I was a naive girl, it was an established fact I had known, but my naivety turned out to be ignorance when I showed up to school on Monday expecting normality.
Everyone was whispering about me.
Luna and Claire found me before school and clung to both my arms, whispering stories that people invented over Eros and I's encounter on Saturday, something I didn't expect to happen; firstly that they were asking about this, secondly that they were both coming to me without the intentions of asking for homework or notes.
"So- I heard from some guy that you guys were in deep conversation and that you made him laugh, and another said you guys made out," Luna looked at me with disbelieving eyes, "now you need to tell us which one is true."
The eyes of many onlookers followed us through the corridor, their voices hushed, and yet, not hushed enough that I wasn't able to hear. I felt myself shrink under their oppressive stares and Luna's intruding words.
"Neither," I confessed, to the shock of both of them, and they steered me away from everyone, finding solace under an oak tree that I often spent my lunches alone under.
"Well," Claire demanded, "what happened then?"
I stared up at them, two girls I barely knew, acting as if we were friends, as if they could and would pry into my own personal business. I was nice enough to them, but I was nice to everyone, and that didn't elicit a relationship of friendship between us.
"He reminded me that he found me more annoying than most people and I told him that cigarettes would kill him," I told them, spinning a green leaf in my hand that had floated down from the tree above us. "So in short, nothing really happened."
They looked back at me in shock, shock mixed with anger and confusion, "Well," Claire sighed and plopped down on the bench that was under the shade of the oak tree. "At least you've talked to him, he always brushes me away whenever I tried to talk to him!"
I didn't even know how to begin responding to that, did I mention that we had an unexpected bonding during the nighttime? "I wouldn't exactly count myself lucky," I murmured softly, avoiding the gaze of both girls.
"Did you meet Ryder Claire?" I added quickly after.
I heard her sigh beside me, "No, but it's fine, this new boy I'm dating is cute enough, he'll do for now."
Luna laughed softly and I looked up at her, her bright hair cascading over her shoulders, glinting in the morning light, brining forth a more orange tone in her red hair. "You mean he'll last a week if he's lucky, I swear Claire," she shook her head, "you're the female version of Ryder."
Claire grinned mischievously, eyes twinkling, "Even better."
I opened my mouth to respond to this, to tell them that Ryder just got around really well and never even tempted the idea of a relationship to his victims, so no, they weren't different versions of one another, but, I was cut off by the shrill sound of the bell signaling the start of the school day. I stood quickly, thankful for the excuse to leave, giving small smiles to Claire and Luna as I passed them, rushing to my first class of the day.
What I expected in my Physics class was to work on a lab with my partner, Mason Greyback; to patiently work and help him understand the 'why' behind the actions of the lab, but what I got was the exact opposite.
He wasn't in the seat next to me, instead he was across the room sitting next to another girl, and instead, a dark-haired girl sat in the seat beside mine, and looked as if she were waiting for me, her gaze firmly locked on my unmoving body.
I shot Mason a confused look as I walked to our table and he only shrugged, looking just as confused as I felt.
"Hello," I said tentatively, addressing the girl while taking my seat and pulling out my textbook from my backpack. "Is there any particular reason you've switched partners?"
She leaned on her freckled cheek, squinting at me. "We're not switching, I just had a quick question?"
I nodded and turned my full body toward her, expecting a Physics question, heck, I was just expecting anything school-related. "What's up?"
A hush fell on the classroom as Eros stumbled in carelessly, a hoodie pulled over his head and sunglasses hiding his eyes from us. He ignored the quietness and retreated to his seat In the back, where he would do the lab alone. Eros was terribly smart and never worked well with others, thus, he got the privilege of working alone.
The girl spoke in a louder voice, so the whole class was able to hear, "I just wanted to know how the hell you got to spend time alone with Eros!"
My jaw dropped- well it didn't, but in my head it did because Jesus- was this girl for real? "What?" I spluttered.
Everyone's attention shifted to us, everyone but Eros, who slumped in his seat, a vain attempt to seem less noticeable. It was no use though, everyone's eyes were flickering back and forth between the two of us. "You heard me," she remarked, crossing her arms defensively across her chest.
"I hardly think me speaking to Eros has anything to do with you," I answered just as defensively.
Her eyes narrowed, "Well, I've known Eros for a year and I don't have conversations with him, you've known him for, what? Like two days? And he was even seen with you!"
"He was seen with me," I repeated in disbelief. We had all known Eros for relatively the same amount of time, he was the only transfer student we had in the time we had been going to school, everyone knew him and nobody really got to know him- shocker, I know.
"Yeah!" Her face blossomed red, and she looked around, looking for a reason to continue arguing with me. "And that doesn't happen! What makes you so special he even bothered to give you a second look?"
I felt my face fall, the color drain from it; we were attacking appearances now weren't we?
"Julie," I turned my head to see Mason standing behind me.
He stood, though shorter than most guys, towering over the pair of us sitting, his caramel skin darker in the tungsten light, looking down at us disappointedly, "That's enough. You asked your question and she gave you an answer," he gave her an even more hard look, "I can understand your frustration, but have you even bothered to think- Alice is one of the kindest people we know, obviously if someone's going to get Eros to talk, it'd be her."
Julie's resolve dissolved and she looked up at him like a child, "Mason," she whined.
"Julie," he put his bag under the desk, "I'm just trying to do my lab, I suggest you do the same."
She pouted, but retreated to her original seat, allowing for Mason to slid into the chair next to me.
I suppose you could say that Mason Greyback is what you'd call a peacemaker, he didn't like fighting, and avoided it at all costs, usually at his own expense, but it didn't bother me.
"So," he placed his lab papers on the desk, "what do we do first?"
***
Normality was out of the picture, and by the time lunch came around, I was feeling pretty low, lonely without Ryder's infectious happiness filling my days. We didn't always hang out, but it was one of the days I really wish we did.
Heck, I typically spent my lunches alone or helping someone with their homework, and sometimes I enjoyed that, but today I wasn't.
Despite this, I called him, hoping at least a conversation with him would cheer me up. He answered on the second ring. "Alice!" He cheered, "How's my favorite girl?"
I felt the smile creep onto my face, "I'm lonely without you," I answered, finding my body traveling to the oak tree that I had so often spent time underneath.
He chuckled, and I could practically see the smirk on his face, "Of course you are Alice!" He exclaimed, "You wouldn't believe the rumors I've heard about you and Eros, and the amount of people asking me about it is horrific. I didn't even know about it until someone came up to me today."
I sighed, but he persisted, "Are you hiding things from me now Alice?"
"No," I said in a monotone voice, "I really didn't think it was that big of a deal!"
"You'd be surprised," he laughed, but it was emotionless, sarcastic. "If I could have a McChicken for every time someone has asked or bothered me about Eros, I could be featured on that My 400 lb. Life show."
I swallowed, I didn't really every think about Ryder having to deal with that, the constant questions about our unattainable God, how annoying that must be. "What do you say?" I asked.
There was a pregnant pause. "I tell them nothing," he said. "Eros is the most private person I know, and if he reveals to you who he is, it's because he feels safe enough to. And in a way, I really treasure that and I would never do anything to jeopardize it."
The wind rustled the oak tree behind my back, bringing down a few more healthy leaves that would now die, die and return to where it came from, the Earth.
"Alice?" Ryder asked, breaking my thoughts about how we all eventually return to the Earth, bringing me back to reality.
"Hm?"
"I think we all need a break," he said cryptically.
"We?"
"Can you recall what #10 is on your list?" He teased.
I perked up at this, titling my head back, "I would if you hadn't ripped it out of my planner."
He laughed, "I'll give you a hint, it has something to do with leaving school without permission."
He couldn't see it, but my brow raised. "What about #10?"
"I'm in the parking lot, about to ditch, and I want you to come with me."
"No," I answered immediately, "I wrote that in weakness! It was half a joke, there's no way I'd ever ditch school, there's too much I'd miss!"
"You wrote that in weakness?" He asked incredulously, "And you didn't write whack shit in weakness, honestly Alice," he groaned, "you're something else."
A frown settled on my face, "I'm not coming with you Ryder, and you shouldn't even be ditching!"
"You're having a bad day."
"So?" I shot back.
"And I want to treat my favorite girl to ice cream."
I sucked in a breath, my weak spot. "What kind of ice cream?"
I could practically hear his stupid grin, "Sandy's ice cream," he said in a sing-song voice, "imagine the chocolate chip goodness Alice!"
"I hate you," I replied, already up, half for it, half confused that out of all reasons to ditch school, ice cream was mine.
"So you're coming?" He asked excitedly.
"Yes." I confirmed, a gleeful smile spreading across my cheeks, much like the constant happiness Ryder Thompson brought to me.