Everything about Ever.

Three

Monday rolled in, flattening the weekend and pushed it to one side. Ever made sure she'd set her alarm for six am the night previous, to allow her time to get ready for her class at eight thirty. She's laid out her plaid shirt a dark pair of jeans and worn boots at the end of her bed. It was her lucky outfit, it had seen her through graduation, job interviews and yes her university interview. She needed the encouragement of the lucky outfit for that morning, she just knew it was going to be terrible.

She arrived to class, late! That was the start of the dreaded day, only becoming worse minute by minute. There was only one seat left, in the middle of the room next to the dark haired boy that occupied Ever's mind over the weekend, Noah. He sat there sluggishly, obviously tired and slightly hungover, with a sleepy grin plastered from cheek to cheek. He pulled the stool next him outwards before Ever could even reach the desk and bent forward, bowing," 'ma Lady, welcome to Literature."

She couldn't help but smile.

Ever sat down next to Noah and ignored him for the rest of the lesson. The teacher drowned on talking about Pride and Prejudice, talking about the generic themes of love and hatred. Every now and again she'd steal a glance at the boy sat beside her, taking in his beauty, stealing it every chance she got.

The lesson ended so soon, too soon for Ever's liking. As Noah exited the room she already missed the scent of tobacco and whiskey rolled into one.
Her face fell, just like her notes off the table. She scrambled them back up off the floor and was ready to stand back up, only to collide with a hard wall of something.

"Hi." A chirpy face appeared out of no where. Startled, it took Ever a while to reply, to recollect her words.
"Uh..hi.. I'm really sorry.. for .. you know."
"Honestly it's fine, I'm Jamie by the way... You know if you were wondering." He rambled. It made Ever smile. Maybe she wasn't the only one forgetting how to speak. She still he hand out.
" I'm Ever. Uh.. Ever Huntley, you know, if you were wondering." She mimicked.

Jamie smiled and dragged his hand through his puffy ash blonde hair. His smile stretched from cheek to cheek, the sort that was contagious. Ever grinned back.

He was the sort of guy Ever had  expected to be in the class. Plaid shirt unbuttoned, a white tee underneath and light denim jeans with some converse. He held books in his hands and his whole attire shouted bookworm. The complete opposite to the boy who just sat next to her. She never expected Noah to be in the class, he isn't the sought she thought to herself. Jamie's outfit was cool, somewhat like Ever's. She gazed up to him, earning another smile.

Maybe, just maybe, her lucky shirt worked.

***

Her and Jamie ended up in the tiny coffee shop down the road. He did suggest the dining hall, but Ever didn't feel ready to conquer that yet. She gave herself some credit forgoing out with a stranger, that was enough of an adventure for one day. They sat down in the corner on two oversized chairs, big enough to fit at least four people on, each and began to speak.
"You're a freshman right?" Ever found it quite weird how he used slang, but found it somewhat cute.
"Yeah, uh you're a junior?" She guessed by his abruptness and spontaneousness he'd shown earlier.
"Yeah I transferred from Berkeley last year."
"Oh.. what happened? Why'd you move? Berkeley is such an amazing school." She rambled.
"Let's not talk about that, yeah."

Ever shut up after that, not knowing if she overstepped the line. Jamie's hand  somehow crept into her lower leg. It seemed to be gradually climbing higher up her jeans, like some unwanted insect. It made her shudder. Noting want to be rude, she quickly jumped up and headed to the toilet. She didn't need to go, so she stood in front of the mirror. There was a timid girl, flushed cheeks and chapped lips. Her heart thumped against her chest. No boy had touched her before. It was only her leg, but it was still touching, right? Ever looked at her self once more, what are you doing? There is a boy out there. He invited you out. Go back out there!

After a few steady breath's, ever returned to the bookboy. He was sat there, patiently, looking just as good as he did before she left. Jamie handed her a cup of something warm, little puffs of steam escaped into the crowded café. She looked at it and then at him, before murmuring a "thank you."
"I got you a coffee, black, one sugar, to play it safe. I was starting to think you wasn't coming back."
"Ha," she snorted, " uh... No.. I'm just not good in social situations, you see. This is new territory for me"
Jamie laughed, " You don't seem the antisocial type. You're in an advanced literature class, that's not even open to freshman. How on earth did you manage that?"
" I.. uh... I don't know really. Guess my manuscripts were okay." Ever started into the black ibis of her coffee, avoiding eye contact.
"Not just okay, are they Ever." It was a patronising question. She shook her head.

Jamie didn't mention the advanced class again and neither did Ever bring Berkeley back up. The only thing going up was Jamie's hand. It worked it's way onto her knee trailing upwards. This time Ever ignored it. She held her breathe and counted to ten.

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

His hand never left her lower thigh until they walked out the cafe. It clutched it tightly, too tightly, but never left.