The Darkness in her Eyes

2

As I head into Crothersville High School, I notice how different it is from my last school. County High school was a closed campus and only had one building. Crothersville had four, and an enclosed courtyard that wrapped all of them together. It was a pretty school with tons of trees, and I was excited about the swimming pool in the PE building.

Physics is my first class, if I could find it. It ended up being on the third floor. The class goes by smoothly and I jot down what they expect for tomorrow. In all reality, I had already learned this section, so it should be a breeze. The rest of my morning classes are uneventful.

It was almost lunchtime when my stomach started growling. I spot Bree on the far side of the courtyard with a lot of kids in similar attire as her.

"Annie!" Bree waved me down and behind her was her group of friends. She looks around at her crew and yells "Hey! This is my cousin, Annie, I've been telling you all about".

I wave back at them, as my face starts to redden. She starts naming off people and I doubt I'm going to remember all their names.

I notice a tall blond-haired boy with glasses leaning on a tree, captivated by a book he is reading. He looks up from his book and spots me staring at him.

I look away.

No, not anymore Annie. This is a fresh start for you. Don't be shy. You are a new person, and no one knows you here. Don't show your true self, as Aunt Terry says. Put on a show girl.

I walk up to him and push his book gently down away from his face, that's when I notice the beautiful dark blue eyes.

"I'm Annie, Bree's cousin."

"Hey, I think?" he says as he slides a bookmark into his page, holding it close to his chest protectively and probably fearing I'd get my sweaty hands all over it.

"I just transferred from County High." I said as I brush a strand of hair behind my ear.

A hair lands on his shirt and without thinking, I grab it and wipe it away.

He drops his book with a start and bends down to pick it up, wiping the dirt from the cover. His balance wavers and he steadies himself with the tree.

"I'm-Andrew. "No breath was wasted as he spoke.

Bree yells for me and I go to walk over to her and look back and smile. "It's nice to meet you."

Bree has a guy with her, I wonder if this is her new boyfriend she keeps talking about? She has told me several times how she has this new man in her life. He was tall, wearing a black shirt and jeans. He was a bigger guy with long dirty blonde hair and such light baby blue eyes. As he stares at me, I can't help thinking his eyes were kind.

"Annie! I want you to meet Everett. Good guy. Shy. Has a strange addiction to cards."

"Ignore her. I'm not that bad!" Everett said as he shakes my hand and gives Bree a dirty look.

"I can only imagine how she introduces me, you're fine." I laugh. "Nice to meet you too."

Everett walks away and sits on top of a table with two guys. They pull a packet of cards from his pocket.

Bree chuckles. "Told you so."

"What kind of game is that?" Hopefully, they don't notice me gawking.

"Think Dungeons and Dragons meet Pokémon and you'll get the gist.'' Bree said.

"Gamers," I shake my head and shrug, "Least, I know now what my brother's future is".

"Pretty much."

My afternoon classes are boring, I stay to myself and try to not cause more attention. It's the first day of school for everyone, so I don't have to introduce myself. I loved my writing class; it reminded me of Craig and the small stories and poems we would write to each other.

I loved driving the car by myself, I could blare "The Used" and "My Chemical Romance" as loud as I wanted. I stopped off at my aunt's garage and changed clothes. I wipe off the makeup.

I walk through the door and Mom is staring at a hole through me from the hallway. I knew instantly that she wanted to know how my first day went.

She lights a cigarette effortlessly. ""You know," She points at my room. "Your dog drove me up the wall all day. I couldn't get any sleep."

The phone rings. It's sitting right by her as it always is. It's a wonder how the thing never goes dead.

She answers it within the second ring. It's my Aunt Terry.

I scramble to my room and try to avoid her questions. Heavenly Sue is sprawled out on her back sleeping. She must have had an exciting day. She jumps up quickly.

"Are you exhausted from driving Grand momma crazy all day?" I rub her belly and give her a kiss on her head. "Good girl."

I log in quickly to the internet, with a beautiful dial up. I can hear my mom talking with Aunt Terry on the phone and while I can't hear Aunt Terry, I like the thought of her talking to her own imagination.

"No, I don't know how her day went, she won't tell me."

"No, I don't know."

"No, I doubt she embarrassed herself."

"Hold on, let me ask."

She does realize I can hear her conversation from my room. Intrusive much.

"ANNIE DID YOU TRY TO SOCIALIZE WITH ANYONE TODAY?"

She doesn't have to yell; I can hear every conversation she has on the phone. Her voice has the power for the neighbor to hear her, she just doesn't realize it.

"Yes Mom! I talked to everyone, even the mannequin from English Class."

I hear her relay the information over to Aunt Terry.

"Your Aunt Terry, thinks you're being sarcastic Ann."

"That's because I am."

I logged into Yahoo. Brandon and Phillip are already waiting on me. I tell them how my day went and the two boys I met. Brandon showed me the cards Everett was playing. It looked interesting but I think I'll stick to my books.

"Stop being an ass!"

If she only knew.