The Carrier: The Hunt Begins

Chapter 2

Eva's Crush

During math class, Eva found herself drifting off into her own imagination as Mr. Hopkins diligently wrote algebraic equations on the whiteboard. The monotony of his voice made it all too easy to escape into other realms where anything was possible, except for math. Lost in her daydream, Eva's gaze wandered towards the window, captivated by the beauty of the autumn day unfolding outside. In her mind's eye, she could vividly picture herself immersed in the serene outdoors, inhaling deeply to savor the crisp, invigorating air that filled her lungs. The gentle caress of the sun's warmth on her skin reminded her that its comforting embrace would soon fade away until the arrival of spring renewed its radiance once again. She walked through the fields of wheat that towered over her, softly brushing up against the stalks and inhaling the natural aroma of air and fresh wheat while it rustled in the winds. The sky was a pure blue with short wispy clouds stumbling through the atmosphere. In the glory of her daydream, she had an urge to look behind herself for a moment. She turned around and saw Brian Adelphi, standing at the edge of the field, smiling at her. When she came back to reality, she saw Brian sitting at his desk behind her in the back row. He smirked at her in a quirky way that showed he got caught staring at her. She felt her heart palpitate and her hands felt sweaty. She quickly faced forward, letting her nerves get the best of her. Eva accidentally sent her thick math book crashing to the floor with a resounding smack, causing everyone in the room to startle in their seats. All eyes turned towards Eva, who felt her cheeks burn with embarrassment. She instinctively squeezed her shoulders tightly together, as Mr. Hopkins paused midway through writing an equation on the whiteboard, his hand frozen in mid-air.

"What seems to be the problem over there?" he said nonchalantly.

"Sorry, Mr. Hopkins. I knocked my book off my desk." Eva's voice cracked. Tiny giggles echoed around the room.

"Alright," Mr. Hopkins said. "Don't let it happen again, Eva." He pushed his glasses back up his nose.

"Yes, Mr. Hopkins." He put the tip of the marker on the board to finish the lesson when the bell rang. Eva closed her book and shoved it back into her bag and got up from her desk. She was about to make it past Mr. Hopkins' desk when he called her name while capping his marker. His brown eyes were hard to divert from once caught in the mesmerizing gaze. His tussled brown hair showed his laid-back sense of style but was professional in his behavior.

"Eva, I would appreciate it you can pay attention a little more in my class." He leaned over his desk while students left the room.

"I have an A in this class, Mr. Hopkins."

"I know you do. But when you disrupt others in class that do not have the grades you have, it becomes a matter of disturbing the education they could be getting." He raised his eyebrows as he made a good point in his mind. But Eva thought, even if she were disturbing the class, it didn't mean these kids would pay any more attention to his boring lessons. He may have been a good-looking math teacher, but students did not learn math by looking at him. Eva nodded and smiled as she walked away from Mr. Hopkins and out of the classroom into the hallway where she waited for Stephanie to get out of her class. Brian followed her out of the classroom, and they made eye contact as he entered the hallway. She felt her bones shake and the nerves in her hands bounce to where she could not control her shivers.

"Hey," Brian said circling around her till he locked eyes with her. Nervously Eva broke her gaze and looked around for something else to focus on. "Sorry I made you spill your book in class."

"Oh. No. You didn't. I...just..."

"It's okay. I was locked in a stare, and it happened to be at the back of your head." Eva nervously laughed. "I didn't expect you to look back at me."

"I didn't expect to see you staring at me."

"It's hard not to stare at you," Brian said, realizing what he said may have come out wrong. "I mean, not like because you're weird or something like that." Eva nodded her head and thought that he was judging her weirdness now. She blinked rapidly, trying to wrap her head around what was happening. Brian was talking to her, but at the same time, she felt like she was going to explode on the inside. Her hands were getting sweaty, and she felt like her left side of her face was drooping down to the floor. She could not help but to nervously giggle trying to keep a straight face as Brian pulled his foot out of his mouth.

Stephanie hurried down the hallway and positioned herself beside Eva, her expression a mixture of shock and concern. Sensing that Eva needed help, Stephanie promptly offered her support. As she often did, Stephanie remarked that whenever Eva wore that perplexed and frightened expression, it signaled that her aura was out of whack.

"Hey, you two. What's going on?" Steph strolled into the conversation effortlessly.

"Nothing. Just chattin'," Eva said, as she bobbed her head like she spoke like that all the time. Brian squinted his eyes. The situation just got so intensely weird he could tell things were not going right.

"Oh yeah, what about?" Steph said, then wrapped her arm around Eva's shoulder and pulled her closer.

"You know what?" Brian scratched his chin and snapped his fingers looking back down the hallway. "I gotta run to my next class. Maybe we can catch up later, on the bus or something?"

"She's coming over to my house to do some homework, so she won't be on the bus."

"Oh okay. Maybe tomorrow then." Brian smiled. His sneakers squeaked as he turned and walked away. Steph pulled Eva close to her.

"What the hell was that?" Steph said with a huge grin on her face.

"Nothing," Eva denied anything happened. Nothing that she knew of anyways, just an awkward conversation that stopped dead in its tracks.

"No kidding. You look like you ate a frog while you were talking to that boy."

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did. You gotta tell me what happened."

"I'll tell you later."