Looking to my left and then to my right, I step out into the empty street. I adjust the little white earbuds so that it plays the melody of The Fray at its maximum volume. I bob my head along to the beat as I step up on to the sidewalk. I walk a few paces before I hear a stick cracking under someone's weight behind me. I look back over my shoulder, but see no one. It must have been my imagination. I unplug the headphones and wrap them neatly before tossing them in my bag. I hear leaves rustling behind me. I whip around to face whoever is following me, but come up short again. I giggle at myself for being paranoid and turn around. My face comes into contact with a solid, firm, warm mass. The force of the collision knocks me backwards, but a hand reaches out to me, and grabs my upper arm balancing me before I have the chance to fall. I steady myself and the solid mass place it's other hand on my waist.
"Are you okay love?" His deep voice asks, in a husky accent. I look up at the mass and nod.
"I'm okay." I tell him.
"I didn't see you there, I really should watch where I'm going." He apologizes.
"No, no. That was totally my fault." I confess. His blue eyes look down at me with a twinge of curiosity. "I thought someone was following me, I wasn't really paying attention."
"A bit paranoid are ya? Nobody is gonna getcha all the way out here, except maybe a monster or two." He says with a smirk. "Where are ya headed?"
"School." I tell him. I do not know why I am telling him all this, the first thing my parents taught me was to never talk to strangers, no matter how appealing they were. "It's right around the corner." I lie.
He half smiles, "I just came from that corner love, there's no school there. As I remember it, the school is about six blocks away." He folds his arms across his broad chest. "Would you like for me to accompany you, so that no one can creep up in ya?"
"I should be okay."
Start walking. I smile and take a few steps past him.
"Thanks for the offer."
I turn my back on him and continue walking. In the blink of an eye, he is beside me, unplugging is headphones and walking at my pace.
"I insist." He says with a smirk. "I was just headed there myself."
"You go to school at Oakwood?" I ask him. I probably sounded more shocked than I meant to, but I have lived in Oakwood my whole life and not once have I seen him around. I would remember a face like his.
"I start today." He looks distant and suddenly closed off. Like he lives in an entirely different dimension.
"Homeschooled?" I try.
"Something like that." He says with a smirk. "How long have you lived here?"
"Uh, my whole life." I tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. He nods in response.
We walk in silence down the street before I hear another snapping noise. I turn around and look for the noise maker but see nothing.
"Are you okay?" His eyebrows have drawn together and he looks truly concerned.
"Yeah. Fine."
We approach the school with its overbearing, ugly green shrubs, it's trees looking more dead than alive and rusted bike racks resting against the dirty brick. I breathe in the musty air and relax my tense shoulders as the familiarity of the old building gives me a sense of safety. I look at him sideways and smile at his look of disgust as he stares at the school.
"Is something amusing?" He asks without looking away from the school.
"No, nothing." I giggle.
"Here." He reaches for my hand and with one fluid movement he scribbled something in the palm of my hand. He gives me that smirk that I have seen all morning. "In case the monsters come back." He winks and then walks away.
The beautiful boy walks towards the school, looking over his shoulder only once with his cocky smirk. I look down at the seven digits inked into my skin, shaking my head with a small smile I cannot get rid of.
"Who was that and where can I get one?" A nudge comes from the left.
"I don't know." I tell her. "I just met him."
"And you didn't discuss names?" Lila looks at me, disappointed. She reaches for my hand that I have casually placed in my pocket since her arrival. She grins from ear to ear at my faux tattoo. "No name, but a number? Gemma my girl!"
"Knock it off." I shove her lightly and walk across the quad towards the building.
I storm into our first class and throw myself down into the chair. My best friend backs into her chair and stares at me for a moment. She then looks to the doorway and sighs as she sees Lila enter the room.
"Seriously, already?" Mae asks. "What happened?"
"She needs to take a breath. I was only congratulating her on her gift from the gods." Lila says offensively as she takes her seat behind me.
"Gift?" Mae seems confused. "Gem, what is she talking about?"
"I ran into some guy on the way to school, well technically he ran into me." I tell her with a shrug. "Not a big deal."
"Well who was it?"
"We don't know. Some seriously hot guy, with no name. Only a flawless complexion, phone number, and gorgeous behind." Lila says with a satisfied smile.
I stare at her in disbelief. She does not even know him and here she is passing judgements and stereotyping him. I can see the gears moving in her head, I know what she's thinking and I wish I was oblivious to her thoughts.
"Don't look at me like that Gemma. And don't pretend like you didn't notice his amazing physique."
I shake my head at her and turn to face the front of the room when I see him. He is standing beside another man that has similar features and a just as charming smile. The two are talking about something, the older one says something funny because He throws his head back and laughs. He looks different in different clothes. More formal and less sweaty. Lila was right. I hate that she's right, but I had thought about it. He had the type of looks one only sees in the movies, or photoshopped magazines. He looks back a few rows at me and gives me the half smile, that I have been blessed with all morning. A blush creeps up my neck.
Mae leans in towards me, "is that him?"
My mouth is suddenly dry and my brain cannot form a single coherent thought. In fear that he will hear me make a fool of myself, I nod.
"Isn't he absolutely gorgeous?!" Lila whispers.
I watch him as he picks a seat in the front row. He places his forearms in the desk and leans back, looking over his shoulder slightly. He catches me watching him and grins. I immediately look away.
"Good morning." The man that walked in with him says. "My name is Decker Fursey and I will be your literature professor."
A few girls chuckle at his word choice. He smiles at them. I can practically feel Lila swooning behind me. The resemblance between Decker Fursey and Him is uncanny. I cannot help but think that they are related somehow.
"Can anyone tell me one of the many topics that contribute to the formation of literature?" He asks.
Nobody raises their hand, most of the students are on their phones, or intentionally looking straight down at their desks. I inhale and the exhale.
"Love." I try.
"Very good." He tells me. He gives me a small smile as if to say thank you and writes it down in the board behind him. "Any one else?"
"Conflict." He says.
"Grief." I add.
"Discrimination." He spits out.
"Hate."
"Revenge."
"Lust."
"Okay." Professor Decker Fursey stops the battle of dominance. "Can anyone else give me one?"
The silence in the room is deafening. "Alright, well that is enough for now. Next week we will be starting Romeo and Juliet, which talks about all of the words on the board. I am done for today, thank you."
"Who is he?" Lila drools.
"Decker Fursey, literature professor." I tell her with an undeniable amount of sarcasm.
"My father said something about them. The Fursey family. There are like five of them I think. Their dad is like a big shot at some company, after his wife died he dragged his kids with him wherever he went." Mae tells us.
"There are five holy gods!?" Lila sighs. "Oy vey!"
"Keep it in your pants will ya?" Mae begs.