~Behind those Blue Eyes~
He was known as the weird kid. The Freak. The Outsider.
Every day he would keep to himself. At lunch time, he had a whole lunch table that remained empty besides him. Everyone else in the student body had learned to ignore him now. However, it hadn't always been like that though. When he first came here he had everyone's attention. Well, every girl’s attention.
With his looks it's not hard to believe. His dark -if not black- hair clung to his head and down the back of his neck. It framed his face contrasting his pale, masculine features. His tall, lean body hinted that he spent large amounts of time at the gym, not that he'd admit it to anyone. But the thing that really got the girls falling over themselves swooning was his eyes. They were the brightest shade of blue I'd ever seen. Like crystal fire.
For the first few weeks upon his arrival, he had everything 'the new kid' could only hope for. He had all the right crowds talking to him, he had the girls under his spell, and he even had a look that gained all the guys' respect too.
So everyone wondered, what's up with the new guy?
At first, I went out of my way to try and get to know him, make sure he was fitting in alright, but after a week of "I'm fine" and other one word answers, I decided it was time to back off and leave him alone, give him space to himself.
Rumors surfaced about his life outside of school. Where he lived, what he did, even about who he was seeing. I knew that since no one actually spoke to him, none of them could be true. So I tuned them out. But when some more absurd ones came to surface, I started to listen again. And the more I listened, the more I started to notice him watching us as we spoke about him and I started to think how close to the truth we actually were. Maybe they weren't absurd rumors after all...
I was standing by my locker on morning, listening to one of the many rumors that were being circulated at the time and I noticed him standing 3 lockers down, subtly listening as he was switching his books around. I started watching his reactions as the story was being told.
It was tragic. The story consisted of how his family was not as sunny as our fellow classmates.
I listened as she told me of how his father was a constant drunk. Violent to say the least. She made a compelling argument about why he always wore long sleeved shirts despite the temperatures. He did this because of the bruises that covered his body. Everywhere but his face and hands stayed constantly covered which fueled her story further.
I saw how he quickly looked over at me and then tugged his sleeves down further, turning his attention back to his locker.
She then went on to describe that his father...liked his sister very much and spent a lot of time with her as well as his mother. When he tried to stop his father, he let his anger out on him, beating him until her was satisfied that he wouldn't try to interrupt him again. He would beat him everywhere but his face, threatening him if he told, it'd be worse. So he kept quiet.
He went to the gym when his father wasn't home; slowly bulking up until the day he will fight back against him, biding his time until he can teach his father not to mess with his family.
I looked over at him and saw him flex his muscles and look down at himself. He looked up and saw me, quickly flashing me a stern look, silently telling me to keep quiet. I looked away quickly, shocked that everything she was saying was true.
The reason he never spoke to anyone was because he always kept his guard up. He learnt to always watch his back so he's scared to let anyone near him.
He looked over at me now that the story had ended; he was probably waiting for the sympathetic stare that everyone else seemed to give him. But I didn't, this time when I looked into his eyes; it was like looking straight through and into his soul. Like one of those cliché movies how the guy and girl have an intense loving moment when they stare into each other's eyes, silently vowing to love each other forever.
...Maybe not.
It wasn't like that. What I saw was honest fear. Surprisingly, I found a look that showed he desperately wanted to find someone that he can let in and take comfort in. Someone that he can talk to about his problems and hear them say "It'll be okay." But what surprised me most, was I saw a fierce determination. It almost made me proud that he still had it in him to fight back after everything that he'd been through. Letting no one push him what to do.
No, I didn't pity him, I looked up to him. His determination was something you don’t come across very often.
He gave me a wink and smiled briefly before turning off to class, leaving me wonder,
What else lies behind those blue eyes?
