"All eyes hold secrets, deep within, layers upon layers of them. Some innocent, some filled with guilt and remorse, and some deeply unsettling. And those steely grey ones were no different."
Tessa Franklin lives the average teenager's life: loving f...
She skated across the hallway floor, chasing the boy in a navy blue shirt that swept up behind him in the speed with which he was walking away. As he turned to the left at the end of the hallway, Tessa skid and managed to prevent herself from falling flat on her face as she continued her pursuit. "Jason!" she called out, jogging as she tried to catch up to his long strides. He halted mid way and she almost ran into him from the surprise, and as he turned around to face her, her head barely reaching his shoulders, forcing her to look up at him, she noticed his deep frown and sadness in his grey eyes. Her lips parted slightly, a million thoughts running in her head like her brain was an all open joggers park, confused at what made him so sad.
"Jason? What's up?" She asked, her brows furrowed with concern and instinctively her hand raised up to console him, but then it dropped as if it suddenly grew a mind of it's own. He sighed and looked away, his face trying to work up the best smile he could. "I miss home. I miss my school. I miss my friends. I miss my mom." He gushed, his voice cracked in the slightest on the last word like he was holding back on his tears. He let out a heavy breath and continued, "I don't mean to seem like whiney child, but, looking at you and your friends and even your family," He turned back to face her and went on, "I feel like I don't belong. Your life, everyone's life was so much easier when I was out of the picture. My life was easier when all of this didn't happen. I just feel so alone, Tess."
She was left speechless. All the wind in her lungs was knocked out at the realisation that she wasn't the centre of the universe. She wanted to cry, not because she had all the signs and vibes she felt around all wrong, but because she was so selfish that she didn't spare even a second of her thoughts on what he must be going through. His whole life had been turned on it's head and he couldn't do anything about it. He didn't know what he could do about it. He gave her a weak smile when she didn't respond for a few minutes and said, "I am not saying all of this for any reason other than the possibility that you would empathise. I don't want pity, so spare me, and don't ask me to join your group. For anything. I appreciate it, but it would just make things more uncomfortable for me." And walked away from his step-sister without another word, leaving her unsure of what she was to feel at that very moment.
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Mavis wasn't your typical teenage girl. No. She was the complete opposite of "typical". She was the rebel of the group, with a few piercings on her pale white skin, all of them inconspicuous under her dark clothing and a tattoo in Japanese that ran down the side of her waist, visible only when she was in the changing room during gym class, were probably some of the reasons she gave a different aura. What made her stick out like a sore thumb in the sea of teenagers in Parkington High was her bold choice of lip-stains, and today was no different. She very rarely chose to sober up her thin lips, picking out one of the brightest and the boldest of her lip colours everyday.
Her ruby red lips whispered something into Mike's ear, a sly smile concealed by the words that formed. Tessa couldn't help but feel a tug of jealousy in her chest as she walked towards the table the remainder of the group sat at the edge of the cafeteria, making her way through the students after her Biology class. Whatever Mavis had whispered made him smile, but only slightly, as he instantly sucked on the straw of his juice box to conceal his smile. Mavis slid away and when she looked up beamed at the sight of Tessa, waving like a maverick for her to join them. She pushed her self out of the group of students who were blocking her way, apologizing for stepping on someone's foot on her way out. She immediately went to the gap between Mavis and Mike and made herself comfortable between them, a sense of security encasing her that she could keep some distance between them, if there was anything she should be concerned about.
As soon as that thought entered, she shoved it into the back of her mind, the idea of Mike with anyone else but her was too disturbing for her to focus on. She diverted her attention to Kevin who was describing his month long trip to India with his family and the beautiful pictures he clicked of the scenes and architecture of the monuments he visited. He went on with lengthy poetic descriptions of the boat-houses they lived in Kerala and amazing sea-food he got to relish on during his stay. His vivid description transported all those who had huddled close to him around the table to listen to him, hanging by his every word to the country, taking in the scent of incense sticks and flowers through their mind's noses, and sensing the texture of the stone carvings under their skin as he spoke of the stories that each stone wall in the temples there had to tell.
The slow movement of Mike's arm slithering around her waist pulled her back to the cafeteria, the action making her breath hitch. She smiled and let her gaze drop to her side, waiting to feel his fingers to touch her waist like he so lovingly did when they sat together. But, what she saw made her gut fall to the floor, the sound of her blood pulsing in her ear blocked out any other sound that connected her with reality as she saw his fingers were placed softly on Mavis' pale hands.
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