Seen

Invisible (Octavia)

The door slams behind me as I exit the lecture hall. I shake my head attempting to redirect my thoughts from the fiasco that is my group project. Once again, I couldn't speak up and now I am stuck doing a lame project. The prompt was so cool and the professor gave us so much freedom, my idea was much better than anybody else's but I couldn't bring myself to speak up like always I was way too quiet. I walk to the bus stop, pulling my headphones from my pocket to drown out the conversations around me. I spend so much of my time thinking and learning things, but I have never experienced anything for myself. Not really, not outside of my comfort zone, sure I have been on plenty of trips with my parents, but that is where my adventures end. The bus pulls up, I take a seat towards the back knowing my stop is one of the furthest from campus. I set my bag down at my feet, but when I begin to sit up I make eye contact with a man sitting near the front of the bus. He sits facing the seats across from him, his piercing honey eyes distract me for a moment, but I recover quickly when the bus starts forward. I look away quickly, but I can still feel his gaze on me. I drop my eyes to my hands lacing together in my lap, wishing that I had worn something I bit more flattering than just shorts and a school T-shirt. When I can't help it any longer I look back up, meeting his gaze once again. A muscle in his jaw ticks, his brows furrowed together, he looks mad. I offer a smile and give a small wave. Great Octavia, because the hot guy who seems pissed will be all over you if you just wave. But to my utter shock, his face softens, his mouth dropping open slightly, I raise my eyebrows in response and he straightens immediately refocusing on whatever he is watching in front of him. He looks at me every so often, but I stare straight ahead, I don't want to come off as a creep. But he is probably the most attractive person I have ever seen. When the rain begins to hit the bus window I untie my shirt from my waist and pull it on, just as the bus comes to a stop and the guy stands up to get off. Without thinking, much to my own surprise, I stand up and follow him off of the bus. I want my own adventures and even if he turns me down, at least I can say that I asked. Adventures include failures, right?When I step off the bus, the rain begins to hit my hair and I curse wishing the environment wasn't going to make this harder on me. The bus drives away and I turn to see the guy crossing the street. Pulling my bag over my shoulder I make my way behind him."Hey! Wait up!" I yell into the rain, he stops, but he hesitates before he turns. Don't overthink, just do it, Octavia. Get the complete sentence out, you can do it.I make my way up to him on the sidewalk and stop just short enough so I can look up at him, he is about a head taller than me, but I can't think about much but his eyes. His wide eyes stare down at me searching my face like he is confused. I guess he is confused, I am a stranger running him down in the streets."Hey, sorry. My name is Octavia,." I hold out my hand to shake it, but he just looks at my hand. Okay, odd maybe I shouldn't do this, but it'll be much weirder if I just walk away.I drop my hand, "Okay, I was just wondering if you would like to get a cup of coffee sometime?" He takes a step back and crosses his arms across his chest, his dark sweatshirt getting soaked under the rain. I can't see his hair under his hood, but the dark stubble on his chin gets my attention when his lips curve up to the side. "Your name is Octavia?" his voice is like a deep Smokey harmony. I can't tell if the chill running down my spine is from him or the cold rain, it doesn't matter because by the look on his face he thinks it was from him anyways.I finally nod, "Do you have a name?""I do." That's all he says. Okay, alright, I get it. "Okay, well I guess that's a no. You could have just said so." I turn to leave, but before I can a rush of wind pulls me back towards him. "I didn't say no. But I do have a question of my own Octavia." He is leaning in, so close that I can smell his cologne and something else I can't quite pinpoint. "Ask your question. It's cold out here." I can't seem to speak up during a group project, but I can sass a cute stranger? Where is this confidence when I need it?"How can you see me?" he says leaning up, his arms still crossed.I take a step back realizing that not only did I make a mistake by hitting on the crazy guy, but I have also been sassing the crazy guy."I...um..." I look around, but we are completely alone on the sidewalk. Nobody is walking around the apartments across the street or the houses behind him. It is just us. He takes a step closer, still grinning looking much more wicked than I had originally thought. "Octavia, I would love to get coffee with you, but..." he pauses to look me up and down. I instinctively wrap my arms around my now wet T-shirt, "I want to know what you are." He licks his lips and that is it for me. "You know what, I.." I look down at my watch not convincingly in the slightest, "I have somewhere to be...maybe I will see you around." Without pausing to hear his response I dart back across the street, narrowly missing the guy riding his bike in the bike lane. I don't dare look back even as the biker yells profanities at me. I am heading in the opposite direction of my house, but I am not about to show that guy where I live.