Chapter 7. Swimming in those eyes.

After dragging her friend off another new student, they hopped into the school bus.

"Oh, great," Leilani muttered after motioning to the occupied seats. "Where do we sit now?"

Adana scanned the seats before her eyes brushed over two empty seats at the extreme back row of the bus. "Hey, those look empty to me. Let's go."

"But—" Leilani wasn't given time to object before Adana started to pull her.

She later realized there was another occupant of the row of the seats. A boy who was taking more than his fair share of space occupied a seat with head angled downwards at the mobile in his hands.

Why did he seem so familiar? Adana shook her head to get rid of the thoughts. "Did you get the last part of the assignment?"

Arctic rims darkened when Leilani broke from her trance to give her a blank stare, "you didn't get the assignment?"

She didn't want to admit her absentminded state during the last thirty minutes of school but the assignment seemed to be important and she'd be damned if she missed it.

"Yes," she admitted and sank into her seat at the cold look.

Adana was coming to learn more about Leilani every day and today, she learned her friend took anything relating to her academics seriously.

"Yeah sure," she raised and dropped her shoulders in a shrug and reached into her backpack to hand her the textbook.

With Leilani out of the way, Adana caught the side profile of the boy beside them and a small slither of warmth slid into her spine.

Her lush brows drew together and her lips tipped downwards wondering when he had changed his clothes and why he was on the bus.

As if some force was at play, he turned to meet her puzzled gaze. His face remained blank but only for a second before stretching into an easy grin.

"Hey there," he greeted and her face heated when he pushed those locks aside to get a good look at her. "Is there something on my face?"

Adana opened her mouth but words refused to come forth and she clamped it shut.

His eyes dimmed but his body remained turned to her when Leilani raised herself, cutting the view of the girl off.

"Here," she handed the textbook to a shocked Adana. "Are you okay? You look like you just saw hell."

Ink black curls bounced when she shook her head. "Uh, no. It's nothing," she reassured her blinking rapidly. "I'm fine."

What was Storm doing sitting beside them? But that couldn't be him. Could it?

A Coconut patterned shirt over indigo sweats flashed through her mind. Yes! That was what he had worn today but the boy beside her now wore something similar but in lighter shades.

When they came off the bus, Lake stuffed his phone in his pocket and ran to catch up with the girl who had entranced him for a second before he had smiled to avoid an awkward stare down.

He messed about with his hair hoping desperately that they would hide his wavering confidence and fell in step with their pace.

"Hey, I never got your name," he started after clearing his throat. "I'm Lake, Lake Richards and you are?"

She threw him a glance from beneath her lashes, "I'm Adana."

A smile graced his features when she didn't turn him down. He tended to be bad with girls. Storm was the ideal ladies man but him, he would quake in his boots if a girl so much as looked his way, and yet, here he was, talking to a girl. Not just any girl but the most attractive creature he had ever laid his eyes on in his whole seventeen years of existence.

"I'm assuming you've met my carbon copy, Storm," he continued. "But I promise we're nothing alike."

Her brows met her hairline and he rushed to amend his statement, "I mean, uh, sure we're physically the same but in terms of character, we're nothing alike."

A musical chuckle escaped her lips at his babbling and he inhaled deeply, wanting to hear more of the enchanting sound.

She shook her head. He was the first boy she had heard babbling. During the numerous whipping sessions, her mother had told her babbling was for empty-headed women with no ambitions.

At the thoughts of her mother, her demeanor changed and the boy beside her took note, "are you okay?" He inquired drinking in the sight of her breathtaking face which now held a hint of bitterness. "I'm sorry if I upset you. I didn't mean to. I—"

"No," she tried to smile but she couldn't manage the gesture. "It's not you. I just zoned out. That's all."

He wasn't convinced but nodded, "hey did you hear that phone ringing?"

Leilani who had stepped behind to give them some privacy, reached into her jeans at the same time with Adana, both oblivious to his plan, and brought out their phones to check if their phones were ringing.

"That's strange," Adana voiced and turned to the girl behind them. "Was it yours?"

Her friend responded with a small shake of her head. With her head tipped upwards due to their glaring height differences, she searched his straight face, "maybe it was yours?"

The mischievous smirk which appeared on his face made her eyes narrow. Quick, while her hand had reduced its hold on her phone, he snatched it and started inputting numbers.

Her mouth formed an oval shape in the perfect picture of surprise, "what are you doing Lakey boy?" She all but screeched already on her toes because he raised the phone above his head, where she couldn't reach but it didn't stop her from trying.

"Relax Ada," he grunted with his fingers still pushing buttons on the mobile above his head. "Okay, now you have my number."

In the process of lowering his hand, his fingers brushed over the side of her gifted bosom and her eyes widened while his ears burned.

They paused, still in that position and he got the first look of her eyes up close with their noses touching. Those eyes the brightest shade of brown he had ever seen. He could swim in them all day.

"Ehem," Leilani cleared her throat and they leaped apart, both with burning faces. "It was nice meeting you Lake but we gotta go now, bye."

Adana didn't object when she was the one being pulled this time. Still, in a daze, she managed to give a crimson faced Lake a shy wave of her fingers.

Still feeling flustered, he returned the gesture not caring about how silly he must've looked, stuffed his hands in his pockets, and started his walk home.