Strangers | ✔️

one

monday ☼ tuesday ☼

I couldn't help but stare at him.

Curly hair longer than ever, cold, cold eyes to be felt even when I was seats away.

His seat was on the other side of the plane: 43C. Mine was 43H, a mere four seats away. With my lips pursed, I watched his lips move as he talked to his friend, voice blending into the murmur of passengers. Why was he here? Why was Damien here?

Neither Raegan nor Allie had noticed him.

A slight frown found its way onto my face.

I haven't talked to Damien in years.

We went our separate ways in the four years of high school, never allocated in the same classes. I've almost forgotten almost all about him... until today.

Damien was never very nice.

It mostly started because of Allie. Allie wasn't exactly the most popular girl in school, especially not among the boys. She was pretty, but she was also sometimes self-centered, mostly caused by a lack of self consciousness. She was kind, sweet, and funny once you get to know her, but if you don't... she seemed proud, and if we were going for more extreme words, egotistical.

Like I said, Allie wasn't popular among the boys. Undoubtedly, Damien was included in the category of boys.

His little group of friends treated Allie like a joke; Damien was no exception. I was never sure if it was bullying– mean remarks here and there, teasing that would look light in other people's eyes but really hurt Allie. Allie did cry once or twice over them, but she learnt to ignore them over time, building a wall to block them out.

Raegan and I got the lash of it too. Some people avoided us because we were friends with Allie, some straight up treated us like trash. But then again, that was mostly in middle school. Everything died down after high school came along, and the three of us kept a low profile, glad that we got the peace we wanted. Damien's group of friends never talked to us ever again.

That was mostly why I was worried that Damien was here.

Allie hates his group of friends with a passion, and I did not know what would happen if they came back into her life, after all these years. And Raegan... well, I suspected that Raegan would beat them up if she knew that they were here, on this very plane. What a big, bad, coincidence.

I was suddenly glad that I got the aisle seat, and that the two girls beside me were very distracted by the magazines provided.

I took one last look at Damien and sighed, suddenly hoping the plane would land as soon as possible.

The devil was aboard, and I wanted nothing to do with him.