looking too closely | late 2018

I

      ELI kept his head down as he entered the room, once again late by forces he could no longer attempt to repel.

      "Nice of you to join us" the teacher sneered, her years of disrespectful students tarnishing her kindness.

      "He was late again. I hope everything's okay" A soft voice whispered to another as he passed by, their eyes following his figure.

She was wrong to hope, the girl. Nothing was okay when it came to Eli. He was in danger of his own hands.

Eli sat down by a boy at the back, taking out his book for the lesson. The boy beside him scoffed, leaning further back into his chair.

The smaller boy's eyes darted over to Aaron, watching, for a second, at his blatant disregard for another's property.

Aaron Guvara held in his hand the hearts of many girls, even those residing in the room. He taunted them, played with them. He sat at the back of each classroom, untouchable in his leather jacket.

His muscular build was constantly fawned over, even by those who refused to admit it. His tan skin, ethnically coloured with Brazilian decent, was the envy of most who saw him.

As if he was reminded of this fact at that second, he bushed his fingers through his light brown hair, pushing the strands away from his piercing green eyes.

Aaron was nothing like his reputation presented him as. He was kind. People just threw themselves at him. He hated it. He hated that everyone was jealous of it.

Eli wasn't jealous of Aaron, however. At least not for his looks.

Eli's only wish was that his lonely world of torture would decide to let him go, or leave him alone, because he couldn't stand this purgatory.