Like the stars

NINE

I didn't know why I was so interested in the phenomenon that was Harley Nickels. Maybe it was because she was a breath of fresh air in an otherwise thick and choking room. Or maybe it was the lack of conversation and niceties that attracted me. All I knew was that I wanted to get to know her.

When I was having my short and mostly one sided conversations with her I wasn't 'Logan Gray the soccer captain' or 'Logan the Legend'. I was just Logan, a normal student. She didn't care that I was soccer captain, hell she didn't care about me at all.

Everything was different with her, if I can even say that since every conversation was just me talking and her writing down her answers. We only talked in Maths and I stared at her in Social Studies. Even I could admit that I was a little creepy with my constant glances and hard-core staring, as well as the full one-eighty scans I did in the corridors to see if I could see her. I couldn't.

I was shocked when I sat behind her in Social Studies to see- or not see- her black earphones in her ears. They were gone, absent, lacking, missing- anyway you wanted to put it.

My eyebrows furrowed on their own as I stared at her unashamedly. Like usual, her arms were folded and her head was resting on her arms. Her raven black hair was flicked over the shoulder, giving me the perfect view of her ears and the lack of buds pressed in to them.

Did she purposely leave her ears exposed? Did she allow me to see the tanned hue of her face and the labret hoop piercing that was wobbling? What if she did it to show me that I could talk to her?

No. That's insane. It had been a month since she started and she had never made a move to actually talk to me. I had truly started to believe that she was mute so of course she wouldn't... or couldn't.

I wasn't going to pressure her to talk. I would talk to her if I got the chance in maths -of course I would find the chance- especially since she didn't have her earphones phones in and if she didn't answer me then I had my answer to see if she was mute or not.

Watching the clock tick by, hearing the mocking sound blaring through the room, laughing at me while I shook my leg and tapped my fingers against the desk, counting the seconds for this torture to end so I could go to Biology and then lunch and then maths. The rest of this lesson, Biology, Lunch, maths. It's not that long... but why did it feel like an eternity?

I would talk to her after maths, as everyone started filing out so there weren't any spying eyes or nosy listeners who would only be desperate for gossip. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

I hadn't cared about another girl in a long time, I hadn't been interested but with Harley that all changed. Of course at the moment it wasn't anything romantic, it was all completely platonic and I doubted it would ever stray further than that. I just had a pull with her, a connection that I wanted to learn more about. There was something about her that drew me in like how a shark is drawn in at the scent of blood.

I just didn't know which one of us was the shark.

"Mr Gray." My eyes snapped to Mr Wagner who was stood in front of me, a glare painted on his face as he glowered down at me. "I think Miss Nickels would appreciate it if you didn't stare at her all the way through my lesson."

Shit.

"It's not all the way through, sir." I smiled cheekily. "I only stare at her through part of it."

If anything his glower only increased, smoke rising from his red ears. "Pay attention to my class."

"How could I not?" I raise my eyebrow, my voice dripping with sarcasm. "It's so interesting."

I was surprised he didn't explode for the anger that boiling inside of him, the crimson turning to purple at the anger that he couldn't express in front of children in school.

"Detention." He gritted out, it sounding more like a growl. He was so angry he was turning in to a rabid animal. Pat on the back Logan.

"Thank you, Sir. Is it with you? I can't wait to see you again." The corner of my lips turned up in to a smirk while he basically bared his teeth at me.

He inhaled deeply before exhaling, using his anger management exercises that I have no doubt he has. "It's with Mr Johnson."

"What a shame." Parker's face was painted red from the laughs he was keeping bottled in.

A few minutes after mine and Mr Wagner's staring contest, him glaring and me smirking, the bell rung and everyone jumped up and left for their next glass. I plucked the pink detention slip from his hands as I walked past his desk, smiling brightly.

I didn't learn anything in Biology that I didn't already know and lunch was the same with the partition between the douches on the soccer team and the alright guys, with the cheerleaders coming over and the normal shit.

After nearly running through the corridors I arrived at maths, trying to hold back my nerves and excitement to finally find out if the infamous Harley Nickels is actually mute.

I wouldn't care if she was, I would still have conversations with her and I would still try and be her friend but I needed to know.

Even if she didn't want to officially be my friend I would still count her as one. The conversations with her have been more real and interesting than any of the ones I've had with anyone in this school. She was real.

"Why don't you have your earphones today?" I asked quietly, my voice barely a whisper so her, and only her, could hear my voice.

I stared at the raven haired girl as she slowly lifted her head from her arms and looked at me, her ocean eyes deeper than I've ever seen them. Anyone would get lost in her eyes, lying on a life boat in the vastness just waiting to be saved. I doubt you could be saved from her eyes though, I doubt anyone would want to be saved from her eyes. I definitely didn't.

I awaited her response for a few minutes, watching as she stared at me, a blank look on her face before she went back to her previous position.

Sighing, I ignored the dropping of my stomach and faced forward. She was mute. I said I didn't care and I don't -but why do I feel disappointed to know she was mute?

Disgust followed after my disappointment. Why was I disappointed? I can't be disappointed to finally know that she's mute. I can't be disappointed at all. I hated that my stomach dropped, I hated that I felt even a shred of disappointment; I was disgusted by my reaction to finally knowing. She has everyone judging her, from the way she dresses to her walking out of class whenever the teachers say something to her. She didn't need me judging her as well. And I won't. I won't judge her.

I tried to focus on whatever the teacher was saying but I failed, my thoughts and vision kept glancing to the girl next to me. I hardly know anything about her but I want to know everything. I don't care if she's mute, I still want to be her friend. I will be her friend.

The bell rung, signalling the end of the lesson and everyone jumped up, shoving our books in our bags and leaving the room. I was about to follow until I felt a small tug on my top. Turning to the source, I was surprised to see Harley staring at me, her fingers still bunched around my dark red top.

She waited until everyone left before releasing her hold on me. What she did next shocked me to my core and I watched her walk out, my head reeling and excitement and happiness exploding within me like fireworks.

"I left them at home."