PHTHARTIC, miguel diaz

i. first day back

"will you recognize me?
call my name or walk on by?"

i. first day back
"it's esme, and you are?"

     ESME WALKED BESIDE JUDE IN THE  CAFETERIA, Esme trailed behind her sister, Sam, and her friends. She wasn't thrilled about sitting with them, but until she found a group she could tolerate, this would have to do. As they passed a table with three boys, two of them glanced up, their eyes tracking the girls.

Once they were seated, Esme distanced herself from the group, focusing on her phone. "Already annoyed?" Jude whispered to her.

"Mhm. I fought with my dad before I left. They're making my headache worse just at the sight of them," Esme muttered, lifting her head slightly. Her gaze flicked over to the boys' table for a moment before shifting to Yasmine.

She overheard one of Sam's friends commenting on one of the boys' looks, with Sam predictably doing nothing to stop her. Esme groaned, rolling her eyes as she glanced back at the boys' table.

Her eyes settled on the boy sitting on the far left. He had briefly glanced at Sam before his gaze shifted to her. He offered her a small smile, which she surprisingly returned. Moments later, he stood up, his eyes never leaving hers as he approached.

Just as he was about to speak, Kyler beat him to their table. He wedged himself between the sisters, attempting to drape his arm around Esme. She instantly rebuffed him, her voice filled with a whine. "Get off Kyler, seriously."

She briefly looked away from the boy, who had quickly returned to his table. "Who's that?" Jude asked, noticing Esme's attention.

Esme shrugged, turning back to Jude. "I don't know."

E.L

The whole day Esme saw the same boy in a few of her classes, at one point she even got a chance to sit beside him, "Hey." She said to the boy as she sat her book bag beside the chair she was planning on sitting down.

The boy turned to look at her with a bit of confusion as to who she was talking to. "Me? Are you... talking to me?" He pointed at himself as she sat in the chair.

"Yeah. I said hey to you, braces."

"Oh. Hey." He smiled at her as they started to settle, grabbing a pencil, etc.,

"I saw you walking up to us. At lunch."

"You did?"

"Of course I did. You weren't hard to ignore, especially after you stood up." She shrugged, sitting calmly.

He turned to look at her, "Sorry about that. I didn't mean to stare. A friend of mine said you guys were more on the popular side. I was just.. curious."

"I don't see myself as 'popular', I just hang out with them because of my sister. Those are her lovely friends. But, I'll be far away from the table as soon as I find friends of my own to sit with." She explained. Miguel nodded his head quietly to show that he understood her.

Esme paused and turned to him. "Wait, is that why you looked at me like you'd seen a ghost? I promise I don't bite," she said with a chuckle, amused by the idea of scaring someone off with a reputation she didn't even have.

"No, no, it's not that. It was just... unexpected," he said, trying to clarify. Esme just smiled.

"Right, unexpected. Anyway, Esme," she said, making sure he knew her name.

"Hm?"

"It's Esme. My name," she repeated. He gave a small 'Oh' and nodded.

"Got it," he said, nodding slowly and turning his gaze away. They sat in silence for a moment before Esme squinted at him.

"And you are?" she asked, tilting her head.

"Miguel," he said, turning back to her with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Miguel." She returned the smile, letting out a small sigh. "I won't forget your name."

"I didn't think you would," he replied, looking a bit puzzled. They sat in silence for a moment, staring at each other, until he added, "Okay, I thought you might." They both laughed, and Esme shook her head, covering her face with a smile.

—

"don't you... forget about me.
don't, don't, don't, don't."