Mine

Chapter Four

Damian saw her again at lunch. It was almost as if now that he had seen her once, he couldn't not see her. She had probably always been there but he had been oblivious to her existence before yesterday. Blissfully oblivious. But now it was as if the perception filter guarding her had been lifted.
Esther nudged him in the side as she sat down at the lunch table beside him. Her lunch consisted of a fruit salad. The redhead's healthy eating regime was purely for the sake of her image. Damian knew the truth. He knew that as soon as she went home she binged on chocolate, crisps and take out.
"What is it about that girl?" Esther asked quietly after following his gaze to find it set on Astrid once more.
Damian turned his attention to Esther now, blinking slowly. "What do you mean?" He asked after a moment.
"Astrid." Esther said simply as she plucked a grape out of her salad. "You didn't know her before yesterday and now look at you. Like some lovesick puppy. It's quite comical actually. I never expected to ever see you like this." She then popped the grape in her mouth.
Damian dropped his eyes to the table and took a slow breath, feeling slightly put out by Esther's not so kind words. "I dunno Essie." He whispered after a minute of awkward silence. "I really don't."
"She a kid." Esther reiterated her point from that morning.
Damian set his jaw as he slowly looked back up at her. "I can see that." He said, his voice now flat as he spoke. "I'm not an idiot."
Esther bit her lip as she tried not to sigh. Damian swore that he could see her actually swallow it down as he scowled at her.
"I know you're not." She said finally. "I just don't want to see you do anything stupid."
Damian sighed and stood up. "Esther. I have spoken to the girl twice. Will you stop getting your knickers in a twist?!"
Esther just rolled her eyes and this only caused his frustration to grow. He walked away before he could say or do anything more. He knew Esther meant well. He also knew that she was right but now that Astrid was in his life, he found himself wanting more of her there. She was on his mind and she didn't seem to want to leave it.
He really didn't feel like he had the energy to deal with Joasia and Iona so instead of looking for his friends he just went to the school's library. He hid at the back with a book until it was time for afternoon classes which he attended in silence as he tried to figure out what he was going to do that evening. He didn't think that going to Esther's was a good idea but the thought of sitting in his own empty house wasn't particularly appealing either.
He took the bus home anyway and headed inside where he put the TV on and turned the volume up as high as it would go, letting the music channels blare out the sock songs Kerrang had selected for that afternoon and decided to actually do shome homework for once. If nothing else it might give the teachers a heart attack when he handed it in on time.
It was pretty late by the time that he decided he had done more than enough but he still wanted to go out for a walk. He bundled himself up and headed out into the cool night air. He shoved his hands into his pockets to hide them from the biting cold and let his feet just carry him wherever they fancied.
However, it wasn't long until the pink-haired girl was on his mind again. He found himself trying to read her, trying to figure her out. Why did she introduce herself to him? Was it all about pity or did she maybe - just maybe - feel the same odd feeling towards him that he did towards her?
As he walked he undid his ponytail, letting his brown hair fall around his shoulders. He let out a sigh, watching as his breath became visible before him. He found it slightly amusing that once you noticed things like this, that you couldn't not notice them. This was what Astrid had become. Now that he had seen her once he couldn't not see her. It was almost as if he was becoming hyper-aware of her. Wasn't that an animal thing?
He closed his eyes tightly for a moment before he turned the corner again and made his way back to his house.
Once back inside he turned the TV off before heading into his bedroom where he lay on his bed, simply staring at the ceiling and waiting to see if he felt tired or hungry or both. He decided on hungry but he found that he didn't want to get up so he argued with himself for a while longer before he cooked himself a pizza, leaving what he didn't want to eat in the microwave with a note stuck to the door for his dad.
He then showered before he went back to his bed. He eventually figured his phone out enough to send Esther a text to tell her 'goodnight'. He was a big believer in never going to bed angry and as Esther was one of the few people who actually gave a toss about him, that definitely applied here.
He put his phone away, hiding it in the depths of the drawer on his bedside table, before he got into bed properly and closed his eyes.
His brain was still very much busy and ticking over but eventually exhaustion took over and he fell into a deep sleep before his dad came home. Another day without the two having much contact.