Chapter Eight
•Sang•
The bell rings and I'm scooping up my bag, pushing back my chair and standing. I would fly out of the classroom so I can get to my next class but a brick wall stands in my path as he lazily picks up his bag.
My eyes move up his muscular chest until my eyes are meeting his dark brown ones. North arches an eyebrow, as if he's waiting for something. I don't what though so I just awkwardly stand there trying not to stare to much at the beauty that is his face.
A gruff stubble is on his jaw, only a small amount, but enough to shadow it and make him look older then his sixteen, seventeen years. His brows are thick and dark, matching the shade of his hair and his eyelashes are so long that girls who wear glue on eyelashes would be jealous.
Why is it guys always get perfectly long natural eyelashes?
I'm not jealous over his eyelashes, not a bit. But it's still one of those things girls would die for. I then make a mental note to get a picture of those eyes when I next get a chance.
He shoulders his bag and steps back so his back is pressing against the wall. His hand waves out in front of him gesturing for me to go first. I try not to narrow my eyes but the twitch of his lips tells me I'm failing.
I look at Luke when a snort comes from his direction. His head is bowed, loose strands of his wavy blonde hair falling from the pony tail he had at the nape of his neck. His shoulders shake with his silent laughter and I will him too look up so I can see his face.
He must hear my silent plea as he looks up. A grin that shows his teeth is stretching across his face and his light brown eyes are twinkling and dancing with amusement. His eyes find mine. "I'd take that offer of going first if I was you, North isn't ever a gentleman."
"Like you ever are dipshit." North growls and I move my eyes back to him. He's glaring at Luke but the moment he feels my eyes on him his own eyes come back to me, softening instantly. "Go ahead." He says, waving his hand again.
I send him a small smile of thanks before passing him. The space is small but big enough for me. My chest still lightly brushes his and I hear him suck in a sharp breath. My face flushes as my body becomes extremely aware of him; the closeness of his body against mine, the one breath I felt leave him in a woosh against my head and the addicting scent of musk and car grease.
When I'm past him, I don't look back. I just get the hell out of there and go in search for my next class. I come to a stop and look down at my sheet of paper with my schedule on it, looking down to find the room number when a voice from behind me has me spinning around. "Good morning, Miss Sang."
My hand goes to my chest to calm my beating heart as my eyes meet a pair of amused green ones. My shoulders sag and I smile at Dr Green. I raise my hand and use sign language. "Good morning, Dr Green."
"Shall I show you to your next class?" He asks and I nod my head, a grateful smile on my face. "C'mon, it's just down the hall."
I fall into step beside him as he leads the way. With him to my left and the lockers to my right, I avoid getting knocked into by the other students as they too make their way to class.
"How has your week been?" He asks.
I shrug a shoulder and his eyes move to my hand. "It's been okay. How was yours?"
"Ahh, the usual. Working at the hospital, being with friends." I tilt my head to the side. Wow, he's really a doctor, doctor, like a medical doctor. But he isn't old enough, surely?
And then his 'being with friends' comment registers in my head and I think back to the day I saw him, Mr Blackbourne and that group outside of the church. I want to ask him about it but I don't, instead I clench my fingers into a fist.
"I didn't get your number with that email." He asks and my eyes raise to meet his. I hadn't even realised I had dropped them from his eyes to take in my surroundings. "You know, to put on school records." He sends a wink my way as we come to a stop outside of my next class. Is he flirting with me? My face flushes at the thought. "I'll see you this afternoon, Miss Sang. Email, or text, if you have any problems."
And with that he continues on down the hall but not before flashing me one more smile that causes my heart to skip a beat. I watch him disappear into the crowd until I can no longer see him.
Am I crushing on my teacher?
I shake my head at the ridiculous thought. And the thought of him flirting with me? I'm boring, I'm no one. Why would he even be interested in a girl like me, someone who won't speak because the death of her mother took away the desire to do so?
I make my way into the classroom and take a seat. It's in the back again but on the middle row as a bag already lays on the table behind me but I don't see its owner so I wonder for a second if it was left behind.
As I'm pulling out my seat I look up and around the classroom, trying to find the owner. My eyes land on Luke as he talks to the teacher, nodding his head. A silly part of me hopes that it's his bag on the seat behind me.
I sit down and remove my notebook. My fingers brush my camera, a longing inside me wanting it close. I pull my hand from my bag with a sigh, jumping when a loud "Oy," fills the room and bounces off the walls. "What the fuck you doing, Luke?"
I look in the direction of the door, almost falling out of my seat when I see another two boys from that group standing just inside the classroom, their eyes on Luke.
"I'm telling Ms. Johnson that I forgot my text book, Gabriel." Luke tells him before looking back to the teacher, Ms. Johnson, a pretty short lady. "Sorry again, Miss."
"Please don't forget it tomorrow." Is all she says, dismissing him. Luke turns and rolls his eyes. I look down at my desk with a real genuine amused smile tickling the curves of my lips. "And none of that language in my class Mr..."
She waits and I tilt my head to the side and peak through my hair at the boys that still stand in the same spot with Luke now by their sides. "Gabriel Coleman."
Gabriel Coleman. It's a nice name, I like it. Gabriel is the boy with the two blonde strands of hair around his face and the three piercings going up his ears. Today he's wearing baby blue studs that match his eyes. He has on a bright orange button down shirt with a baby blue tie; it's a strange contrast but somehow he makes it work. His shirt is tucked into a pair of light blue jeans.
"I don't do foul language in my classroom, Mr Coleman so please do keep it to yourself."
"Sure thing, Miss," Gabriel grumbles, his eyes moving around the room, going past me but immediately coming back to me. I drop my eyes to desk once again. "Where are we sitting Luke?"
"My bag is on..." Luke trails of and the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention, a sign that eyes are on me.
I tense when chairs around me scrape across the wood floor. The air shifts as bodies move and settle down into seats and I inhale deeply. Luke's warm vanilla hits me, this time though it's mixed in with the smell of spice and orange; like a honest to god orange, the ones you peel and eat. It's different and I find myself lifting my head and looking towards the source, meeting Gabriel Coleman's baby blue eyes.
"Hello." He says, a smile on his beautiful face. It's a face that's still kind of boyish yet you can see the man coming out in him. It's probably the eyes; they're an outstanding baby blue, almost childlike, the eyes you see on newborn babies when they're first born. They're different but they're him because he's different, not like other boys. "What's your name, gorgeous?"
I blink. And I blink again. I push my glasses up my nose, still blinking. If it wasn't for the fact he was looking straight at me I would have thought he was talking to someone else. Did he just call me 'gorgeous'? I tuck my hair behind my ear, shifting in my seat. I'm being noticed and I'm not sure if I like it or not. Without thought, I sign to him but when he frowns, watching my hand I realise that he doesn't know sign language and I feel like a fool.
"What did she say? Kota, Luke?" Gabriel asks.
"She said her name is Sang." The boy in front of me says and I turn my startled eyes to him, not even realising he had been watching me. My eyes lock into his emerald green ones, framed by glasses much like my own and Mr Blackbourne's. His hair is combed back and a small gentle smile is on his lips.
He's handsome, in a geeky kind of way, something I had noticed in the photos but seeing him up close, face to face, the pictures once again not doing these boys any justice. They're all handsome and I'm way out of my league right now but they're paying attention to me, something I try and hide away from.
I don't want attention. I don't want to be noticed. But from these boys I find myself wanting it more and more as each one of them speak with me.
"I'm Dakota Lee, but friends call me Kota; it's nice to meet you, Sang."
I smile at his unusual name. Ms Johnson introduces herself to the class and starts the lesson. I pick up my pen and doodle on a blank page in my notebook as I listen to her speak.
A nudge to my arm has me looking over at Gabriel. He slides a sheet of paper towards me and I frown, sliding it from his desk to mine and open up the folded in half sheet of line paper. I read his words with butterflies fluttering around in my stomach all because this is my first note, ever. His hand writing is beautifully neat and tidy for a boy.
I like your hair.
And those glasses are so fake.
Get rid of them.
Gabe x
My heart flutters when I see the kiss. And how does he know my glasses are fake?. I can't help but pick up my pen and write a reply.
I like your hair, too.
Who said my glasses were fake?
They're staying, fake or not.
S <3
I fold it back up and send it to him before I can change my mind of doing so. When he reads it and slips the note into the pocket of his jeans, the only thing I can hear is the thumping of my heart as I wonder what I did wrong not to get a reply.
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•Luke•
I lean forward on my desk and pick up a strand of Sang's ridiculously long but beautiful and shiny hair. Her shoulders tense but she doesn't move to stop me as I start twirling the strand around my finger.
Gabriel looks over his shoulder at me and smirks, shaking his head before going back to whatever it is he's drawing in his notebook. Kota, the good boy he is, listens to Ms Johnson intently, absorbing every word she says even if he knows what she's teaching already.
Hell, we all do. We're taking classes we took back when we were thirteen. Thanks to the academy we were able to finish school by the age of fourteen. Since then we've been doing missions to take up our time but Mr B has been on at us about finally getting some sort of degree like the Doc did.
The Academy can get us through four years of college within two. I know North is thinking of Mechanics and Gabe is thinking of Fashion and Design. As for me, I don't know. One moment I think I want to do cooking and then the next I want to help kids with problems; blindness, deaf and speaking issues.
The reason I'm leaning towards the second one is because of North. When he first arrived here he wouldn't speak to me. At first I thought it was because he was deaf but I was wrong. My brother could here a pin drop, his hearing is that good. Turned out North was adjusting to change but at the time I thought he was deaf. I asked Kota to teach me sign language and I really enjoyed doing it. It's a handy thing to know.
Especially now, with her sitting inches away from me. I saw her sign to Kota and I remember Doc saying that she only knows the alphabet. I want to teach her more, teach her what I know so her life can be a little more simple. Sure, not everyone knows sign language but some people do and when it comes to having a conversation you won't need to just focus on her hand as she used the alphabet to sign out what she wants to say.
I mean, what it if it was a really long question or something? It would take her ages to get there.
"Sit forward." I whisper into Sang's ear. Her head turns to look at me but she does as I ask. I scoop her long blonde hair into my hands and put it on the desk as I say, "Sit back." She does and relaxes back into her seat.
I gather her hair in my hands and start braiding it. She has a lot of hair and I know Gabe is jealous just by the narrowed eye look he just sent my way that I completely ignored. He would love to get his hands on her hair and I know he's trying not to be too forward with her.
Once I finish the braid, I pull a spare elastic from my wrist and tie it off, throwing the length of the braid over her shoulder. She looks down at it, her fingers finding the tips and twisting them around her fingers. She turns in her seat and looks at me. She sends me a smile and it does this crazy thing to my heart.
I've never seen someone as beautiful as her in my life. Those innocent green eyes, her pale skin making the natural blush to her cheeks pretty and pink. The shape of her lips; a pale pink, soft looking, kissable.
I wink at her and that natural flush of hers brightens. She turns back in her seat to face the front and I remember the day outside the diner. No one knows this, but I saw her there, hiding behind the trees with her camera. I don't think she even noticed that I saw her there.
At first I had wondered what she was doing, why was she taking pictures of us again but later that night I broke into her house. Well, I didn't break in. She left her bedroom window open while she went and showered. I felt like a creep being in a girls bedroom uninvited but I wanted to know what she was doing taking pictures.
I got my answer when I saw all the scrap books piled onto her bed. There were so many, all labelled, I know I didn't have time to look through them all. But one caught my eye, more the title than anything: Boy kisses girl <3.
That's all it said on the front so I opened it up and inside were hundreds of pictures of different couples, kissing in different settings. There were details of where the kiss was taken place, what time and what day along with the date. Sometimes there were names to the couples but most of the time they were left blank. I realized then she was a people watcher, photographing a moment between two people.
I had to leave though when I heard movement from the bathroom across the hall to her room. I got the hell out of there and I've been desperate to go back so I can look at some more. Sang has a real talent when it comes to the camera; she captures the moment at the perfect time and I'm intrigued to know what other photos she has.
Maybe I should tell my brothers so they stop worrying about her taking photos but I can't bring myself to do so. This is something I've learned myself and I want to know more before telling them.
I just want to know more about her full stop.