The Eyes

Chapter 5

The bell had rang and I hadn't paid any attention to a word the teacher said. Jared had been studiously taking notes but I didn't have it in me to do the same.

Why hadn't we moved yet?
The question bounced around in my head over and over. I came to two logical conclusions; One, my grandmother actually enjoys being here and wants to stay. Or two, her sickness is a lot worse than she's letting on and it's preventing us from leaving. Knowing that we had lived in places much more breathtaking in beauty and much more exciting than this one, I knew the answer was most likely the second option.

I should have known.
She's the most important person in my life and I didn't notice how bad her sickness had gotten. In hindsight, it seems extremely obvious. She looked a lot weaker than she used to, she's always coughing, and she has more prescriptions now than ever before. More questions immediately filled my head.
Is she going to be okay? What does this mean for us as a family? Does this mean Bayside is our new home?

Jared was almost done packing up his stuff. He tapped me on the shoulder and I immediately stopped daydreaming.

"Are you coming?" He asks and points toward the door.
"Sorry, I was spacing out. But yes of course I'm coming."

Jared nods and waits for me to pack up my stuff. I glance at the board to before I leave to see if I missed anything important. I was glad to see that the board showcased a highlighted syllabus that outlined our most important due dates for the class. I quickly came to the conclusion that I hadn't missed much.
Thank the Lord for syllabus week.

Jared and I walked into the hallway together only separating when we reached our lockers; They were on two different sides of the hall. The minute I stopped to open my locker I could feel a pair of eyes watching me. I turned around trying to figure out who was staring.

Suddenly, I saw him. He was tall, he had to be at least 6'4", he had black hair, tan skin, and the prettiest brown eyes I had ever seen. I wanted to look away. We had been staring at each other for far too long for this to be deemed normal, but I couldn't tear my eyes from his. It was like there was something willing me to stare at him. I was getting overwhelmed, alarms were flashing in my head.

Something's not right.
I had to use all of my willpower to stop myself from continuing to stare like a deer caught in headlights. As soon as I'd broken my stare, I turned back to my locker. Almost frantically, I started loading my backpack with the necessary materials for next class. I didn't know what had just happened but I was sure I didn't want it to happen again. I quickly walked over to Jared, making sure my eyes never met the stranger's.
"What class do you have next?" I asked Jared, scooting closer as I felt the his stare on my back.
"Geography. How about you?"
"AP Lit. I'll walk with you to your geography class, lit isn't that far from it anyways."

AP Lit was actually on the other side of the school building, but I didn't plan on telling Jared that. I just needed someone to be around me right now. The stranger's stare made me feel vulnerable in a way I never could have imagined feeling. So, even though Jared couldn't hurt a fly, his protection was better than none at all.

Jared walked in the opposite direction of the mystery man and I couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief. I was going to be late to Lit, but anything was better than having to face the stranger again.

Could today get any weirder?