The Boy in Black

T W E N T Y - F I V E

Her name is Tabitha. Her name meant beauty and grace, and that is exactly what she was; graceful and beautiful. So beautiful, in fact, that her young daughter sometimes looked up at her smiling face and knew that God had spent extra time on her.

She thought that about Tabitha around age five. Because that was when she was normal, calm. Back when the house was full of music and laughter and the smell of fresh baked pies, back when everyone and everything was happy.

  And then one day it all stopped. The music, the pies, the laughter, it all washed away along with Tabitha's love for the world. And lastly, when her daughter had finally realized that the disease of depression had sunk it's teeth into her mother, the color in her own life had begun to turn into one: to black.

Those were almost the color of Jaxson's eyes as he watched Tim talk to Mattie. They were still partners in the English project that he had forgotten, and he was still partnered with that redhead with the long eyelashes and thin lips. She walked to him nervously.

"Hey Jaxson." She squeaked, coughing afterward in an attempt to cover it up.

"Hey." He replied dryly, not moving his gaze from the way Tim was smiling at his girl. He probably had a perfect life, he thought.

"I think we only have a day or two left," she hesitated. And he just then remembered that her name was Christy. "We should try to finish today, ten minutes should be enough."

Jaxson huffed in reply and forced his thirsty eyes away from Mattie's lips. "Then do it." He stated coldly, rolling his eyes afterward before putting his arms behind his head. His muscles visibly flexed, and his veins were popping enough for every girl around to stop and stare with agape lips.

He looked towards Mattie once more and saw that she was looking, now with a bitten-bottom lip and pink cheeks.

He smirked in her direction just because he knew it turned her on, and watched as she smiled and looked down. Tim noticed, and turned around to look at the boy in black. Jealousy was clear in his light eyes; and it fueled Jaxson.

Tim looked at Mattie with a curious gaze, ignoring the small pit of jealousy in his stomach at the way she looked at the boy he knew as Jaxson. He knew that he was bad, and rude, but that was simply an understatement.

He heard that he lived alone and had his way with every girl in the school that would let him- which was a lot. He even began to wonder if the innocent girl in front of him would ever go for a guy like Jaxson.

"Why is he staring at you like that?" Tim said under his breath, causing Mattie to finally look away from Jaxson's biceps.

"What?" She replied with a smile, wanting desperately for the bell to ring.

"He's staring at you like a piece of meat." He tried to laugh and make a joke out of it, but it was the truth and out of all honesty made him uncomfortable.

"No he's not," she looked back at Jaxson and was disappointed to see that he was looking at the red head that she couldn't help but be jealous of, for she was absolutely gorgeous. Did Jaxson think that too? She thought while resting her head in the palm of her hand.

"You're right, it's the other way around." Tim folded his papers before stuffing them in his bag just as the last bell rang.