importantly-a life full of noise. Eva surprised herself. It was fascinating how easily human connections formed. They already seemed to have so much in common. However, where Ms. Atterbury had already experienced city life and the traversing of the world, Evangeline only had read about it, dreamt about it.

Through her teacher's self-introduction to the class, Evangeline discovered that Ms. Atterbury was not only a new face in the school, but also in the town. With no prior connections to New Melrose, Ms. Atterbury was as blank of a slate as a page you would find on a procrastinator's Word document one hour before a deadline. Naturally, that made her all the more interesting to Eva. I ought to stop by her class during break, Eva considered, making a mental note.

While Ms. Atterbury told the class about her impressions of New Melrose, Evangeline began to sense a repetitive movement from the corner of her eye. Turning her head, she saw Trevor bouncing his leg up and down. It seemed that not everyone was as entranced by Ms. Atterbury's story as she was. Can't wait to get out of class, huh? Evangeline thought, a little disappointed.

A laugh from one of her classmates shook her out of her thoughts. Not even a minute after, the school bell announced the end of the period, ringing in its authoritative tone. Eva began collecting her things, stuffing them haphazardly in her backpack. Her cramps couldn't stand her sitting position any longer. She resolved to figure out a way to organize her bag later.

Eva, slightly clutching her stomach, made to get out of the room as quickly as possible, hoping to snag Amelia before they had to go their separate ways again.

Before she could reach the door though, she felt a slight tug on her backpack. It made her momentarily off-balance, her feet sliding slightly across the floor. Panicking, Eva reach out to grip something to stabilize herself. Unfortunately for her, the closest thing she could grasp was the shoulder of a passing student. With a rough yank, the unassuming student was slightly taken aback, and proceeded to look back at Eva in slight confusion, then irritation. Muttering something incoherent, they walked away quickly. Great, now I've managed to piss off someone not even halfway through the day. Eva's face warmed in guilt as a silent apology fell from her lips.

Evangeline remembered the now-lopsided weight of her backpack. Ah, right, who pulled me?

A panicked voice sounded from behind her. "Oh fuck, didn't mean for you to lose your balance."

Eva whipped her head around, finding the perpetrator to be the beach-blond guy from earlier. Of course, who else would it be? "Ah... Trevor. What do you want?"

His eyes roamed over her face, then flickered downwards. After checking that she was unharmed (Eva presumed that was what he was doing), Trevor indicated the phone in his hand. "Mind if I get your number?"