School time makes it feel like a contradiction. While there are moments where it feels easy to hide our relationship, there are others where it becomes hard. Passing time and classes we don't share are simple. There's no need for interaction.
But then there's lunch.
We've all managed to squeeze ourselves into one lunch table. It feels crowded, and my shoulders often brush against Kandi's or Vylad's, Though, it doesn't seem to bother anyone as we've all grown used to it at this point. It's all fine and dandy until one of the boys feels the need to be disgusting and grope one of us females.
We've silently assigned ourselves our own spots at the table. Every day, we sit down in our seats without a word uttered. No one tries to steal someone else's. Why would they? There's no need to.
Laurance sits directly across from me. And to his right, which is my left, Garroth sits next to him. Vylad sits to my right, and Kandi sits to my left. Dante sits on the other side of Laurance, and Travis sits next to him. The lineup is majority females on the other side of the table because of this. Aphmau squeezes herself between Travis and Katelyn to be in the center.
There's an empty seat next to Garroth, and Travis takes the last seat on our side of the table before there's a break. There's an empty seat next to Kandi too. I've never understood why this is, but I stopped trying to question it. I've stopped trying to question a lot of things.
Garroth and I steal glances at each other throughout lunch. In the beginning of our relationship, it would become hard to hide my blush when he would stare at me. Now, it isn't as hard anymore. I don't remember the last time I blushed because he was looking at me during lunch.
I've managed to catch myself looking at him. His eyes twinkle when he laughs, and that always manages to make me smile. Most things do. Except I look more dazed and out of thought. My mouth is slightly agape, and it takes Vylad elbowing me in my side to knock me out.
"Huh?" I question, shutting my mouth and blinking my eyes. I advert my attention to Vylad, but I can catch a sly smirk from Garroth's direction as I do so.
"You okay, Al? You were staring at Garroth," he comments, glancing between the two of us. Garroth has somehow managed to wipe that stupid smirk off his face by now.
"Oh, yeah, I'm fine. . . I just zoned out. I'm a little tired."
Laurance sighs before placing his fork down on his tray. He pushes it forward, all interest lost in the remaining food. "You were up pretty late last night. You're overworking yourself with all the studying you're doing. You should take a break."
I shake my head and run my hand through my hair. There's instant regret as I remember that I'm at a lunch table with food around me, but it looks like we're all finished by this point. "I can't afford to take a break. There's a quiz coming up, and I need to be prepared for it." That's another lie. There's no quiz, and I haven't been studying more than I normally do. What keeps me in my room? Garroth. Garroth does. "But um, since I was apparently staring. Has anyone else noticed that Garroth's eyebrows don't match?"
He gasps, lifting his hand to cover up his eyebrows. Even behind his covered up face, I can tell his eyes are wide. Pay back for smirking at me.
"Eyebrows are sisters and not twins," Kandi comments before chuckling at Garroth's silliness. It takes him a few seconds to lower his hand because people have lost the interest in trying to see his eyebrows.
°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°•°
"You also got caught today."
The urge to groan into a pillow is strong. Textbooks and notebooks are sprawled across the bed. Pencils lazily placed on the pages. If someone comes in, it looks like we're doing the homework of our one class together. I could be working with Vylad now, but Garroth interrupted our conversation on the walk over, asking for help on the assignment he can't figure out. Turning him down would've looked bad.
"That's your entire point on creating a fake assignment you needed help with? To state the obvious?"
Garroth shrugs before scooting closer to me. He wraps his arm around my shoulders and brings me closer to my side. I sigh, feeling stressed from the situation. "I also wanted to spend time with you."
"So much, you had to steal me away from your brother? Who is also my best friend?"
He shakes us both side to side. He acts so carefree. I wish I felt carefree. I just feel like I'm under so much pressure that I'll be crushed. The weight of secret after secret consumes you. Garroth takes notice of my change of state and pulls me onto his lap. I can't help but cling onto him and lay my head against his chest. I've fallen silent.
"Awe, princess, it's alright. Soon, there'll be a time when we can tell Laurance what's going on. No more need for lying or sneaking around."
I'll admit. It was fun at first. Sneaking around in secret just to steal a kiss, but it grows old. Constantly having to do it.
I take a deep breath. Garroth's right. There's nothing I can do about this. I just can't help to think who it could hurt besides Laurance. And if I told Laurance, it would hurt him and Garroth because I went behind his back. Sometimes I just want a normal relationship.
"Al?"
I hum in response.
"Are my eyebrows really uneven?"
"No, Garroth."
