She hadn’t matured into her immortality yet.
Shit. He was only staring at me because I was staring at him. Oh, God…
I think I’m having a stroke.
I dropped my eyes and tried to breathe. My face felt like it was on fire and I wanted to crawl into a hole and die.
My fingers brushed his as I took my pen. His skin was impossibly warm, like he had a high fever. “Thanks,” I mumbled.
Flipping to a clean page in my notebook, I started copying notes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him lean in as he quietly cleared his throat. I had absolutely no idea what to do, so naturally, I pretended not to hear him.
“Why are you here?” he whispered.
My head whipped back. “Huh?” That was not what I expected. I expected something more along the lines of “What the hell is your problem?” or “Take a picture. It’ll last longer.”
“Why–are–you–here?” he whispered again, taking the time to slowly mouth each word.
He thought I was fucking retarded. Awesome.
Oh my god, can this get any worse?
My face was probably a lovely shade of beet red as I looked around the room, perplexed. Why wouldn’t I be here? “There’s no place else to sit,” I said.
The corners of his lips turned up, into an almost-smile. “No, I mean why are you at PRU at all?”
I let out a quiet laugh. “Uh, to get a college education?”
I frowned when he just stared at me.
“I don’t really know what you mean,” I finally said.
He rolled his eyes. “Yes, you do.”
My brows furrowed even more. “I really don’t… Why are you here?” Maybe his answer would clue me in to what the hell he was talking about.
He shrugged and faced the front of the classroom. “What else am I going to do with all my time?” He sounded bored. “I’m just surprised someone like you is here.”
Someone like me?
Frowning again, I fiddled with my pen, doodling little swirls on my clean sheet of notebook paper. “What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked in a small voice.
“It’s nothing. Just forget about it.”
My jaw clenched, and I struggled to keep my voice calm. “It was definitely something… Tell me. Please.”
“It’s not important.”
I exhaled a sharp breath. “You can’t say something like that and then just leave it. Tell me what you meant.”
The people in front of us tilted their heads, trying to look at us surreptitiously. They’d clearly overheard us.
He gave them a tight smile, muttering under his breath, “You’re quite tenacious, aren’t you?” as he glanced at me.
I followed his lead, smiling politely until they turned back around. Once we no longer had an audience, I turned to him, keeping the sugary sweet smile on my face. “You have no idea.”
He sighed. “I really didn’t mean anything by it, okay? Just let it go.”
“No,” I scoffed.
He scowled. “Why are you being so difficult?”
I gaped at him. “I’m being difficult?”
“Yes, you are. It’s very annoying.”
“You– I–” I was so pissed, I couldn’t even form coherent sentences. “I can’t believe– Whatever. I’m not being annoying, you are.” Yes, it was mildly childish, but it was all I had at the moment.
His face softened. “Look, I just meant that you don’t have to pretend with me. It’s not like they’re listening.”
The hell was he talking about? “Who’s not listening?” My voice came out a few octaves too high–once again getting the attention of the guy and girl sitting in front of us–and I quickly lowered it. “What are you talking about?”
“Now they’re listening.” That almost-smile tugged at his lips, and I wanted to smack it off his dumb, beautiful face. “If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. Just forget I asked.”
This guy was obviously not right in the head. I resumed copying notes, mumbling, “Okay, I will.”
He laughed quietly. “I thought you’d be different, but you’re not, are you? You’re just like the rest of ’em.”
Just like the rest of whom? I set my pen down and stared at him. “What are you talking about?”
He gave me a sour look. “Oh, don’t give me that. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
I threw my hands up in the air, laughing in disbelief. “Dude, what is your deal?”
“My deal is that you’re–”
“What?” we both snapped to the people in front of us, who had turned around once more. Their eyes widened at our outburst and they sunk down into their seats as they looked back to the front.