Don't Expect A Fairytale.

12. NO ONE EVER HAD MUCH NICE TO SAY

*EVA'S POV*

One day you miss, and it's all gibberish.

It was three minutes into the third period, and I was clueless already. The teacher rambled on and I blankly stared on, not knowing what the hell she was talking about. It felt like I'd missed a month and not just a day.

I let my thoughts wander; I couldn't make sense of that balderdash even if I tried anyway. They went straight to yesterday, how I'd decided to call my father out on his bullshit once in for all and then walked out of the house to save my peace of mind. When I'd returned after roaming around the neighbourhood for a bit, I was relieved to find an empty place. I saw no signs of anger or destruction except for the broken glass bottle he had entered with, which I had swiftly cleaned up.

Despite the fact that I despise my father, there is no doubt that I'm worried about him. He's always drunk, has been since Mom died. Also, ever since I cracked the safe and shifted the money from it (I'm saving for my future since he isn't exactly helping), I've noticed that he drinks cheap liquor which can't be good for his system. He probably owes the bar a lot too. I know I shouldn't bother after all that he's put me through, but I can't help it. I wish I could help him in some way.

Suddenly, distracted by movement in my peripheral vision, I look up. Much to my horror, the entire class was looking at me expectantly, including the teacher. A quick look around shows and unfinished answer on the board, just the last of the calculation was incomplete. Thanking the gods that I understood this question, I quickly calculated the answer in my mind. All this happened in barely five seconds.

"Um, 154.24?" I say, standing up and hoping it was the right answer.

The teacher looks confused for a second, looks back at the board and then chuckles. "Correct answer, Eva, but I was just asking you to open the window. Don't you think it's getting a little stuffy in here?"

"Oh!" I say stupidly and I'm pretty sure my face is tomato red by now. "Yes ma'am." I mumble and proceed to open the adjacent window.

"And Eva? Please pay attention in class." She says, curtly this time. I simply nod and sit back down. Slowly the stares move away from me and to the front of the room to her.

"It's okay, it happens at times, Eevs." Says the guy sitting in front of me. I simply nodded at him too, not wanting to start a conversation.

His name is Ashish, he's Leena's cousin and the only other Indian person in our school. Yet unlike her, he had a shitty personality, which is why I called him Ass-ish in my head. He definitely had a thing for me, despite me telling him I wasn't interested repeatedly. He called me 'Eevs', which annoyed the living hell out of me. He always made an effort to sit somewhere around me. Even when I would sit somewhere else, he'd come along and god forbid you sit in his seat. He'll tell you to get lost in the very rudest of terms and would then proudly sit back with a smirk on his face. He liked each and every single post of mine on each and every social media, was always aware of what I was up to, knew my marks in tests before I did, turned around and peeped at whatever I was doing and messaged me way too often. I'm really thankful that somehow, he doesn't know my family history yet.

"So, how's your English project with that blue haired guy going?" He asks, not understanding (nor caring) that I don't want to talk to him. And did I mention that he always knew what I was up to?

"Great. His name is Michael." I say bluntly. From the corner of my eye I see Michael himself look in this direction. Probably heard his name since his seat wasn't that far.

"Oh okay. Michael. So, great as in?" He goes on again as Michael looks directly at him this time.

"Great as in great." I reply in a monotone and look away not so subtly.

"Great." He says and stops. Maybe, hopefully he'll look in front now.

"So why didn't you come to school yesterday?"

...or maybe not. I simply keep looking away from him, hoping he'll get the hint.

"Eevs?" He says persistently as I contemplate punching him for the hundredth time.

"What?" I say, annoyed. I can hear Michael quietly chuckling to himself by now and I glare at him. He stops.

"Bro, can you shut up? We're trying to have a conversation here." Ass-ish says to Michael.

Before he can say anything, I butt in. "No, we're not having any conversation, bro." I tell him and he looks at Michael with an annoyed expression as if it was his fault.

"It's all your fault. All I wanted was to talk to her but you had to laugh. Blue haired dumbass." He says and I want to punch him even more. Yet before anyone one of us can say anything, the teacher speaks up.

"Ashish, please leave the class." She says and I mentally high-five myself.

"What did I do?" He says right back.

"Please don't give me that nonsense and leave."

"But what did I even do?"

"You've been talking non-stop for the last five minutes. Please. Leave."

"I didn't do anything, I won't leave." He says stubbornly. This was another reason I hated him, he never admitted his mistakes and argued with the teacher. This wasn't the first time this was happening.

"Ashish!" The teacher yells and he keeps looking away form her.

"Kindy get up and leave the class before I call the principal." She says. But he still doesn't move.

"I didn't do anything. It was Michael who was annoying me." He says as Michael gasps.

'You're legit seconds away from being punched.' I think.

"Michael? He was studying, unlike you. He won't do such a thing. Now stop accusing others and leave the class."

'Yes!!' I think as Michael subtly smirks to himself.

Ass-ish begins to leave but unfortunately, the bell for the next period rings. But his proud expression soon washes away when the teacher says, "Don't be so happy. You're not entering my class tomorrow or the next week. I won't forget so don't even think of entering my class."

Hell YEAH.

As I walk out of the class, I hear Ass-ish speaking again. "You will pay for this, you blue-haired freak."

Michael opens his mouth to speak but doesn't say anything as Ass-ish glares at him and walks way.

"Don't listen to him, he's just an ass. Ass-ish." I say to him in hopes of making his sad expression go away as he did the same for me two days ago.

He looks at me for a second and then laughs. "Ass-ish. I like."

"I came up with it long ago. It's stuck ever since." I tell him.

"Yeah, very appropriate. I think he has a creepy-ass crush on you though."

"I think so too. He just doesn't back off. And just so you know, I don't think your hair looks bad." I say, to which he chuckles.

"I tried dyeing them black but they turned out blue." He says gloomily, making me laugh.

"How is that even possible?"

"I don't know, if I did, they would be black. I'll try again today, though." He says, which makes me upset. I love the blue on him.

"Don't dye them black please." I say, looking at the ground.

"Why? No one seems to like them."

"I like them." I say softly, looking back at him. "It brings out the color of your eyes beautifully."

He goes pink as his breath catches in his throat. Well done, Eva. "Um. Th-thanks. I have to go to class. See you around." He says in a single breath and is gone before I can answer.

This reminds me of the time in the park when I saw it in him the first time. So he didn't know how attractive he was.