Passionate Eyes

Chapter 1: Passionate Eyes

It was just an ordinary day for many students at Damian College. The students wore white polo shirts that seemed to make everyone feel tighter than usual. The polo shirts glistened under the scorching sun, and a boy with glasses arrived at the gate of the school.

"Good morning, Sir," said Tom. "Rough morning?" The janitor looked as if he had been drinking all night. His eyes were red, his nose stuffy from the early morning cold, and the dirt on his white shirt resembled a paint blot.

"Yep, it was a stupid nigghhhhtt," replied the janitor, slurring his words. The smell of strong alcohol was evident in his breath and clothes, and the students around the gate made it clear they could smell it by holding their napkins and, in the boy's case, their polo shirts up to their noses.

"What is wrong with your eyes?" asked the janitor. "They seem to be pinkish."

"Oh, it's just an irritant that I've had since I turned 20."

"I see. You might want to get it checked. There's a clinic over there," he said, pointing to a small building with a huge cross on the front door.

"It's fine, Sir. I might take a few days off after today."

Tom walked towards the classroom where the majority of his classmates were already seated. There was James, always wearing glasses with a smirk that made people weirdly happy; Mark, who was fidgeting with a gold watch; and Ocean, who had pigtails with a helmet by her side.

"Morning," said Tom. "Is Sir Liam around today?"

"Nope," replied Ocean. "In fifteen minutes, we leave the class, or we get told off."

"You know," said James, "we have our thesis around the corner."

"What are you going to make?" asked Tom.

"Maybe a robot?"

"Alright, class, settle down," said Sir Liam. "Turn on the computers."

The class slowly settled back into their computers. The green bars moved slowly to the right, the dust on the wooden desks, and the greasy smell from the mouse, which resembled chicken.

"So, how are you supposed to get it into the app?" asked James. "This model isn't doing wonders."

"Try redoing it again in Google," said Tom. "I did it again, and it worked."

"Pfft, I did it five times."

"Yeah, we'll do it again."

Tom looked at the screen. Slowly, the green bar moved forward, like a turtle race. The entire class was busy moving and downloading their files into their own programs. With only 10 minutes left in the class and the deadline approaching, many were sweating, even though the classroom was as cold as a refrigerator.

Tom looked at the screen and saw something. His retinas were pinkish, but not the kind that would make him look sick—more like pinkish roses.

"Uhm," said Tom, poking Mark, who was focused on getting his work done quickly, even though he was facing the same problem as everyone else.

"Yes?" replied Mark.

"Can you check my eyes for a second?"

"No. If I'm looking at the green bar, I think it's going faster."

Tom decided to head out of the door, almost covering his eyes as if they were burning, but not in pain—more like a feeling he couldn't decipher. He ran quickly, almost reaching the bathroom, and stumbled across a girl he tried not to embarrass himself in front of.

"Ahhh!" exclaimed Tom. "Are you okay, Molly?" Tom reached out his hand, trying to help Molly off the ground. Her books were all over the place, and Tom quickly gathered everything to avoid further embarrassment.

"Yes, I am, Tom," replied Molly. "What about you?"

"I'm fine also, Molly—" Tom looked into Molly's deep brown eyes and tried to move but couldn't, almost as if he had been locked in place. His legs felt pinned, but Molly was a different story. She looked as if she had been gazing at stars. Her cheeks were turning red, and her confused look turned into a cute grin that Tom did not expect.

Tom slowly felt he could move again, and sure enough, what happened felt nothing like what he had experienced. The numbness in his eyes stopped, but he felt out of breath and slowly passed out in front of Molly.

Tom felt something cushioning him—a pillow behind his head and something he was holding in his left hand. He felt gravity wasn't against him. Then again, he was lying down in a bed. Tom slowly got up and saw James, Mark, and Ocean at his bedside.

"Bro, you're awake?" said Mark. "You've been out cold for three hours."

"What did I miss?" asked Tom. "I feel terrible."

"Well, you missed Physical Ed and Sir Liam telling us the deadline is on Monday. And the other thing," interrupted Ocean, sounding like she didn't want to mention it but it just came out.

"What other thing?"

"Uhm, Molly has been head over heels for you," replied James. "She brought you to the clinic, and after that, well..."

"She kissed you on the cheek and kept hugging you until we arrived. Then she had to go back to her class."

"Oh, that explains it— Wait, what!" yelled Tom.

"Yeah," said James. "Here's a tissue. Wipe your cheek with it."

Tom wiped the kisses on his cheek and looked at the small paper in his hand that read:

Call me
Love, Molly

"Anyways, what happened?" asked Ocean.

"My eye started hurting when I nagged Mark to come with me to the bathroom, and I bumped into Molly with her friends, I think?"

"No friends," replied Mark. "You both were the only ones there."

"Damn. So I guess I need to stay here for a few hours."

"Don't use that as an excuse," laughed James. "You still have to find a partner for Physical Education, and at the moment it's Ellie."

"Her?" replied Tom. "She acts like a damn child."

"Hey, don't blame me."

"I Blame the damn instructor who replaced sports with dancing."

Tom felt the tension of the situation easing due to the laughter of Ocean and James. Even Mark was smirking. However, at the back of Tom's mind, he still had concerns about what had happened to him an hour ago.

"Well, you better get up soon," said Ocean. "Otherwise, it'll be another yelling from the professor."

"Yeah, go on ahead," replied Tom. "James, can you help me up?"

Ocean and Mark left the room quickly, while James stayed behind to help Tom. But as soon as James looked at Tom, his expression changed from a smirk to a look of concern.

"Dude, are your eyes pink?"

"Oh no."