The Eyes

Chapter 6

After dropping Jared off at geography class, I turned around and started walking towards AP Lit. My brain was spinning.

Who was that guy? And why was he looking at me like that?
I had never been a person who garnered much attention. Typically, people hardly knew of my existence, but this year was different in more ways than one. Too busy thinking to pay attention, I walked directly into a person. The laws of physics must have been against me because immediately after the collision, I fell to the floor. I looked up to see who I had walked into and saw another extremely tall guy.

What are they feeding these kids?
I quickly scrambled to my feet apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry for bumping into you. I was super distracted. Are you okay?"

I felt heat rising to my cheeks. If I were lighter there would have been visual evidence of my embarrassment. Luckily for me, my darker hue allows me to feign confidence in situations like these.

"I'm fine. You're Jane, right?"
He had a friendly voice, one that would make you gravitate to him instantly. I don't know what it was about him, but I felt myself feeling more comfortable by the second.

"Jane Reight, that's me. I'm starting to wonder how everyone knows my full name all of a sudden. I definitely don't have enough friends to be this well known."
Obviously I wasn't as comfortable as I thought I was. I tend to word vomit when I'm nervous. I'm a quiet girl, but once I get the slightest bit nervous, it's like I can't shut up.

The boy raised his eyebrows at me in a questioning manner.
"I didn't know your last name Jane. I asked and I quote, 'you're Jane, right?'" He then proceeds to spell out the word r-i-g-h-t for me like I was an imbecile. My embarrassment obviously amused him because he was smiling during the entire speech.
"Oh," I take a long breath. "It's been a really long day and I'm a little scatter brained. Sorry for bumping into you and for all of this confusion."
I immediately step around him, I had about 30 seconds to get to Lit before the bell and I was about 3 minutes away from the classroom. Mrs. Ryan, the AP Lit teacher, was notorious for not allowing tardiness. Being even 30 seconds late after the bell garnered serious punishment from her. I didn't know if she was actually as bad as her reputation, but I didn't want to find out. I start speed walking to class, hoping to outrace time. To my surprise, the guy I bumped into starts walking next to me. I give him the side eye I reserve for creepy guys that lurk in the night, hoping it will scare him off and save me from any further embarrassment. He shrugs off my look with a grin.

"My class is this way. I'm Dane by the way." He holds out his hand for a handshake.

"Jane, but you already knew that." I grip his hand back.

" So Jane, what class are you heading to? I'm going to Lit," He looks at me with a knowing smile, almost as if he knows that's the same class I'm enrolled in.

"Oh, same. Looks like we're both going to be late then." I give him a slight smile so he doesn't think I'm a jerk. I could use as many classroom friends as I could get. The more help I can get in the classroom, the better my grades will be. Honestly, I constantly wonder how I even got this far in regards to school. I'm definitely not the most studious person.

I guess we'll never know, I think to myself.

The bell rings and we're still a minutes walk away from class. I inwardly groan, being late on the first day is going to draw unnecessary negative attention, and worse, I won't get to pick my perfect middle row seat.

We walk into class a minute late. The teacher immediately gives us both a long scrutinizing stare and the rest of the class looks intently at us as well. Knowing that all of these people were focused on me made my palms sweat. I started to feel queasy and my eyes blurred. Being the center of attention was the complete opposite of what I was used to and I didn't like it at all. I didn't notice I hadn't moved until Dane's hands gently met my back and gave me a slight push forward. I looked back at him and was met with a charming and supportive smile. He must of saw the fear in my eyes because he immediately moved himself in front of me, almost like a guard, blocking the classes view of me.

"I'm sorry for the tardiness Mrs. Ryan, I accidentally bumped into Jane in the hallway and her stuff went flying everywhere. Picking all of her stuff up made us late for class, but I can promise you that we won't be late again."
The lies came out of him so well I almost believed it myself.

Mrs. Ryan made an audible sigh that I could hear even though I couldn't see her from behind Dane's back.
"Do you speak on both Jane's and your behalf Dane?"
I could tell her response was a ploy to get me to speak for myself. I started to build up the courage to talk, expecting Dane to move out of the way. Instead of moving, I was shocked to hear Danes stoic reply,
"Yes, I do speak for the both of us."
He then grabs my sleeve, much like an older brother would grab a younger sister and sits in a chair in the middle row. He lets go of my sleeve and looks pointedly at the chair next to him, obviously expecting me to sit there. I quickly sit down, not wanting the attention to stay on me for longer than necessary. Mrs. Ryan gives me a quick once over, then continues with the lesson plan.

I'm glad that's over.