Eternity | Xavier Thorpe

Chapter Three

Lara was slightly disheartened when Xavier didn't show up to class and she was left to sit alone again.

She tried to maintain indifference to his whereabouts, but couldn't help looking around for him.

She almost smiled when he walked in several minutes after class had started and slumped down next to her. But she couldn't drop the facade that she didn't care about Xavier.

"What'd I miss?"

"We're learning about the carnivorous plant that lives the longest."

"The Nepenthes can live several decades with the right care," Thornhill said.

She continued to ramble on about how it captures unsuspecting insects and digests them using a thick liquid. Boring things that Lara didn't care for.

"Imagine living forever," Xavier said. "Must be amazing."

It was anything but amazing, in Lara's opinion, which was not a popular one. The other vampires at Nevermore loved being immortal, but none had been at the school for as long as she had.

Maybe the first few decades of life had been fun; she'd been infatuated with learning and was determined to read every book ever written. She had yet to accomplish that goal; more and more were getting published and even with endless time, she didn't have enough to stomach many more poorly written books.

She'd done other things too. Being immortal had its perks - nothing could kill her. Not even drugs. And she'd experimented with those. Lara was quite the party animal before that too became boring.

She drifted from hobby to hobby like a lonely boat rocking amongst the waves, lost at sea and sure to be turned over and sunken eventually.

Only, nothing could sink her.

Life became boring when you'd done all there was to do several times over. The thrill of it was gone. The excitement that came with waking up and knowing today was not going to be like the one before was gone because every day was the same now.

Lara could not imagine spending the rest of eternity like this - stultified with every waking breath.

"Nothing is meant to last forever," Lara replied. "It's not natural."

"Well, sure. But it's cool."

"It goes against Mother Nature." She continued. "Things that last forever disrupt the natural flow of the world. It is a gift to be blessed with the chance of living - to live forever is to spit on that gift." Another perk of living forever - she'd thought things through a million times.

Lara realized she'd gone overboard. Xavier was not immortal; he did not know how she lived. Lara sent him an apologetic glance. She found he was already staring at her, eyes soft and mouth turned into a frown. She hadn't meant to upset him.

"Xavier..."

"You talk as though you've contemplated all that. For a long time. You're not just talking about plants, are you?"

"Well, I've lived long enough to know what I'm talking about. Even if it was just about plants." She did not want to scare him and she knew that if she let him know about even an inkling of the thoughts that swam through her head on a daily basis, he would be scared away. She had grown fond of him over the last week; the last thing she wanted was for him to leave her now.

"I don't believe you." He murmured, taking out his notebook. "And I don't like to see you sad."

"I'm not-"

Xavier's pencil scratched at the pages. Several butterflies came to life with the pull of his fingers. They fluttered around Lara's head, their leaden wings brushing against her face.

"I express myself through my drawings." He explained. "Butterflies mean hope."

"They're lovely." She touched one and felt her heart sink when the wing dispersed beneath her finger.

"Yes, very lovely." Thornhill stood at their desk now, hands glued to her hips. "But now is not the time for bugs. It is time for plants." She clapped them between her hands one by one and just like that Lara was reminded why she found life so tedious.

And just like that all the hope Xavier held that he could save her faded.