@amber_is_in_a_loop
« Cool… » Lukas fell silent, turning to the side again to talk to someone else. Just as Lukas turned away Damien’s conversation died down. He looked ahead, slightly stiff in his seat.
« Cool… » Lukas fell silent, turning to the side again to talk to someone else. Just as Lukas turned away Damien’s conversation died down. He looked ahead, slightly stiff in his seat.
Jared sighed softly. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing here…but I may as well eat, I won't get another chance. He bent, pulling his lunch bag out of his backpack.
« So… » Damien breathed. « Jared, right? » he asked tightly.
Jared looked up, and nodded, setting his lunch bag on the table. "Yeah. You're Damien?" He asked, glancing up at the other male for a moment, then back at his lunch.
(Sorry for the absence!)
Damien nodded slowly. “Yeah, that’s me. How do you know Lukas?” he asked. Did he sound on edge, or mean? He couldn’t quite tell. His mind was filled with a rushing thrill that he couldn’t quite name.
(it's fine)
Jared shrugged. "He's in one of my classes." He replied. He wasn't quite sure why Damien seemed so on edge, but wasn't about to question it. He pulled his sandwich out of the bag, setting it down.
Damien frowned. “Yeah, so are about 200 of these kids. You don’t really know him, so why are you here?”
Shit. That was really rude.
Damien pinched his lips, looking back down at the table. “Sorry,” he muttered. “Not thinking straight.”
Jared narrowed his eyes. "Because he invited me, because of you." He jabbed a finger at Damien, then turned back to his food, shoulders slightly tensed.
Damien wrinkled his nose and shook out his hair, a few strands of golden brown falling in front of his face. "Wait, you lost me. Because of me?" He peeked over at Jared from behind his curtain of curls, blushing with guilt.
"Yeah, I guess you're acting weird or some shit like that, and for whatever reason he thinks I can help. But if you don't want me here, say so, and I'll leave." Jared replied, not looking at him.
"No I— that's really not what I meant. I was just confused. Never mind."
He fell silent, setting his fork down and placing his hands in his lap. His forehead creased as he started to silently think to himself.
Jared chewed on his lip, casting a sidelong glance at Damien, then away again. I was…a little ruder than I needed to be… He thought.
Staring at his full plate of food, Damien tried to sort out his thoughts. The situation hadn't really gone well… he'd messed up a first impression and came off as a jerk. Way to go, genius. He couldn't say anything else, because he'd seem desperate. He couldn't smile, because that would be confusing. He couldn't really apologise because he was too much of a coward. Instead, he flashed his usual grin to the whole table, sending Jared a fleeting part of that grin, and nodded to Lukas to follow him outside as he stood up with his tray.
I'm going to kill that boy.
Jared ate his food calmly. He was used to people not talking to him, and since the rest of the table pretty much ignored him, he ate quietly. After a few minutes, he pulled out his book again, balancing it on the table and eating as he read.
Lukas looked up when Damien stood, and followed suit. "See you all later," he told the table with a wink, barely looking over at Jared. They dumped the rest of their food and walked out of the cafeteria, out into the recess area.
Damien huffed. The moment they were out of earshot from the school's back doors, he whirled on his friend and smacked him in the head. "What the hell was that?" he demanded, keeping his voice at a whisper.
Lukas frowned, sheepishly rubbing his head. "What was what?" he asked loudly. Damien hit him again. "Oi!" Lukas exclaimed, stepping away, "chill out!"
Damien crossed his arms. "Why'd you invite that kid?" He made a conscious effort not to say Jared's name.
Jared kept reading and eating, waiting for lunch to end. He curled over his book, eyes scanning the pages eagerly as he read. He had been working on this series for two years, and absolutely loved it."
Lukas's mouth curled into a smile. "Why does it bother you so much?"
A pause. "Because we don't know him and you set me up for an awkward conversation."
"Well, you were the one acting strange around him. I was just… experimenting."
"Right." Damien stuck his tongue out at Lukas and took off into the building again. His head was clear now, and he needed to settle the conversation he'd had with Jared before it bothered him for days to follow.
Jared was still reading. He had finished eating, and put everything else away. He was now sitting cross-legged with his back against the table and the book in his lap, focused on it.
Damien came running into the cafeteria, and the very minute he spotted Jared he stopped dead.
The boy was sitting cross legged on the bench, leaning against the table, eyes glazed over as he stared intently down at his book, nimbly turning the pages. Damien couldn't help but watch that intent gaze, the way his hair flopped slightly over his face as he kept his head down…
Lukas walking in after Damien pulled the latter out of his reverie. He jumped slightly, but headed over to the bench next to Jared.
Jared raked a hand through his messy hair, eyes widening slightly at a plot twist. He turned the pages a little faster after that, wanting to find out what was going to happen.
Damien slowly sat down, watching Jared as he intently flipped through page after page, eyes sparkling with interest. He raked a hand through his hair and it stuck up, strands of it curling around the nape of his neck and casting delicate shadows across the letters on the page.
He jolted himself out of his reverie, and silently attempted to gather the courage to get Jared's attention.
Jared, noticing the shadow but not who was casting it, scowled a little, shifting the book so he could see better. His eyes shone happily as he read, completely absorbed in the fictional worlds that were being spun in his mind.
Jared shifted his position, and his eyes were hidden from Damien. The latter cleared his throat for attention, directing his suddenly blank stare to the linoleum floor.
Jared jumped a little, closing the book with his hand where he had been reading. "What?" He asked, a little harsher than he meant to be. Then he saw who it was, and sighed softly, biting his lower lip a little. Great. Has he come to be pissy at me again?
Damien noted the sigh. What are you doing, idiot? He clearly doesn't want anything to do with you… "I– uh, well I just wanted to apologize. For, uh, lunch? Yeah. Lunch." He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, realizing how lame he sounded. Reopening them, he looked over and met Jared's gaze. "I'm sorry." He really meant it. He hoped the other kid could tell.
The following keyboard controls are supported across Notebook.ai. All keyboard controls are disabled when editing a document or notebook page.