I can hear snippets of conversations around me, and every so often they slip through my mental barriers, but nothing makes enough sense for me to put it all together. Megan and Jordan are standing in line with me, talking amongst themselves as the cafeteria buzzes like a bee hive. I frown and think, The rumor mill is turning.

I purse my lips and glance over at Jordan and Megan, and quietly mutter, "Is there a new student?"

Jordan glances at me like I'm stupid, before muttering, "Seriously Beau, you met him yesterday...."

Megan rolls her eyes. "I'm surprised he doesn't remember."

My frown deepens and I quietly hiss, "What are you talking about?"

"Christian, obviously," Jordan replies. "He just started here today."

My mouth drops open in silent realization, and I immediately feel stupid for not realizing sooner. I mean, of course he would go to school here, where else would he go?

I sigh. "Right, sorry guys, I'm . . . not really myself today."

Megan frowns and curiously asks, "Why do you say that?"

I bite my bottom lip and drop my gaze to the floor as we walk to our table with our food, both so I don't trip, and so she won't see me turn into a red-faced fool. "Because of Garrett," I mumble as we sit down.

Everyone's already at the table, happily enjoying their lunch and telling funny stories. And then there is me, raining on their parade as I sit down with a heavy sigh that immediately halts all conversation.

Kat glances up from her conversation with Abigail, her girlfriend who goes by Abby for short. "Beau, are you okay?" Kat's sudden concerned voice asks.

I don't reply, I just pick at my bread roll and crumble the pieces between my fingers. Kat glances at her brother with a raised eyebrow and quietly hisses, "What's wrong with him?"

"It's Garrett, again," Megan mutters bitterly.

Kat instantly tenses and frowns as she reaches out to rub my back, and softly mutters, "What happened, Beau? Do you need me to beat him up or something?"

I laugh at that, unable to help myself as I reply, "No, but thanks. He just . . ." I trail off with a sigh. "I don't know, I guess it just . . . feels like he's using me. He asked if he could come over tonight and I—-"

"You didn't say yes, did you?" Kat immediately demands.

I feel my cheeks heat up as I quickly shake my head and gasp, "Of course not, I'm not an idiot!"

Kat sighs. "That's not what I was—-"

"I know . . ." I mutter. "I didn't invite him, and I didn't kiss him and now I just . . . feel like a puppet or his toy."

Kat frowns, and JoAnna winds her arm around my shoulders and mutters, "Hey, you're too good for him, Beau. Just—-"

"Don't talk to him anymore," Megan says. "He's a waste of your time, Beau, and you deserve so much better."

I smile thinly. "Thanks, Megan."

She nods with a small smile before returning to picking at her food, and then the rest of us slowly melt back into the happier side of conversation. And as we talk and joke around, the lunchrooms usual loud hum of voices talking over each other began to lessen to a gentle hum. I glance up curiously, as does everyone else, and then I see the reason for the sudden lull in conversation.

Christian Philips is standing at the entrance of the cafeteria, his eyes slowly searching the room before settling on something. I feel a shiver race up my spine when our eyes meet, and when he looks away the feeling goes with him. I release a shakly breath, only to choke on it when I realize he's walking towards our table.

Oh crap, he's looking at us. What does he want? Why did he look at me like—-

Just then I'm pulled from my panicked mind and I suddenly feel the ghost of his warm breath against the nape of my neck. I can feel him standing just over my right shoulder, and I can't bring myself to turn around out fear of turning pink cheeked. I hear him inhale before he asks, "Do you have room for one more?"

Everyone stares at him with their jaws agape and their eyes wide as saucers, but once the initial shock of him approaching us wears off, we each come back to life. Kat thinly smiles with a replied, "Of course you can, Christian, here . . ." She trails off and scoots her chair over, making room for Christian to squeeze between us.

He smiles thinly before grabbing an empty chair from a nearby table, and places it between Kat and I, as he sits down my cheeks redden and my pulse begins to quicken. I can smell the masculine scent of his shampoo, or maybe it's a cologne. Which ever it is, I like it, and unconsciously find myself leaning towards him for a deep inhale. I don't realize how far I've leaned until I hear him clear his throat, and panicked my eyes shoot up to his to find him frowning at me. I'm immediately embarrassed, and I force a casual smile before quickly redirecting my gaze down to my now cold food, yet as I sit there purposefully avoiding eye contact, I continue to feel his piercing gaze.

Please, I know I'm weird, you don't have to make this worse by staring, I think as I nervously knaw on my bottom lip. I purse my lips and glance across the table to my right at Peter, who's playing with his french fries in ketchup. I need Christian to stop staring at me, and I have no idea how to make him stop. And it's not like I can ask him to just stop, since he's only silently judging me for sniffing him.

Gosh, I'm such a freak. No wonder I'm an outcast.... I think dejectedly.

I sigh and return my gaze to my uneaten tray of food, and mercifully I can no longer feel him watching me. From the corner of my eye though, I see him reach for one of his notebooks and tear out a sheet of paper before then writing something out. I can't help but wonder what it is, and to my surprise and utter embarrassment, he slides the paper towards me.

His handwriting is messy yet beautiful at the same time, and what he wrote was: It's Savage by Dior.

I gasp and suddenly laugh before saying, "That's fitting!" And the moment those words pass through my lips, I naturally blush and stammer, "S-sorry, I d-didn't . . . I didn't—-"

"It's fine," Christian laughed.

I feel my cheeks heatening up and I smile thinly before quietly murmuring, "It's a nice smell." And that's all I can manage to say, the situation too embarrassing for me to think.

As I turn away and try to focus on eating, I can still feel the heat from his close proximity and smell his cologne, even if I pretend not too. And the forced pretending makes it all the more difficult to ignore him, I don't know what to do, but luckily the sound of the bell prevents me from having to try.

+ + +

My last class of the day is art, and I'm grateful as I sink into my stool and begin to blend together my paints before gliding the paintbrush across my easel. Painting always calms me, and the world's I create are perfect at transporting my mind into different lands and era's I've dream about.

I'm painting a nature scene with mountains in the distance and evergreens, with patches of snow dotting the ground and frost covering the small bubbling brook that flows through the narrow spacing of trees. It's peaceful, and I can hear the water where it still moves and feel the cold snow against my bare feet and the sharp bite of the bitter wind as it blows through the pine needles. I can smell the fresh scent of the bristles and feel them tickling and poking my bare arms as I walk across the path beside the river, my feet squishing in the mud and crackling over the frost topped snow. It's beautiful and serene with the—-

Errk!

I'm snapped out my daydream with a startle as the spine tingling chill of a chair scrapes back against the tiled floor, and I have to blink the present back into focus before glancing around for the source of my break in concentration. And then my mouth drops open, for I'm staring start into the blue eyes of Garrett Reyes.

Word count: 1,445

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A/N: Hello, lovelies! How are you liking this story so far? What do you think Garrett wants from Beau this time? Hmm, read the next update to find out! Thank you for reading, I hope you all have an amazing day/night.

Love from,
BunnyBaekkiee ❤️