Seasons

Chapter 5

The next day I walk into school I try to avoid people at all costs. I walk with my head down, I watch my feet instead of where I’m going, I can’t even bring myself to take off the heavy jacket I've been wearing for the past two classes. It’s too hot in this school and I can’t take off the jacket. I make it to my next class and sit quietly in the back, the same seat I had the incident with the boy. Sure enough, he walked in. He took the seat next to me this time and stared at me, I looked away.

I could still feel his eyes looking at me, I was becoming uncomfortable. Stop staring at me, please don’t bring any more attention than you already did yesterday. I just want to be left alone. I balled up the end of my sleeve in my hand and gripped it tight. My hands were so sweaty the sleeve was getting soaked. Sweat rolled down the side of my head and I knew if I kept this up I was going to get sick.

Slowly I pushed up my sleeves and took my hood off to try and cool my body down a little bit. Once I did this I just wanted to strip. It was too hot but I knew I couldn’t test my limits. I could still feel the boy's’ eyes peering at me, looking at me, almost without blinking. What is his problem? I glance over at him and see he is focused not on my face, not anywhere else, but my arm. Crap. I quickly push my sleeves back down and avoid any sorts of eye contact.

Not even a second later I felt him grab my arm and roll up the sleeve showing my exposed arm. My arm had a bruised handprint made from my father last night. It was a dark brown, purple-green color which stung at his touch. I snapped my head at him and yanked my arm away hissing in pain. “What happened?” His voice was quiet, sincere, and concerned. I stayed quiet, he is just fooling with me, he wouldn’t actually care. I felt his hand on my arm once again, but more gentle. “Please, was it her?” He paused to look at my arm again. “No, that handprint is too big, who did this?”

How am I supposed to talk about this? Why does he care? Who does he think he is getting in my business, he has no right. I kept quiet. He sighed and moved his hand off my arm before minding his own business. Thank you, just in time because Jennie and her gang walked just moments after. Jennie glared at me, she stared me down the whole time she walked to her desk and sat down. She leaned over and whispered something to her friends, I knew she was talking about me. I kept my head down.

After class, I slowly packed up and swung my backpack over my shoulders before I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Excuse me, can I walk you to your next class?” It was him, shivers ran down my back. I immediately shook my head no and walked away only to be stopped again. “Why not? I stuck up for you and paid attention to you so why are you being so cold?”

I inhaled before sighing. “I’m sorry,” I spoke quietly. “I just don’t want to be caught talking to you, it could ruin your reputation.”

“Hows that?” He smiled. “I don’t think you’re a bad person, you seem nice, respectable, and acceptable, at least to me.”

I wasn’t sure how to respond. “Please, if Jennie catches me talking to you-”

“Jennie?” He scoffed and rolled his eyes. “Stop worrying about what others think about you. So what if she finds out, what is she going to do?” My body tightened as I thought about all the horrible things she could do. My heart froze once it got to death, all the different ways she could kill me and no one would care, I bet she could even hide the body. “Excuse me?” He snapped in front of my face. “Are you okay?”

“No.” I said quickly before walking away. He caught back up with me. Dang it, leave me alone already.

“What’s your name?” He asked with a small smile on his face, a warm smile, a comforting smile. Would it be okay if I told him my name? Would it be alright if he told me his? “I’m Jinyoung.” He spoke first.

“April.” I let my lips curl into a smile before building up the courage to look him in the eyes. “I’m April.”

I could sense joy in the atmosphere around us. It felt, nice. It felt, warm, cuddly, and soft. He tucked his hands in his pockets before giggling. “April? I like it, it suits you.” Jinyoung looked down at me before continuing to speak. “The month of spring, the month of life. The sunshine after the storm, the blooming cherry blossoms after a harsh winter. The most beautiful time of the year, April.”

My heart skipped a beat, it almost sounded like he called me beautiful, almost. I could feel my cheeks heating up and I hid behind my hair. His smile was cute, his eyes shimmered in the hallway lights, they sparkled. He seemed so relaxed, I seemed so relaxed around him. The calm before the storm, but with him I don’t sense a storm, I sense shelter. A bunker from the world's nuclear weapons, a safe house, safe. For the first time in what honestly seems like forever, I felt safe. I can’t get what he said out of my head though, I’m a smiling mess. The more I think about the more I realize, maybe it was a compliment, maybe.