We Love in Technicolor

You Are an Acceptable Level of Threat

"(Do I wanna know)

If this feeling flows both ways?
(Sad to see you go)
Was sort of hoping that you'd stay
(Baby we both know)
That the nights were mainly made for saying things that you can't say tomorrow day."

-Do I Wanna Know? Arctic Monkeys

**********
He looked perfect, Beverly decided as Landon strolled into economics on the Monday following their almost-run-in with the police.

He was all sleepy, velvet-lidded eyes and there was a small, drowsy smile playing at the corners of his mouth that made her insides go all fuzzy. Frayed jeans hung low on his narrow hips, and a large letterman jacket shielded him from the blustery Autumn winds.

However, the fuzzy feeling immediately dissipated when his gaze traveled past her like she wasn't even there at all. God.

Her stomach contracted as if her intestines were suddenly braided together, and she slumped against her desk in frustration.

"You okay, Bev?" asked Izzy, her voice laced with concern.

Beverly flicked her eyes toward her best friend. Unlike most of the students at their high school, Isabel managed to appear attractive even with the messy top knot that was situated at the crown of her head. Sometimes Beverly was vaguely jealous of Isabel's Asian features; her pale skin was perfectly clear (a feat that Beverly could never quite manage), and her dark hair was always glossy.

Beverly sighed, and glanced away from Izzy. "Yeah I'm fine."

"Okay...if you say so."

Beverly didn't have a chance to reply because the teacher, Ms. Vargas, started speaking.

"Settle down, settle down. Now before we start today's notes, I'm going to assign all of you a partner so that you can finish these worksheets together..."

Resting her head on the palm of her hand, Beverly tuned out the teacher and sketched a small doodle in the margin of her binder paper. She only looked up when the teacher announced that she'd be paired up with Ford. As in, Landon Ford.

Great.

Beverly's heart thudded distinctly against her chest, and she turned slowly to look at him. Instead of returning her hesitant gaze, he seemed to find the surface of his desk very interesting.

She exhaled in irritation before gathering her things and trudging over to his desk.

"Hi," she greeted quietly. Her eyes met his for a microsecond before they darted back down to stare furiously at her notebook.

"Hey." A verbal reply was better than what she had expected, so she smiled tentatively. Her hands fiddled with her pens and pencils, nervously shuffling them around to give her hands something to do before she peeked at Landon again.

He was stretched back in his seat with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He had never looked so unapproachable.

Yet, somehow, he still managed to appear incredibly handsome. Beverly liked the way his shoulders sloped down to connect with the long line of his torso. She liked the way his body seemed to dwarf the chair that he was sitting in, and how he seemed too broad to fit properly in his space.

Clearing her throat, Beverly turned to look back at her neatly lined pens, trying to gather the courage to speak. Where was her brazen personality when she needed it?

His tight frown stayed in place before he cleared his throat.

"So, uh, I guess we should do this worksheet," hesaid passively, nodding towards the blank sheets of paper.