dedicated to squish98
Don't you just hate being the new girl in town?
All the eyes were on you all the time and there was nothing you could do about it until you become so familiar with the place that you just blended in with the rest?
Yeah, I get that feeling.
It was approaching the end of my first month in Oregon after my big move from the dried out land of Utah to the dried out people of Castle Rock. Already I've met some interesting characters and had many side glares from dozens of girls.
The problem was I didn't know why.
Why were they treating me this way? I know I was a walking target with my good grades, ability to say please and thank you, ability to talk correctly and the pigtails that hang from either side of my head.
It's like those things have a sign on them that says 'pull me' or something as every time I'd walk to class, strong hands would drag my head to the depths of hell with only one simple tug. It was frustrating.
However, one day it got more bearable when I finally glanced to the hands that were pulling all this time.
Walking to Algebra, I sensed behind me the squeaks of Converse that were about to attack. I could feel the pounce inching towards me so when I moved out of the way, my attacker fell to the dirty school ground with so much force he glared.
He was in my social science class, flung towards the back seat and sometimes outside to receive his punishment- that was if he actually bothered to show up.
He scrambled to his feet, towering over me with an impressive build and physique. No wonder his pulls were so hard! Even though the intimidation was real and upcoming, there was a look softening his iris slowly as my mouth spread into a smile. He was a cutie but I already heard his name in the whispers of many around this place.
"Excuse me, Richard."
Smiling, I stepped to the side and continued my journey towards maths with letters. Who would've thought!
Over time, he teased more and more, not finding much peace in the fact I saw him vulnerable on the ground and embarrassed. My, I think his cheeks were even flushed.
"You know, you really caught me out that day. Beginners luck..."
But despite this teasing and teasing, I knew the sweet tone behind his intentions and I recognised it from the movies with the flirty playboys and the vulnerable little girls that skipped through the halls in her merry little skirt. I knew he wanted me, I just didn't really know what that meant and if I actually wanted it.
"Help her! I'm a thief and I'm here to steal her heart!"
You see he was known as Eyeball in the streets, telling you enough about his kind as you'd want to know without going into any gory details. Back in Utah, those guys were a dime for a dozen and only over time did my confidence to reject and decline to grow. I wasn't about to let that journey get thrown in the wood chipper for some Eyeball character who didn't know a pencil from a pen.
"Are you lost, ma'am? Because heaven is a long way from here!"
Slowly, he was starting to scrape my white paper sticker of purity covering my vulnerability as a good girl of the town. The teasing began to get to me and I found myself thinking of his face and his teasing voice as the last thing I see before I go to sleep at night.
"Baby! You look great today, digging the ensemble! But, those clothes would way better on my bedroom floor."
He was making me think things that I knew I shouldn't be thinking and although he was joking around, making his friend and others laugh I couldn't help but consider his words and the scenarios that could follow. Who knows what I would do if I had the chance and that's what scared me more than his buddies with short sleeves. The plastic humour was starting to hurt.