II. First Sight

"It's when your eyes rested on mine, I knew eyes had their own vocabulary." Monika Chhetri ---- Chapter II – First Sight Cece and I then found out that we had the same English class. English was a breeze. I was worried I would be behind, but they were studying "To Kill a Mockingbird" and I had already read that at my old school. I collected the essay prompt and made a mental note to start it tonight. I didn't have plans. While I was jotting down ideas for the essay, Cece remarked, "As if you're starting already." I just smiled. Cece showed me to my Algebra classroom before she darted off to Gym. I liked math, as well. I was a strange specimen. I listened intently, trying to appear unaware that two girls behind me were speaking about me, or how the boy sitting next to me was trying to subtly look down my t-shirt. I 'accidentally' stabbed him with my pencil and that was that. Cece found me after Algebra, her face flushed and her hair damp after showering. I was taken aback by how pretty Cece was. Without a speck of makeup, her skin was clear and glowing. She looked bright and healthy. I was only grateful that I had managed to find that old concealer this morning or else people would be saying other things about me. Cece had changed into a cheer uniform, and I suddenly realised why she was so fit. Her flat and toned stomach was on show in the tight little number and I was a little envious. "I'm starving!" Cece cried as she bounced over to the lunch line in the cafeteria. I was, too, admittedly, though once again, all eyes were on me in this cafeteria. All three hundred pairs. Cece hadn't seemed to notice that the room had gone silent. I felt weird and self-conscious. This was too much attention for just the new girl in school. I dared to look up again, to try and appear as though I had an ounce of confidence, and I immediately found a pair of chocolate brown eyes. His stare was different. It wasn't one of curiosity or teenage lust like I had been experiencing from boys all day. His stare wasintense. As he looked at me, I felt everyone else in this cafeteria disappear. His eyes captured me and held my focus and I felt seen for the first time today. He wasn't just seeing me, he was seeing into me. How was this possible? With one look he had made me feel completely transparent. What kind of supernatural bullshit was this? "Sara?" Cece shook me. My gaze snapped away from his eyes and went onto Cece. "What?" I gasped. Cece smiled and furrowed her eyebrows. "I said, do you want pizza or lasagne?" "Oh, uh, pizza," I said breathlessly. Somehow we had moved up to the front of the line. A kindly looking lunch lady placed a piece of cheese pizza on my plate and placed it my tray. I hurriedly collected some fruit and a water and paid for my meal. To my surprise, Cece led me directly over to the table where the brown eyed boy was sitting. Boy really was a poor choice of words. He didn't look like he had been a boy in a long time. He either worked out a lot or was on steroids because I have never seen someone so large in my life. He was sitting down, but with the width of his shoulders, the length of his strong arms, and his legs that I could see underneath the table, I would wager that he was about six and a half feet tall. Every inch of him was taut, toned, and tanned. He looked a lot like Cece in that respect. And then, as I noticed the guys, and girls, that he was sitting with, they all looked as fit as each other. I paled in comparison. He hadn't stopped looking at me since I had first noticed him. He was completely ignoring the conversation on his table as we walked over. His eyes were beautiful. His face was beautiful. Was it weird to describe a man as beautiful? No other word seemed appropriate. His hair was the feature I noticed next. It was a russet brown colour, perfectly tousled and styled. The colour went impeccably with his olive skin. His skin was flawless, his jaw was strong and defined, and as we arrived at the table he smiled. My heart stopped. His smile only grew wider. It was like he knew. "Guys, this is Sara," introduced Cece. She sat down on the lap of another genetically blessed man and began to tuck into her pizza. I wagered he was Jamie. They held my attention momentarily. Jamie wrapped a large arm around Cece's waist and she nestled into his chest comfortably. He kissed her bare shoulder and she offered him a bite of her pizza. They were actually really sweet together. "Sara," Cece said once she had swallowed her pizza, "this is my boyfriend, Jamie." She gestured to the man behind her. "Liza," she pointed to a beautiful brunette who was also wearing a cheer uniform, "Zoey," a blonde in a cheer uniform, who, to my surprise, was glaring daggers at me, "Francesca," who was currently whispering something to Zoey that I couldn't hear, "Matt, Lucas, and my big brother, Shea." Shea. He was the one who was staring at me. The one who had not stopped staring at me. I felt nervous and vulnerable. I didn't like those feelings. Being seen so transparently by someone you don't know is something so completely foreign to me. I couldn't maintain eye contact with him. I felt like he could read my mind. He could hear how nervous and pathetic I was at having the attention of someone as beautiful as him. We sat next to each other, though I dared not look at him for the entirety of the lunch hour. Instead I answered question after question about my life in New York, and how I was settling into Providence High School. Shea didn't ask me any questions. He didn't speak. He just continued to stare. I knew because I could feel it, and the intensity of his gaze made me stumble on my words more times than I could count. Zoey was the only person on the table that didn't seem interested in getting to know me. In fact, she seemed seriously put out that I was there. Seeing as I had only been at the school for five minutes and hadn't had the chance to piss her off, I could only imagine that she had a pretty big crush on Shea, and was now realising that it wasn't reciprocated. What I didn't understand was my own feelings. How could this boy affect me so without even speaking a word to me? I thanked God silently when the bell rang and it was time to move on to my next class. I moved faster than I probably ever had before to return my tray and I flitted off to Gym. Apparently, someone in my Gym class did something to piss off the teacher last week, which meant the entire class was running laps for the hour. This gave me an awful lot of time to be alone with my thoughts. What was wrong with me? I had never particularly noticed boys back home. I wasn't blind. I could tell when they were cute, but I had no desire to be with them. But one look from Shea and I was damn putty. How did he have that power over me? Did I want him to have that power over me? "Hell no," I huffed on my third lap around. No sooner had I said the words, though, I looked up to see him leaning against the bleachers, watching me run. He was smiling, though his gaze was just as intense as ever. I gasped, my foot catching the other as I managed to do a clumsy pirouette before falling crash bang on my ass. I was so embarrassed. I seemed to have a sea of well-wishers though, who were by my side in seconds. Cece, Liza, and Francesca had even run over from their cheer practice to see if I was okay. Zoey remained behind. "I'm fine, I'm fine," I huffed as people tried to help me up. As I tried to get myself up though I realised just how hard I had landed on my tailbone. I think my ass was bruised. I winced in pain. All of a sudden, my well-wishers parted like the red sea and Shea strode through confidently, an amused smirk on his face. If I wasn't so bewitched by that damn smile I would have slapped it right off his face. "Something tells me you don't have a future career as a ballerina," he teased. I glared at him. That only made Shea laugh. "Are you okay?" he asked in all sincerity. "I'm fine," I said through gritted teeth, except for the fact that my coccyx was throbbing. He arched an eyebrow. He didn't believe me. He could see through me. "Alright everybody, leave her alone. She's okay." People scattered and Shea extended his hand out to me. Out of stubbornness I looked away. Shea chuckled. Before I could say anything, his hands were under my arms, lifting me to my feet in one smooth move, as if I didn't weigh a hundred and fifteen pounds. He took the breath out of me as I stared up at him. I had been right, six and a half feet tall at least. As he looked down at me though, all humour left him, and all stubbornness left me. My breath caught in my throat. I could see in the intensity of his gaze that he wasn't breathing either. Holy crap. What was happening to me? Was he going to kiss me? Did I want him to kiss me? In all this flustering madness, I was certain that I did want him to. But that surely couldn't be a good idea. "I'm sweaty," I said shakily. Why did I just say that? I slapped my forehead in embarrassment. Shea cracked. He started to laugh again at my expense. "I meant that I need to finish my laps and shower and …" Oh, just shut up, Sara. I sprinted away from Shea, still hearing him laughing behind me. In and amongst the pool of shame I found myself swimming in, I still felt so strangely towards Shea, as if there was something undeniably strong pulling me towards him. What was even scarier, was that I felt like I was powerless to stop it. I just didn't understand what it was.