And His Jacket Smelled of Cigarettes

03 · Apples

     Every day during lunch, Athan would walk the campus--or at least the places not labeled off-limits--twice, his sunglasses on, always coming to settle under a trio of trees that were parallel to the school library. He never ate any food, except for the occasional apple, which he usually ended up throwing into the trash anyway. No one ever sat with him, and he never sat with anyone else. No siblings, no friends.
    
     I, on the other hand, had one friend: Shay, a five-foot-nine, model-skinny girl with long, straight, sandy blonde hair, green-blue eyes, and a snarky attitude. I continued to view Athan from afar, Shay by my side, seated on the ground next to a classroom door.
    
     "Jen, you can stop staring at him any time. I'm sure you'll know exactly where he'll be in two minutes, anyway," Shay remarked snidely, poking a fork into a cup of fruit.
    
     "Shut it," I hissed, my face tinting red, "I don't stalk him." Even I knew that was a lie, but who wants to be labeled a stalker?
    
     Shay stabbed a grape and slipped it into her mouth, her voice monotone, but mocking, "Jen. Are you fucking kidding me? Christ, I guess they do say love is blind."
    
     "Would you like to be blind in one eye?"
    
     "Jen, you know it's my fucking dream to be a pirate."
    
     "God, you're so weird," I mumbled, looking back toward the library, "I don't know how I got stuck with yo-- what the hell?"
    
     Shay whined in response, her mouth full of fruit, "What? You've taken bigger mouthfuls of food before--"
    
     "Not you! Athan is gone!"
    
     "Well, damn. Guess that's my que," Shay sighed and stood up, her hair falling forward as she bent down to pick up her stuff, "I don't wanna join the search party. Text me if you wanna hang after school. Stalk ya later."
    
     "Please don't make that a thing."
    
     "It's a thing," Shay called back and waved her hand, walking around a building and out of sight. I rubbed my temples, my emotions close to eruption. Maybe Shay was right. Maybe I've spent way too much time on this guy. I need to get a hobby, or maybe a job, or--
    
     "Jen."
    
     I cursed under my breath and jumped, accidentally tipping over an open water bottle I had sitting on the ground.
    
     "Oh. Sorry." It was Athan, and he was standing over me with a bored look on his face. He bent down and grabbed the bottle, handing it to me.
    
     "I-It's fine," I said, noting in my head that if it had been anyone else, I may have told them off. "Uh... w-what are you up to?"
    
     "I noticed you aren't eating today," he said plainly, as if he knew that I ate everyday, "so I brought this over. I'm not very hungry, either." Athan tossed an apple my way, and I barely caught it.
    
     "Oh... oh! Well... thank you. I mean, I forgot my lunch money today, so. Yeah, you're right. I... really haven't eaten at all." Great, I was babbling.
    
     "Cool. Do you do anything after school, Jen?" His sunglasses glinted in the light.
    
     Does hanging with Shay and playing video games count? "Yeah." I replied.
    
     "Oh. Alright, well--"
    
     "I mean, no. I kinda do, but... i-if you wanted to do something, I'm totally free. Totally."
    
     "Ah."
    
     "... You... weren't asking me, were you?"
    
     "I wasn't."
    
     I pinched the bridge of my nose, "Fuck. Now I sound really stupid."
    
     "But we can hang out."
    
     "R-really?" I cleared my throat and leaned back, looking up calmly and trying to keep my cool, "Right. Sure, we can hang out. Sounds good." Why am I like this.
    
     "Okay." Athan smiled and gave a small chuckle, making my heart skip a beat. "Your place?"
    
     "Yes! O-okay. Um... here," I shovef the apple and the water bottle into my bag and traded them for a pen. Standing up quickly, I took hold of his hand, starting to write. That's when a heavy feeling washed over me, and I felt my legs buckle.
    
     "Woah, woah. You alright?" Athan was now holding onto my wrist tightly, his other hand wrapped around my body, keeping me upright. I could smell the cigarette smoke on his sweater.
    
     "Uh, I just... felt a little dizzy for a sec. I'm fine. I-I was just gonna write my number on your hand."

     Athan released me and held his hand out, allowing me to finish jotting down the sequence of numbers that make up my only form of contact.
    
     "There. You can, uh, message or call me for directions. Or... whatever," I said, scratching the back of my neck nervously.
    
     "Great. Tonight, then." Athan said, smirking. He turned to walk away, his voice calling back to me, "Oh, and try that apple. You're probably faint from not eating."
    
     As I watched him walk away, the school bell suddenly started ringing in my ears; kids and teens began flooding the halls and pushing past me. I slung my backpack to the front of me, reaching inside and pulling the apple out; my grip on the apple was tightening the longer I stared at it.
    
     I have a date with Athan Lucas.