perfect storm

Chapter Fifteen | Lust

April 11th, 2022, 1:00 PM

i bent down in front of Eddie's desk, shamelessly flirting with him before class started. i had my elbows on his desk, ever so often taking a hand off my face so i could touch his hand or arm. i smiled at him, delicately running my fingers over his bare arm. i loved his leather jacket, but when he didn't have it on, i could see his tattoos. they decorated his skin so beautifully. i traced the bats on his forearm, lightly going over every ridge on the wings. i could tell he liked this, because every time my finger touched down on his arm again he shivered a little. he thought i wouldn't notice. 

my eyes lifted up to his, and i'll really never get tired of looking at them. they reminded me of when you pour milk into black coffee. the soft swirls sinking deeper into the liquid, developing the color to a lighter brown through the glass. every time i gaze into his eyes, i can feel myself falling deeper in love with him. a stern voice yanked me out of my magic spell. "Ruby, take your seat please." i rolled my eyes and gave Eddie one last rub on the back of his hand with my thumb. i started to walk away when he gently grabbed my arm and pulled me down to his level. "come over today. i have a surprise for you." he whispered. 

a chill ran down my spine and i could feel the goosebumps on the back of my neck. i turned to face him and nodded, hiding the very real anxiety that flooded through me. i went down the column and sat in my seat. now all i could do was look at the back of his head while i wracked my brain wondering what the surprise was. what was he planning? surprises give me anxiety. but i'll love anything he gives me. i spent the rest of the class bouncing my leg, my shoe probably making a really annoying constant sound on the floor. but i couldn't contain my nervousness. 

at one point, he turned around to look at me. i was looking at the board, my leg going a mile a minute, when i saw him out of the corner of my eye. i looked at him, and his eyes trailed down to my leg. he looked back up at me and mouthed "relax." for some reason, that calmed my nerves, even though he was the one making me so anxious. the bouncing slowed until it came to a stop. i took a deep breath, sitting forward in my chair, and crossing my legs under my seat. it was the only way i could control it. eventually, class ended, and i could talk to Eddie again. 

i met him at the from of the class before we left. i tapped his shoulder and he spun around, smiling widely when he saw it was me. "we can drive to your house after school if you want." i said, slightly tilting my head to the side. "oh, yeah, i saw that you had a car when you, um, came over last." he replied, muttering the last part and rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly. "when did you get that?" 

i shrugged. "i've had it for a while, but it's been in the shop until now. that's why i didn't have it when we met." he shook his head in understanding. "well, that'll certainly be better than taking the bus." he laughed. 

we walked out into the hall before we had to depart once again. "parking lot exit?" i asked, balancing on my tippy toes so my face was closer to his. his eyes darted around my face and i saw him swallow. nice. "y- yeah." 

i dropped back down on my heels. "cool. i'll see you at two thirty." i replied, smiling up at him. "see you, Rue." he said back, giving me the same smile. 

my last class, was, you guessed it, painfully slow. i'm not going to talk about how it went because frankly i don't care enough to remember. i walked giddily to the parking lot doors, filling Robin and the others in on what happened after geometry. they were glad he apologized and happy that we were okay. i waited at the doors just like i did last time, giving people room to leave. i looked back down at my phone, skipping through my playlist trying to find a song i was in the mood for. suddenly the beautiful ring-covered hand i recognized so well showed up in front of my screen, blocking my view.