Chapter 3

(Ethan’s POV)

Izobel... Ah! That’s her name! She seemed to have her thoughts somewhere. It was too late for me to stop Anastacia. She had already glided her foot on her way, and our new classmate tripped, but her face did not fall on the floor, to my surprise. Her books dropped on the floor, but she quickly held on to the table opposite to mine, and her other hand was on top of my upper thigh.

A sigh of relief escaped my mouth for two reasons. First, she did not fall, and second, her other hand fell and grasped for balance on my upper thigh, not on my manhood. It would be more embarrassing for both of us if it went up a little farther.

Our eyes met, and for a while, I was mesmerized by how beautiful her eyes were. I blinked when she looked down like she was disconnecting from me. My parents were excited about having a new neighbor, and when they arrived last night, as my Mom talked to their mom, I saw her getting out of the house, laughing with her Dad. I had seen the twins before they arrived in this school, and last night I just could not take my eyes away from Izobel. She was as beautiful as an angel.

As if heaven sided with me when the lights from my neighbor’s window turned on, I saw her and Amber getting inside the room. They could be the twin’s Mom was telling me. They were both beautiful, but there was something about Izobel that was more intriguing. I turned off my lights early so I could watch her freely. She looked like a goddess who got bored and went down from heaven, only to sit in the middle of her bed doing nothing. I waited for an hour or two for her to move until I fell asleep. When I woke up, she was no longer there in her room.

And this morning, something interesting happened. I was really annoyed with Anastacia for barging into my room, and then I saw her watching us. I didn’t know what came to me, wanting to entertain Izobel, I made out with my girlfriend in front of her.  

I could not explain this, but she has a certain quality that lured me into her. I could not help myself from thinking about her

“What?” She frowned, and when I didn’t answer, she kept going, ignoring me again. I followed her and walked beside her.

“I saw you this morning, I said, making her halt from moving forward. She seemed to have lost her color, and that was when I got certain she was indeed watching us. 

“You’re watching us from your room,” I continued, tilting my head to see her face more. I felt crazy this morning, thinking our eyes met for a moment, and a playful curved my lips thinking if she enjoyed watching my escapade this morning.

She lowered her gaze, making me think that she did not like it when people stared at her in the face. “Are you certain it was me? Do we even live in the same neighborhood?” She scowled, walking again.

I hurried to catch up with her stride. “I was watching you last night,” I smirked when I felt she froze, perhaps recalling if she had done anything stupid last night. I almost rolled my eyes at her because I really curious as to how she could do it, not moving, just staring at nothing for who knows how many hours.

“It wasn’t me,” She denied, walking in the wrong direction. When her things were scattered on the floor, I saw her schedule, and we had the same schedule like she had copied mine.  

I heaved a sigh because I could not afford to be late for Ms. De Leon’s class again. I clutched the hem of her sleeves to steer her to the stairs.          

“Your next class is upstairs, chemistry, right?”

She frowned but towards the stairs.

“I’m pretty much sure you’re my new neighbor. If you’ll only let your hair loose and take that glasses away, I’m certain it’s you who’s watching us this morning,” I uttered, saying those words near her ear.

Izobel smelled so nice. She has this addicting smell that I just wanted to stick my face in her neck.  

“What’s it to you if I was watching your little show this morning?” she snapped, sounding impatient at me, so I had to straighten up. “And why are you following me anyway?”

I stopped walking, blocking her way with my arms.

“I’m not following you, Izobel. We’re in the same class.” I glowered at her. “I was just trying to be friendly.” If only I could tell her that if she is not fond of me following her around, I felt the same way, hating myself for following her like a puppy finding a good owner who can finally take care of me.

I shook my head, walking ahead of her, stepping two steps at a time to get away from her.

My eyes glanced at the big round wall clock in front of the classroom. I was tapping my pen, patiently waiting for her. Usually, my best friend, Nolan, would sit beside me, but today, I asked him to sit somewhere else.  I wondered what was taking her long to reach the room. Did she get lost?

After a short while, I saw Izobel coming to the classroom. She approached our teacher, gave her the slip, and our lovely teacher instructed her to sit on the vacant chair. She placed her bag on her chair and heard her groaning as she saw me.

I propped my elbow on our table and pretended to listen to our teacher. I watched in awe as Ms. De Leon made an excellent demonstration showing the changes in energy in the chemical reaction between water and anhydrous. She asked us to observe the color and the evolution of heat through temperature change.

This girl really has a talent, and not talking for a long time is one. I had to say something, or else I would go crazy. 

“I guess I’m in the wrong class. I was hoping to learn more about the chemistry that drives people crazy instead of this energy stuff,” I uttered, not looking to her.

She scoffed. “You could still change your class to Biology,” She suggested, also not looking at me.

My eyes narrowed, and I turned my head on her. “Why are you so cold?”

Did she just furrow her forehead?

“I don’t understand,” She said, pretending to listen to what our teacher was explaining. She seemed bothered by my question.

“You’re unfriendly,” I explained to her as I stared at her. I wanted to ask if she was sick or something, although the color of her eyes did not really bother me much. It was like staring at an optical illusion, a hypnotic circle that you could not just stay away from.

Izobel has golden yellow eyes, one of the rarest, and usually, the color symbolizes happiness and optimism, but why does she hide them?

“Why are your eyes golden yellow?” I asked when she didn’t talk again.

She heaved a sigh, irked at me. She rolled her eyes on me, making me curve my lips into a smile.

“If you don’t answer my question, I will ask Ms. De Leon about the chemical component why eyes... no, why your eyes are more beautiful than others,” I teased her.

She ignored me, but I had my way of getting her attention. I raised my arm and showed my best smile to Ms. De Leon.

“Are you stupid?” She hissed.

Yes!

“Yes, Ethan?” Ms. De Leon stopped her demonstration to accommodate my question.

“I missed hearing the last words you said, Ms. De Leon. Can you please repeat them?” I said, glancing at my seatmate, who looked furious at me now. Our teacher gladly repeated her explanation, but I was more interested in Izobel’s answer.

“So?” I glanced at her.

“I’m a vampire!” She joked, hissing and showing her perfect white teeth, that if she would only smile, she would be more attractive.

I chuckled, raising my eyebrows. “You got me there, but you had it wrong. Werewolves have golden yellow eyes, vampires have red,” I shook my head, looked at our teacher. I heard Izobel sighing. I moved closer to her and whispered, “Are you one of the Cullens?”

She raised her eyebrows, turning her face to me. “Huh?” She seemed confused with my question.

I threw my head back as I widened my eyes. “Oh please... don’t tell me you don’t know the book or movie. If you’re a real vampire, then you’re one of them.”

“Ethan, are you trying to be funny?” She irked. “Of course, I know that book,” She said, her voice trailing off.

Again, I lowered my gaze to hers. “Sorry for the analogy,” I said. As I looked into her eyes, I squinted, smiling. “Who knows...you could be an alien,” I joked and sighed as I looked at her lips.