Over again
2248 Words
CHAPTER 11
April's POV
I'm invinsible.
If I focus long and hard...it'll come true.
I'm invisible.
I'm invisible....
"And that concludes our class today. Please endeavor so submit your projects to my email and start your news report."
The lecturer leaves class and everyone starts leaving immediately. Biting my lip, I wish I had one more class, one more anything to do.
I don't want to go back to the dorm...not so soon. Everything there keeps reminding me of him: the bed, Gretchen's tennis ratchet, my Winnie-the-Pooh lamp shade and his darn clothes that I didn't have the nerve to return.
I don't even have the nerve to go to Starbucks cafe or even Splitz because I don't want to bump into him again.
We are trouble for each other.
Bad trouble.
The kind of trouble that is exciting but dangerous.
Bittersweet.
The kind that is beautiful one minute but explodes in your face the next.
And if he was the beauty, then I was the time bomb, and together we'd make an epic disaster.
I stare down at my book and remember I have a news report to occupy my time but it was due in two weeks and if I started it now, I'd be idle for another week.
I close my eyes and try to concentrate again.
I'm invisible
I'm invisible.
I'm--
"April?"
I freeze when I hear the unfamiliar voice and slowly I look up. The neatly cut dirty blonde hair and brown eyes staring at me through big geek glasses are still unfamiliar.
"Yes?"
I stare at him cautiously with my mind reeling.
Every time I encounter a boy, I always end up in tears or fear. Or Ethan would knock the life out of him and for this guy's sake and mine, I just wanted to leave.
"You okay? You look bothered." He says and I just shake my head.
"I'm fine, just...thinking." I say and get up, already packing my books and laptop into my bag.
"Did I bother you? I can just leave." He says already backing up and I want to let him go but if I do that, I'll end up thinking again and stuffing my brain with school work.
Maybe he can help,...I think I've seen him in class.
"Wait. We take some classes together, right?"
He stops and smiles,
"We just took one together, but you don't notice me because I sit behind and you're always in front."
So much for being invinsible.
"Did I come off as a stalker?" He says cautiously when I don't reply and I laugh.
"No. I just realized how hard it is to blend into furniture."
"With your red hair, yes. Very hard." He says, smiling and I laugh.
"Sorry, I didn't recognize you."
"Nah, I'm used to it." He says and I want to slap myself for that sentence.
"Umm, when are you starting your news report?"
I ask as we leave the Press and magazine department and he shrugs.
"I don't know, maybe today? Just research first, though. What is your report on?"
"I was thinking charity."
I never knew how easy it was to talk to someone in the same class with me about school work.
Considering I had been hiding in the shadows after classes for the past two weeks, avoiding the Starbucks cafe and even Splitz.
I didnt want to bump into Ethan again and I would always cower and hide when I see his BMW or his haircut anywhere on campus. Avoiding him is way harder than I thought.
"April?"
My thoughts vanish and I blink up at the guy with glasses.
"Sorry, I was just--"
"Thinking." He completes for me and I smile.
"What were you saying?"
"I said you could do your report on CARMA."
"CARMA? What's that?"
"Charity Assistance with Resources and Money Association. Plus it sounds like Karma which makes people want to do good." He says and I laugh.
We walk into a different cafe but I check around just in case I see any thick, messy inky black hair or brown curly hair. Last week I had seen Trevor here after a class and the minute he said Ethan would be coming in soon, I fled.
Coward.
I couldn't face him, not after our heated argument that day. We had a way of pushing ourselves to the worst and enjoying every moment of it.
With Ethan and his grey eyes, it will forever be a crumbling paradise.
"I'll just hand you the flier and you can browse on it." The glasses guy says as we pick a booth and he digs into his bag.
"I have to leave soon because someone always gives me a ride and I can't miss it " He says and hands me the CARMA flier.
"Thanks...umm?"
"Zack."
I smile as he gets up,
"Thanks Zack." I say and he leaves.
Ethan's POV
"Two weeks, huh?" Trevor says as I drive out of campus and head for the apartment.
"I haven't even had a glance at her hair, she's good at hiding." I say and mutter,
"Very good."
"This is crazy. I didn't think this whole thing would last a week, but two weeks? Wow. No wonder when I saw her last week she left before I could turn around."
My knuckles turn white as I grip the steering wheel.
"Where did you see her? She left?"
"At that Crust n' Crunch cafe. She looked good, just very....reserved?" He says, and I can't help but search around for the cafe as I slow to a stop.
"What are you doing?" Trevor asks suddenly, looking up.
I spot the place ahead and drive further a little bit and it feels like a trance when I spot her red hair in that ponytail of hers.
I stare at the guy in front of her as he hands her a paper and she smiles.
"Won't you punch that guy for breathing the same air that she is?" Trevor whispers and I glare at him while he laughs.
"This is ridiculous. Ethan, for Christ's sake just talk to her."
"I can't. No matter how much I want to...I can't." I say and turn the car on then drive off.
She was a mixture of emotions, a cluster of secrets. She was a storm in one minute and a drizzle in another, making it frightening and exciting to be with her all at once.
"You're not hearing yourself, are you?"
"This is way more than it looks, she's up and down at the same time."
"Then you stand in the middle. Patience. Be ready to catch her when she's ready to stop."
"You're sounding like your dad." I say, even though I can't help but rethink his words.
"I have been known to reveal my wise side in dire needs." He says and I ignore him as I drive into the parking lot.
"So you'll talk to her?" He asks, turning to me as I stare straight ahead.
Will I?
April's POV
CARMA. It was a big charity association, huge even. Sponsors held events annually to raise more money for it which it distributed to many other charities.
I scroll down on my laptop and observe the pictures, the awards given and everything. Apparently CARMA was an old association that was nearly crumbling down until the first sponsor raised the idea of holding annual events for it.
I grab my book and begin to jot down useful information, facts, years and dates. I can't help staring at the black t-shirt neatly folded on my bed.
I had been ready to return it after I left the cafe, and by return it I mean drop it in front of his door and flee. But the minute I held it, his scent enveloped me and I just couldn't bring myself to let it go.
Staring at it now, I ignore my report and take off my tank top then slip it on. It felt amazingly and comfortably big and I hugged myself in it.
Maybe I shouldn't return it.
Why should I anyway?
Because a secret part of you wants it to yourself.
I shake away the thoughts and continue my work when something catches my eye. On the screen, the logo of the first sponsor of the CARMA
looked oddly familiar.
It was a double G Written in beautiful
print and I stare closer at it when it suddenly hits me.
Of course.
I look down on the t-shirt I'm wearing and just at the bottom, the logo is there.
Griphen & Griphen.
Gretchen was right, the company must be huge. My stomach suddenly rumbles, distracting me and I call Gretchen for the sixth time to buy dinner but it's not going through.
"Urgh." I moan, dropping my head on the desk and allowing his scent to waft around me when there is a knock on the door.
Finally.
I head for the door.
"Gretchen I have been calling you--"
I freeze when I stare up into familiar grey eyes.
"Ethan." I whisper subconsciously.
He was holding a small tank in one hand and a big pack in the other.
He stares into my eyes for a second then raises up his right hand that is holding the big pack.
"Hungry?" He says and I realise it's Chinese.
Oh, God.
How did he know.
I nod and let the question slip out.
"How did you know?" I ask like a fool and he just shrugs, still staring at me.
"Do you want to eat outside or.....?" He says and I realise I'm still standing at the door.
"Sorry, sorry. Come in." I say and move back.
"Careful. I've got gas." He says and raises up the the hand holding the tank.
I surprise myself by laughing at his flimsy joke.
It didn't matter.
I spent two weeks avoiding him and yet here he is with food and a mini tank. He was at my doorstep with a smile and bearing gifts.
"Nice shirt." He says staring at me and I realise I'm wearing his t-shirt, the one I was supposed to return.
"Oh. I'm sorry, I was gonna return it today--"
"April. Its fine. Dont worry about it." He says and I shut the door and walk over to him.
"What's that?" I ask, gesturing to the tank as I join him in bed. Somehow, this felt different from that the other chaotic times we met and I liked it.
Good different.
It feels....comfortable, just like the shirt. It shouldn't feel right but it does.
"This, is a hydrogen tank." He says dropping it between us as I open the pack and bring out a smaller pack.
The scent wafts into my nose and I want to hug him so badly for this.
"And?" I ask as he puts a deflated balloon on top and fills it with the hydrogen while I unwrap the chopsticks and start eating the noodles.
Surprisingly, he hands me the balloon and says with that gaze that never leave a mine,
"Breathe with your mouth."
I raise a brow at his amused grin.
"You're kidding right?"
"Nope." He says and takes away the pack from my hand.
"Hey!" I protest.
"Go on." He persuades and I take the balloon by the mouth and put it in my mouth.
He has a suspicious glint in his eyes.
Closing my eyes, I suck the air, waiting for the balloon to pop or something.
I look up and he c***s his head to the side as he observes me.
"I don't get--Oh my God!" I say when my voice comes out in a deep gruff and he bursts out laughing.
"This is so freaky cool!" I say staring at the balloon as the effect wears off. He takes it from me and puts it in his mouth and suck.
"Finish him!" He says and I can't help but burst out laughing at the term he used from a popular video game.
"I've got one." I say and take the balloon from him and take a deep breath from it.
"Fee Fi FoFum! I smell the blood of an English scum!" I say in the gruff voice, quoting jack and the beanstalk and we both burst out laughing.
I put it to my mouth again but he pulls it off.
"Oh, come on!" I whine as he deflates the balloon and hands me back my pack.
"Eat." He says, grey eyes fixed on mine and I smile, grateful for this relief.
He grabs his own pack and leans back, watching me as I eat.
"You look good in black." He says and I look down at his t-shirt that I have on to hide my blush.
"I've never seen you in this mood before." I say and he shrugs.
"It comes and goes."
"I'm sorry about the bowling day and everything." I blurt out. I couldn't keep in the guilt I felt, not after he was here saving me from boredom and hunger.
He shakes his head at my apology, eyes not leaving mine.
"It's okay. I am not mad."
"But you were."
"No, April. I wasn’t. Maybe confused, but I hear red heads are hot heads so...." He gives me a smirk and hit him in the shoulder.
"Ow. That's a real stinger, it's gonna leave a mark." He jokes and I roll my eyes at him.
How on earth do we keep finding each other...??
- Writer
