Act 2 (Ch)

33 2 5
                                    

Sarah Archer was weird.

I had never spoken a word with her before but I was pretty much aware of her existence. She was the kind of person that wouldn't bring a lot of attention to herself. Everyone knew her name but no one had ever really gotten to know her. She was like a mystery that was waiting for the day that someone would finally solve it.

I think Tyson was the only one in our group that could say a word or two about Sarah. I didn't know the details but apparently they used to have some kind of a connection. He never spoke about it though, so I wasn't exactly sure of it.

I had known about Sarah's bubbly personality for a while but when she came up to me, I was caught off-guard. She only asked me if I could help her with the homework but my brain didn't actually feel the need to process what was going on. It wasn't as if Sarah and I were entire strangers but I had a feeling that I knew more about Sarah than she knew about me. It's hard to forget the person that basically saved your life once. She probably didn't remember that moment but at the very least she knew my name, which was more than enough for me.

Despite everything, Sarah was still a girl. I couldn't just look at her and pretend as if it didn't bother me. I wanted to help her out with the homework but at the same time I just wanted to run away as well, thus I did the only thing that seemed logical to me. I told her that I had no idea how to solve the questions and continued to ignore her. Was this strategically the best move? No. Did I regret rejecting her like this afterwards? Absolutely.

"Did she say anything else?" Eric asked me, after I had told him the entire story. I shook my head.

"Just don't beat yourself up over this Christian. She'll understand eventually." He pointed out, before he continued to read his book on quantum physics. His keen green eyes were basically eating up the words written on those old pages. You could tell how fascinated he was simply by looking at him.

"But what if she's mad at me now?" I asked sincerely worried.

"Then go up to her and apologise."

"You know I can't Eric. Sarah is... Well... She's a girl!"

Finally, Eric put his book down again. He let out a long sigh, as he understood the meaning of the problem. He looked out the window but couldn't see anything besides the sturdy trees outside the classroom. For once there weren't any students running by, which was unusual. The break had just begun. Where were the small children that would play hide and seek?

"You know I can't apologise for you." There was a hint of pity in Eric's voice, as if he really regretted it. He didn't look me in the eyes. He acted indifferently. His golden hair was shining brighter than the sun. It was basically lighting up the entire classroom.

Even if Eric didn't admit it, I knew how worried he was about me. Sometimes I thought that Eric was the only person that truly understood me. Neither Kadir, nor Anthony or Tyson knew as much about me as Eric did. Eric was always by my side, no matter what.

"Just don't look at her face and you should be fine."

"I wasn't planning to."

"I'm surprised that you're so cautious of what Sarah thinks of you. You're not usually like this."

"It has nothing to do with her directly. She kind of helped me out once. I just didn't mean to be so rude to her. That's it."

"If you say so. We have chemistry after this by the way. Why don't you try to apologise to her before class?"

"I guess I could do that but-" I couldn't end my sentence because all of a sudden the door to the classroom was thrown open. Both Eric and I turned around simultaneously and who did we see standing there? Of course it had to be none other than Sarah Archer. I tried my best to not look at her face but it was already too late. I was staring at a complex of black strings and mist covering the part of her body that should have been her face. All I could make out was her straight dark brown hair that she wore as a low side ponytail, as well as her golden earrings and the poisonous smell of her perfume.

"Oh my god, I'm so damn sorry. I didn't think anyone would be in here. Actually, I was just wondering, have you seen a black purse somewhere? I think I left it here."

Eric and I both looked around. At first I couldn't find anything but once I looked insider the drawer underneath my table, I did in fact find a black purse. Shyly I held it up to Sarah, who had been more than glad that I had found it. The moment I handed it to her, she instantly made sure that nothing was missing.

"Thank you so much Christian! You're a lifesaver!"

She didn't look back or anything. She just happily left the classroom. For a second Eric and I looked at each other in silence. What did just happen? Did Sarah hear what we were talking about? Those questions were running through both of our minds and neither one of us had an answer to any of them.

"I think there's no need for you to apologise after all." Eric pointed out quietly.

No matter what I tried, Sarah just didn't make any sense to me. Her actions were as illogical as her words and yet I felt as if she was slowly pulling me in. Most of the time she was alone. As the sun was setting, the classrooms would be painted in beautiful autumnal colours and the wind made its way through the open window. I always found Sarah Archer in that very same classroom. Her head laying peacefully on the table. The floor covered in pieces of paper. What was she doing in there?

Usually I wasn't like this at all. I never wasted my energy on others and yet here I was, right in front of her, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. The black mist in front of her face made my stomach ache and just the thought of being seen together with her was devastating. She had already suffered enough because of me. I was aware of all the things she had to go through because of me. All of this was my fault and I hated myself for it.

Why did I feel so drawn to her? Why was it that she stole my breath every time she was near me? Why did I come back to this classroom, knowing she would be in there, peacefully asleep? I didn't know the answers to all those questions. All I knew was that something about Sarah Archer intrigued me. Even though I couldn't see her face, she looked beautiful underneath the setting sun.

Sarah Archer was weird but I didn't hate that about her.

Teen Romance FantasyWhere stories live. Discover now