Pulchritudinous

Chapter 3

⚐Kairos⚐
a propitious moment for decision or action.

-

It all really started when I was in eighth grade, only thirteen years old with things just starting to fall into place. Louis had finally paid his Father's debts off, and his jobs were going pretty well, and we had just refurnished the apartment.

We were finally shedding the struggles that had been left for us to deal with, but I was still quiet and kept to myself, that is, until the day he appeared.

It was mid-way through the year, and I was just in class, doing my work when he walked in. The teacher had been expecting him, introducing him to the class as Jonathan Moore. We were supposed to be working in groups, but I'd asked to be alone, knowing that I'd only slow the others down.

I was singled out, in my seat that was placed in the corner of the room, sitting at my desk quietly. I had finally looked up, and found his piercing gaze on me. His eyes were behind dark rimmed glasses that were just a little bit too big for his face.

He was still for a moment, but then I saw him grin in amusement, and it was gone. If I blinked, I would've never caught it.

But that's the thing about Eden, he was never easy to look away from.

The teacher said some things, gesturing to me, and I snapped out of it. I could feel the warmth in my cheeks immediately and looked down at my book, quickly taking notes while the chatter started up again.

That is—until I felt a voice at my ear.

"Loner much?" His tone made me jump, his breath hitting my ear and making my skin explode with sparks. Maybe it was just the shock, but I was left staring at him, speechless.

Looking back, I must've seemed like an idiot.

"Does she not speak?" He smiled, finally looking away from me to put some of his books in the desk beside my own. Thankfully, now I could breathe properly and I responded more quietly than I wanted to,

"Why are you sitting here..?" He looked at me in confusion, the smile turning into a soft grin.

"Didn't you hear the teacher? Beside you is the only open seat." I realized this, remembering the girl who used to sit beside me left the school a couple weeks back, until his voice continued, making me focus, "Why are you alone?"

"I don't have friends." I shrugged lightly, moving my gaze to my notebook, "By choice... I'm not interesting, I guess." I tried to figure out how to draw the attention from me and responded, "And you, 'New Boy', you probably had a lot of friends in your old school, right?"

He shook his head, taking off his glasses and glaring at them, muttering something under his breath about dirt and wiping the lenses on his shirt. He placed them back on the edge of his nose, looking back at me with a calm look,

"Well, I just left a foster family, they located me to a new place. I avoid talking to the other kids so I don't cry like the others when I need to leave." He replied without care, and I couldn't help but relate.

In a place like this, a big city that had news of violence, shootings, and kidnapping cases that were often left unsolved. It was always in the news, and we hardly ever got notified that things turned out well.