The first time she spoke to him was a week later. She’d been doodling aimlessly, again, on the uppermost corner of her opened notebook when there was a heavy thud in the seat next to her, alerting Eva of his presence.
There was a strong urge to sneak a glance at him, to take in the messy mop of dark hair and the rich almond eyes, but she resisted. Last time she’d been caught staring was in the corridors of the school during lunch and she’d ended up paying for it by Heather and her little group taking her lunch away.
“The teacher’s not here yet?” a deep voice sounded from next to her, almost making Eva jump right out of her seat in alarm.
She whipped her head to stare at the boy whose bored eyes were on her, awaiting a response.
“W-what?” she stuttered, blinking rapidly as if trying to come to terms with the fact that this boy was actually initiating a conversation with her. This boy with the messy dark hair and pretty almond eyes.
“The teacher,” he repeated, “did he come in and then leave to get something?”
Eva shook her head quickly, trying to be quick with her response. Wanting to satisfy. “No, he never showed.”
The boy snorted. “And the bastard nearly took my head off the other day for being late.”
How was Eva supposed to respond to this? Defend their teacher? Agree with this boy and say something mean too? She didn’t know what he’d like her to say so she shut up and just shrugged instead, hoping he wouldn’t see her wordless response as a sign of disrespect.
“So,” he leant back against his chair, raising the fronts legs off the floor slightly as his eyes watched her now. He was watching her. Paying attention to her. This boy with the messy dark hair and pretty almond eyes— he was watching Eva of all people like she was worth watching. And that made Eva feel funny all over. “What's your name?”
“My n-name?” she tripped over her own words, the shock and surprise of it all twisting her tongue and turning her mind into jelly.
“Yeah,” he replied coolly, “your name. Tell me.”
Eva inhaled. Eva exhaled. "Evelyn— Eva. It's Eva."
“Evelyn,” the boy smiled. “I like that.”
Eva managed to smile despite the wild hurricane in her stomach. "Eva's much better actually. I prefer Eva."
"Evelyn," he insisted. "I prefer that."
She nodded quickly, eager to please. "Of course. If that's what you like..." she shrugged, letting a tiny smile grace her face.
"You won't ask me for mine?" he raised a brow, his mouth lifted into an almost-smirk.
"Oh! Right— right, I'm sorry. It didn't occur— sorry, what is your name?"
"Vincent," he answered, letting his chair drop back to the floor with a loud bang, causing annoyed glances to be thrown his way. "The name's Vincent."
And despite herself, Eva found herself smiling at him in a shy, meek manner. And even more surprising, was that this boy was smiling back at her.
This boy with the messy dark hair and the pretty almond eyes— he was offering a smile of his own to Eva and she knew in her bones that she was going to lose herself in it, in all of it.
Truth was, she didn't know if she minded it all that much.
---
Eva couldn't stop Maite from screaming and squealing at the top of her lungs in the middle of the parking lot as students shot them incredulous looks.
"Maite," Eva hissed, her cheeks burning in pure mortification. "Shut it, will you?"
"What's going on?" Terrence casually asked as he stepped in beside Eva, his shoulder slightly brushing against hers. Eva took a step away to her right, cutting the contact off.
"She's actually leaving her batcave and coming out into the real world for once!" Maite gushed, clapping her hands in wild, uncontained excitement.
"What's a batcave?" "Do you mind elaborating?" both Eva and Terrence asked at the same time.
As Eva's question registered, however, both heads snapped to her in utter bewilderment. "You don't know what the batcave is?" Terrence asked, amusement and disbelief dancing in the simple blue of his eyes.
"Oh wow, I need actual humans for friends," Maite muttered, looking genuinely devastated.
Terrence slapped the back of her head lightly, causing Maite to shoot him a playful glare. "Don't be mean, Maite," he laughed. "Not everyone is a movie buff."
Maite just rolled her eyes and shoved him sideways lightly, fondness obvious in the way they interacted. And that troubled Eva.
Maite was her friend. Terrence was her friend. They were hers to keep; she didn't think she liked the idea of two of them being friends with each other though.
How could she ever be a part of them if they weren't solely hers?
"Don't we need to get going?" Eva interrupted, wanting to claw through the obviously affectionate blanket that was enveloping them.
"Where to? You haven't even answered my question yet!" Terrence looked at the two of them in a clueless manner.
Maite sighed, "My house, Terry—"
"Terry?" Eva blurted, eyes widening.
Maite turned away from the redhead to look at Eva, "yeah, Terry." She grinned. "Terrence is a mouthful for me, okay?" she laughed in that carefree, happy-go-lucky way of hers.
"What do you mean, a mouthful?" Terrence scoffed. "It's literally the easiest—"
"Anyways," Eva cut in, raising her voice to get their attention, "what Maite was saying was that I'm going to her place. To do Mr Quinn's project together."
"Oh," Terrence nodded, "right, well, I suppose the two of you better start leaving already then."
"Yeah, we're just waiting for— oh, speak of the devil. My mum's here!" Maite's hand wrapped around Eva's and she began dragging her to where a rose gold sedan pulled up. "Bye, Terry! We'll catch you later!"
Eva let herself be dragged away this time, relishing in the feeling of Maite wanting only her company and having her fingers wound around Eva's arm like she was staking a claim on her. Like Eva was hers and hers alone, the way Maite was Eva's. The way Terrence was Eva's. The way Benjie was Eva's.
And Eva didn't like sharing.
---
The entire twenty-two minutes' drive to Maite's house was, in Eva's perspective, torture.
If it was envy she felt when Maite and Terrence interacted, it was pure blind rage she felt in her unapologetic heart when her eyes drank in the way Maite and her mum did.
Eva could have had that— could have had this. The whole mother-and-daughter-against-the-world thing.
Eva should have had it. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair.
Right?
She seemed like a nice woman, this Maite's mum. But Eva still found her sneaking several glances at the vivacious woman, whose laugh was as airy and full of life as her daughter's. Unlike Eva.
What the hell was Eva thinking when she pleaded with Logan to let her go for the project? She'd told him how Mr Quinn would probably call to find out why she wasn't working with Maite and Logan had caved, seeming put off at the idea of having to communicate with one of her teachers. He hated the thought of Maite spending the day at the mansion even more, so Eva had no choice but to go to the other girl's house instead.
But all it took was this car ride to know she'd never belong. Not here, not with them. Eva's place was in the mansion, with Logan, with the ghost of her mother. Eva's place was with her sense of normal.
And watching both Maite and her mother sing along to the radio, she knew this wasn't her normal. It never had been, and never will be.
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Written on; 17th August 2017
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Thank you for sticking around till this far❤