The Boy in Blue

Chapter 14

The bell pierced through the crisp air, letting them know that time was up. Lei yanked Eden's head to the side, frantically tying the end result together.

Nikita finished her juice box and shoved it into her lunchbox, spectating the three girls.

"I don't think I have any hair left on my head. Lei's pulled it all out."

"No I didn't, you just have a soft head."

"OW"

Lei finished up and gave it one last tug for good measure. As the professional hair braider of the group, she was proud of the end result. Eden's hair, although a little wonky from the tugging, sufficed.

The four girls walked to their lockers, which was crowded with around 60 other students trying to get their things for the classes ahead. Eden ducked down to her ground locker, trying to casually hide herself from the people in front. Lei did the same, both of them staying crouched even after gathering their books.

The pair of them, whether for good or for bad, had been assigned lockers in front of the two people they had wanted to avoid for the rest of the school year, possibly even the rest of their lives.

Kash and Lucas walked away to their class together, talking between themselves.

Even though it had been months, the air around them was still cold.

It had taken Eden a long time to even be in the same vicinity as Lucas. She had abandoned their year groups lunch area out of fear of his presence.

Every time she caught a glimpse of him, she felt the same thing; the sharp stab of pain in her abdomen that never ceased to go away only heightened.

With her heart always heavy, all she could do to forget about what happened was to forget him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Biology was a mix of lab coats and chemicals, the class split into different groups to work on their experiments. Lei and Eden formed one team, Hanna and Nikita verging off onto their own.

It had been in her suspicions often. She didn't know how exactly. And she didn't know how long exactly.

But know, she did.

It had happened in the very same class they were both sat in. No longer was the old group together, for now Hong had switched classes, and her group sat in the front row. Lucas and Kash sat at the back on the other side, out of the girls' peripherals.

It had been a windy day, unusual for the heat that January had previously brang. As such, they had been happy to be inside the lab, shielded from the coarseness of the outside. Lei and Eden snickered to each other, pulling weird stunts as the teacher called out their names for roll call.

The teacher had been giving a lecture style analysis of the kidney when Eden had stopped paying attention. Lei was taking notes with sheer fear of the exam, Nikita and Hanna who were ahead of the class, taking other types of notes. Eden rested her head on her arm and looked around the classroom, thankful for her corner seat that fell away from the prying eyes of other classmates.

She skimmed over the different faces, all of which were either looking down at several papers or glancing at computer screens potentially hiding games. She attempted to skip over Lucas, yet she was drawn back in.

It had been a while since she had ever looked back at him. Intimidating as he now was, she couldn't help the feelings she still felt for him. They hadn't disappeared in the slightest, of which Lei had criticised her for.

Eden didn't understand it either.

She dared to glance at him for a few seconds more when she realised. His head was resting on his arm, the same as hers. Except instead of absorbing what the teacher was saying, he was captivated by something else.

Or perhaps someone else.

It was as clear as night and day. He was smitten. She could see it in his eyes, the same look that she had when she could once look at him freely.

It was one of admiration and want.

If only Lei could have seen it. Maybe then she would have believed Eden when she told her the signs of Lucas and Lei.

Of course, Lei was straight up blatant about the idea, her hatred for him at the time more than obvious.

"EDEN- I-"

"Just hear me out Lei-"

"GIRL don't you have feelings for him?!"

"I do...but-"

"No buts. If you think that limp noodle likes me then you need to get that checked out girl-"

"No. Lei. Listen to me."

"Eden, you listen to me. There is noooo way in hell. He doesn't like me at all, you saw how hard I kicked the ball at him the other day-"

"Okay but that was funny-"

"You're meant to be mad at him?"

"I thought we were avoiding them."

The locker room fell silent as the two girls stopped throwing out sentences. They both thought for a few seconds, before deciding to leave the subject amidst giggles.

"But I'm telling you Eden, no chance. I'm not looking to date, and if I was it wouldn't be him."

The two girls sauntered out of the locker room and made their way to the tuckshop. Although they had no appetite, it was a nice walk.