Monday
“So, tell me about yourself.” Ana said, smiling. I shrugged. What was there to tell?
“There isn't much I can tell you really. My life is quite boring, as am I.” I said, quietly.
Why am I so shy? It's embarrassing.
She rolled her eyes. “There has to be something... anything!” She urged.
I shook my head. “Nope.” I said.
Ana sighed and shrugged, turning to speak to Siva between the seats. I pressed my earphone into my ear and pressed play on my iPod.
I felt more relaxed with music playing.
The earphone was suddenly pulled from my ear and I turned with a frown on my face, pissed off and ready to argue when the face of Tom smirked back at me.
He literally turned my insides to jelly. Dammit.
“Excuse me.” I managed to squeak out. The same smirk returned to his lips and as he licked them before speaking, I thought I was ready to curl into a ball and die.
I must be blushing, how could I not be? He was so attractive.
“I asked you a question.” He said, leaning forwards toward me.
I got chills down my spine as his eyes looked into mine, almost as though he was looking into my soul. Completely and utterly. Right through me.
My silence must have amused him. “I asked you what you're listening to.” He said. I blinked and hoped he wouldn't take my iPod from me and find the extremely embarrassing variants that were included in my library.
“I listen to everything. Every genre.” I said.
“I didn't ask that.” His eyes got smaller.
I found him rude but still didn't turn away.
“I asked what you're listening to. Specifically.” He added a sigh to the end of his sentence, as though speaking to me was the worst job in the world and he could be doing something much better with his time.
“I'm listening to The 1975, if you must know.” I said.
Tom sat back, slowly, and folded his arms.
“They're good.” He said, turning his attention elsewhere.
I rolled my eyes and turned back towards the front of the coach.
Monday, later.
I must have fallen asleep because Ana suddenly elbowed me in the ribs. “Come on, we're at a service station for food and a toilet break.” She said. I nodded and tried to wake up, hoping that I hadn't dribbled on myself.
We grabbed a few things from the shop, magazines and chocolate, before heading back to the coach, cold and miserable from the rain that was dampening everything, including the moods of fifty teenagers.
Nikki and Val seemed friendly as they laughed about someone in the Starbucks.
“He was hot!” Nikki shrugged as Val shook her head. “No way.” She said. “He was totally checking you out.” Nikki said, rolling her eyes as she took another sip from her frappuchino. Val pushed her shoulder, gently.
“Who was checking you out?” A boy asked. Slightly shorter than me, but very good looking. “Oh, no one.... Nathan... have you met Sophie?” Val asked, indicating at me.
“Hi, mate.” Nathan said, smiling.
We got back on to the coach and I noticed that the seat I was sat in beforehand was occupied. By Siva.
Val and Nikki sat together.
Sally and Jasmine sat together.
Meaning there was one seat free.
Tom patted the seat beside him, the smirk returning. I sighed.
I hoped and prayed that I wouldn't do one of two things.
One : Lose all dignity and sit staring at him.
Or
Two : Kill him for being so rude and idiotic.
Two hours after being back on the road and almost at the Eurotunnel, I realised that I was in fact staring. I knew it.
He was asleep, breathing deeply and softly, giving me chance to survey him. We hadn't spoken one word to each other, in fact, I'd stared out at the rain for most of the time, not even turning to him once.
His eyelashes were long for a boy, making my chest ache. And his hair was brown but a very dark brown. Almost black. And not styled, almost as though he had woken this morning and ruffled it, leaving it be until every so often brushing his fingers through it when in the middle of a sentence.
His old, faded Beatles t-shirt peeked out from underneath his black leather jacket and his blue jeans were ripped at the knees.
“Would you stop staring at me? I can feel your eyes on me, like daggers.” He murmured.
My eyes widened and I felt my skin grow hotter with embarrassment.
“Don't flatter yourself. I'm not staring at anyone.” I said but my palms grew sweaty.
Why was I such a wimp around him?
I turned back to the window and increased the volume of my music again. Once again, my earphone was taken out.
“I swear, I will punch you.” I warned.
Tom raised his hands in a mock surrender. “I was just going to ask you if I could listen with you.” He said. I sighed and shrugged, allowing him one earphone.
“Let me pick a song.” He commanded. I pulled a face.
“No.” I said.
He took my iPod from me, easily, searching through my song list.
“Oh, good. You're not a complete loser then.” He said, clicking play.
Wonderwall by Oasis filled my ears and I watched as he tapped his knee to the beat.
I relaxed into my seat and tucked my knees up to my chin, trying to get comfortable. Tom picked them up, easily, laying them out across his knees, now using my shin as a mini drum set to the beat.
I think my heart stopped.
Something about Tom was different and I spent the rest of the time trying to to work out whether he was beautifully odd or oddly beautiful. Either way he was chaos.
And probably trouble.
