Shattered

Chapter 2

His warm, welcoming eyes glisten as I sit there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. Snap out of it, Emma, I chastise myself. I snap my mouth shut and try my best to recover quickly.

"Hi," I say. My voice comes out a lot calmer than I expected it to. He gives me another smile, making my heart flip.

"The teacher said I could look off your notes." He says. I cant help the disappointment I feel when he says it. How foolish of me to assume he was talking to me because he actually wanted to.

"Oh! Of course!" I say quickly, and pull out my notebook.

"Emma," he says, "that's a beautiful name." The sound of my name on his lips sends shivers through my body.

"Thanks," I whisper as I slide my notebook over to him. I hate how self-conscious he's making me feel. Normally, I couldnt care less about the people around me. I look across the room to see Angela Michaelson, the most popular girl in school, practically sitting in Johnny Drake, our star quarterback's, lap. I silently barf.

"Stupid, arent they?" I look back to the boy on my left.

"Who?" I ask.

"People," he says simply. His face is so serious I'm concerned for a second, but then his smile lights up his hard features once again. "So entranced with superficial things. Things that dont matter what-so-ever."

"Well thats a matter of opinion." I say, surprising myself. He raises his eyebrow and laughs.

"Oh really?" He challenges, "And why is that?"

"Well to you and me, the things they find important seem superficial. But to them those things arent superficial at all. To them, they hold the same importance as any other thing." He looks at me seriously.

"What are the things youre referring to?" He asks. I take a minute to think that over.

"Well I find things like grades, books, and my best friend important. But to them, they find things like parties, social media, and looks important. Although these things are in completely different categories, they have the same amount of importance to each person. It all just depends on where your interests and priorities lie." He gives me a smirk.

"So, what youre saying is that youre a nerd?" He asks. I smile widely.

"Proudly." He laughs. It sounds like a warm summer day. "You never told me your name," I point out.

"It's Max," He says. I give him a sweet smile.

"Max. That's a beautiful name." He chuckles.

"You're funny," he says, "All cute and small on the outside, but feisty and witty in the inside." I give him a look.

"Thanks, I guess?" He laughs again and pulls out his own notebook. Something about it strikes my memory, but it quickly passes and I forget about it.

"No problem, Love," he says. I give him a weird look. "What?" He asks.

"Love?" I say.

"Oh, I didnt even realize I said it," he says, "I moved here from England, where they use 'love' like you use 'dude.' Sorry." He looks slightly embarrassed. I immediately feel terrible.

"Its ok," I assure him, "It's not the worst thing I could be called." He laughs and it lights up his whole face. A smile of my own breaks out. Max places a finger to his lips as the bell rings and the teacher starts talking.

Its impossible to pay attention to anything the teacher is saying the entire class because Max keeps drawing bunnies and passing them to me. I laugh out loud when he passes me a picture of two people suspiciously dressed as Angela and Johnny awkwardly sitting on each other. Max shushes me and turns back to the front of the room. I take in his body. He is slim, but I can tell he is strong. His brown hair curls adorably at the nape of his neck, and I feel a strange urge to run my fingers through it. I blush as he looks at me. Ours eyes lock and we stare at each other for a long time before I break our gaze and awkwardly run a hand through my hair. Im determined to not look at him the rest of the period. Its hard but I manage to do it. When the bell rings, I grab my things and almost run out of the classroom. I hear him call my name but I dont turn around. I run to the bathroom and close myself in a stall. I stay there until the images of grey eyes and a warm smile finally stop. I look at my reflection in the mirror. My cheeks have more color than usual and my eyes are shining. I look happy. Shit.