If Only

•04•

For students, the two most important moments during instruction are the beginning and end of class. Amelia thought it best to turn in her essay earlier on in the week for extra credit. So, while the rest of her classmates were burning the tips of their pencils she was left to find new ways to distract herself.

The class was only less than twenty minutes from bring over when she noticed him for the first time. A young man sat upright in the front of the classroom. He was diligent, focused on his studies. Amelia squinted, trying to make out his age. He looked no older than her. Maybe, by a couple of months. Beside him, is Cleo. She looked exceptionally pretty from the angle in which Amelia was sitting. She was writing fast and had that I'm–gonna–finish–this–before–class–is–over look on her face.

Through one of the windows, the fog outside grew thicker by the second. Everything was like one huge blank sheet of paper. The kind you put into printers not the one with the lines on it. It would take a little while but by the time class ended it would lift. The bright sun would shine again.

"Place your assignments on my desk in a neat stack  before you leave,"  Mrs. Price instructs the class. Some students were relived when the class ended but Lucian Cross, wanted to go into full panic mode. One could only fail so many times before your grades started reflecting it.

"Shit," he spoke underneath his breath. He thought no one would hear him but Amelia was close enough now to make sense of his words. And of course, she felt sorry for the kid. She knew how stressful this class could get sometimes.

"Everything okay?" She asked. He looked up at her, a pair of pretty brown eyes staring back at him. Lucian knew a lot of people thought brown eyes to be the most basic out of all the eye colors. But it wasn't until he saw hers that he realized how false that opinion truly was.

"Uh, no. All good." He said standing from his desk. He reaches for Amelia's hand and shakes it but notices her attention elsewhere. Her eyes were focused on the door but there was nothing in particular to see. Only a hurd of kids exiting through it. Lucian followed her gaze, curious as to what she was seeing.

Out of nowhere, a body appears in the frame. It's Aiden. Amelia's arm falls to her side and she expands the distance between her and Lucian.

"Check your phone." He told her and just like that, he left the same way he came in."

Oh god...

"What was all that about?" Slowly, he approaches the mysterious girl again. Worry lines made a home on her forehead and she looked nervous.

"Yeah, yeah." She said. "Um, I have to go. I'll see you tomorrow I'm sure." Amelia didn't give Lucian a chance to respond. Leaving him standing there, his mind racing through questions he didn't even know where to begin to ask.

Just outside the door Amelia was walking to her locker. When she opened her phone, her vision immediately zoomed in on the unread text messages from Aiden.

After school meet me at the smoke circle outside. Don't be late. Yolanda wants to leave early.

She smiled. Ever since last night she was grateful for getting another chance to be with Aiden without the pressure of society sitting on either of their shoulders. Amelia didn't know anyone who lived in Barbel and she figured neither did Aiden. They could be around each other without a care in the world.

Amelia messaged back. Okay. See you soon.

His reply was almost immediate. How did you sleep?

Memories of last night came flooding back. The lake, the drinking, the vomiting. When she came too, she was absolutely mortified that he had seen her in such a terrible state but Aiden just shrugged it off. To him, she was making too big of a deal about it. Everybody's first time getting drunk is a bit of a mess.