See You Around, Green Eyes ii

••

Blaze

“April!” I mewl dramatically, throwing my arms around her neck from behind as she stands in line to collect her food. “The canteen is out of burgers.”

She rolls her eyes and wriggles away from my embrace. “You and your burgers. Why don’t you just become a burger and eat yourself?”

“I’ve got girls to do that for me.” I smile, then turn my attention to the lady behind the counter who has been serving our lunches for two years now. She looks about thirty and her hair is always hidden with a black hairnet. The large apron hides her matured figure, but I can tell she has a remarkable one beneath the white fabric.

“Good morning, Pat.” I rest my elbows onto the counter, raising my eyebrows while staring into her face.

Her cheeks become noticeably rosy, but she pretends to be annoyed, rolling her eyes as she stirs the pot of Mac and Cheese. I do this every lunch period and she never drops the facade. It’s alright though, I can see through it all.

“I like your apron. Looks nice on you,” I add, smiling at her obvious discomfort.

Tia shakes her head in amusement. “Leave the lady alone. What on earth is wrong with you, Xander?”

“He’s the devil’s son,” Yuna adds.

Pat continues to focus on her task at hand and I tap my fingers against the table while maintaining my gaze on her. She keeps her head hung to avoid my eyes. “I’ll come back to check up on you tomorrow, alright?”

She flushes at this and I titter quietly as I whirl around, leaning against the counter as James slides between me and April, throwing his arm around her.

“I like your skirt, April. It looks nice on you.”

James is obsessed with recycling my pick-up lines. I clearly just used that one on Pat. I ogle him in feign pity while my cousin sucks her teeth, shrugging his arm away.

“Get your hand off me, James.”

“Hey, where’s Harmony?” Yuna questions and I immediately begin stalking the noisy cafeteria.

The girl interests me. Mainly because she appears way too innocent. The world is a balanced ying-yang, a mixture of both good and evil. Humans have a combination of both aspects inside them—except me, who has only one side of the ball—and so therefore there is no way a person can be completely innocent or “good.”

Life has been fucking boring for me these past few months, and this new girl has this aura that my demons are dying to play with. I am determined to break that shell of hers; it’ll be fun for me and the fact that I cannot feel an ounce of empathy will make this a lot more enticing.

“Yeah, where’s your friend?” I check, and April spins to me, crossing her arms against her chest. That’s her lecture stance, but her rebukes normally flow through one ear and come out through the other. “Blaze I already warned you, stay away from Harmony. You know that it won’t be good if you hang around her.”

I push a hand through my hair, and it lands back into my eyes stubbornly. “Look, I just want to enlighten her. Show her what happens when she walks around Homewood looking like the Virgin Mary.”

James laughs. “But she is the Virgin Mary, judging by how conservative she dresses.”

I chuckle, and April shakes her head, retrieving her tray from Pat with a soft “thanks.” Her eyes land on me and I wink subtly. She looks away and moves on to serve the next order while April frowns at me.

“You two—you and James—are just two heartless and detestable creatures. Don’t let me see you around Harmony, Blaze. She is not your type and I can assure you that you’re certainly not hers.”

“Nonsense. I am everybody’s type.” I bite back a giant smirk and she rolls her eyes as she walks to her usual table at the back of the room.

Yuna and Tia are next in line to collect their lunches, and my eyes locate a familiar petite figure entering the lunchroom.

Harmony.

She glances around skeptically as if searching for somewhere to sit, and I notice a wrapped sandwich and small boxed milk in her hand. I had no idea people our age still drinks from those small juice boxes.

I fight off a smile and gesture to move toward her when Yuna grips my arm. “Leave her alone.”

I titter. “Relax, focus on your lunch.” I release my bicep, and she narrows her eyes at my disobedience as I assertively stroll toward Harmony.

They all know that I am one stubborn son of a bitch. When someone tries to get me to do what they say, I usually respond with a ‘Yes’ ‘Oh’ ‘Alright’ then do whatever the fuck I want to do anyway. I don’t take telling.

I can’t understand why they won’t just leave me alone; I mean no harm—some of the times.

She sees me coming and turns away, walking out of the cafeteria quickly. I chuckle at this, plodding behind her as I stuff my hands into my pockets. “Hi, Harmony.”

She halts her strides at the sound of my voice, then slowly turns to face me. We are now standing out into the quiet hallway as she stares at me questioningly. Her emerald eyes reveal a tinge of fear, something I’ve noticed since last night. Is she not used to boys?

She finally speaks, her voice silvery and soft. “Do you need anything?”

Yeah. You.

Her tone is unnecessarily polite. I am not her professor so why must she talk so...formal? She does have a sexy voice though.

I shrug. “You can eat with us.”

She shakes her head, rejecting me for the second time today. “I prefer eating alone.”

“Okay...” I nod, strolling up to her slowly. “What else do you do alone?” I stop fairly close to her and she subtly steps back, creating some distance. She squeezes the small box in her hand and my eyes drop to the anxious action. I am not sure what it is about me that intimidates people so much. It is starting to bother me...or not.

“Do you also sleep alone?”

Her forehead puckers bewilderedly as she vaguely tilts her head to the side. A sign of innocence and oblivion. Perfect.

I titter. “I meant if you have a boyfriend.”

She looks taken aback, but answers. “No.”

“Lovely.” I smile, gazing directly into her forest marbles. She shifts in discomfort and I point to the opened milk carton in her hand.

“May I taste that?”

She looks at the square box then back to me, blinking in disbelief. She looks awestruck that I would ask something like that—but I am crazier than most people and I have good dental hygiene, so it’s alright.

I raise a stubborn brow in question, and she swallows before nodding absentmindedly.

I reach for the box from her small hand, my fingers grazing her soft ones in the process. That was not intentional.

I keep my eyes on hers as I enclose my lips around the straw, sucking up portions of the liquid into my mouth.

She watches me nervously, and if I am seeing correctly, she is blushing.

That was easy.

I hand it back to her and she quietly stares at the straw, seeming deep in thought.

“You just kissed me,” I say, and her gaze snaps up to mine in alarm. “H-huh?”

I try not to laugh at the look of horror on her face as I point to the box. “We just shared an indirect kiss; you drank from the straw and I did too. So, we practically kissed, didn’t we?”

Her cheeks run crimson and I smile at the success. Soon she will be wrapped around my fingers or my fingers wrapped in her...whichever comes first.

Blushing is proof that a person is feeling you, isn’t it? Well, that’s what I’ve heard. I am not necessarily knowledgeable about the topic of feelings and emotions.

Deciding to stop here for the day, my lips lift in a simper. “Thanks for the drink. I liked it. I’ll see you around, green eyes.” I turn away and head back to the cafeteria, leaving her standing utterly frozen.

••

“The lion is most handsome when looking for food”—Rumi.