9 | Flicker in her eyes

Plinio's POV:

"She's not a banana, you baboon! Stop ogling."

I am sitting in Ms. Anne's literature class, minding my own business today that is to observe something unusual in Celeste when a crumpled paper is thrown at me.

Nobody in my tiny social circle at school would even dare to throw something at me, saying these words is far from it. Logan would have laid back on the chair, folding his hands behind his head, and joined me like a bastard he is. That leaves only one insane boy I know of; Ryder. He has even drawn the said creature beating its chest. Owing to his poor drawing skills, it strikes me as Ryder himself.

He is sitting on my left. I fix him a hard glare and throw the paper on his lap. He shakes his head with a look I receive a lot of times in school already, the look of disappointment. But why can't I kill my time staring at Celeste when it is utterly harmless?

She appears engrossed in the play Ms. Anne is teaching us. I have to say that I was surprised when I saw her in the same class I'm in because that's the first time I've seen her in the same class as mine. I know she's the school's sweetheart and all and such bubbly girls aren't my type but Celeste has caught my attention.

I can't stop myself from observing everything she does. Maybe it is the contrast in her attitude when she was with me in the library and when she's with the other people from our school.

I saw her having a conversation with the same boy who I beat last week, the one who had the audacity to talk back when he was the one to crash into me first.

Anyways, Celeste was smiling and listening to him and it looked like she was trying to make him smile too because, at the end of their talk, he did chuckle. I haven't seen her being harsh with someone else or even refusing to listen to whatever they have to say to her. She just listens to the other person wholeheartedly as she cares.

Right now she is taking notes with her ears fully attentive to Ms. Anne's words. But then her ears perk a little at something Ms. Anne has said. She stops writing at once. She looks up from her notebook and raises her hand.

"Yes, Ms. James." Our dutiful teacher waits for Celeste to speak.

"How can Wordsworth remember such a delightful scene when he's in woe?" Celeste brings her hand to her lips as she thinks of it herself. I have no idea what she's talking about. So I peek at Ryder's book and I realize that we are actually reading a poem and not a play. 'Daffodils' by William Wordsworth.

"A human mind tends to reminisce happy moments whenever he's feeling down to sort of uplift his mood." Ms. Anne replies with her hands moving in the air and a smile on her bright red-lipsticked lips. "It must have been natural for Wordsworth too."

But Celeste doesn't appear satisfied. Her eyebrows are furrowed and she's constantly wiggling the pen in her hand, hitting her head in the process at one point.

Her question did not surprise me much. She comes from a well-off family and seeing how upbeat she is most of the time, sorrow itself must have considered her a forbidden territory.

"If someone is sad, it means he's worried," Celeste continues with a flicker of challenge in her eyes. The kind of flicker that turns her pale blue eyes vaguely electric. "If he's worried, then he'll think of a solution to his problems. Not waste his time recalling an old happy memory."

"Sometimes the answer to our worries lies in those happy memories," Ms. Anne replies with her smile faltering a bit. She returns her attention to the book contrary to her previous attention to Celeste. But the Angel doesn't take any hint and debates one more time.

"But how is it possible for a man with miseries to recall some happy moment and let his heart 'dance' with the daffodils?" The resignation in her question piques the interest of some other students in class. They appear to agree with her. I also find myself agreeing to her, partly if not all. The responsibility of the situation strikes Ms. Anne and she regains her composure.

"Poets are meant to exaggerate, Ms. James, I hope you know that." She gives her a tight smile. "Now back to study."

Celeste nods, understanding Ms. Anne in more ways than the other clueless students could. I look down at my book and read the poem without a sound.

For oft when on my couch I lie

In vacant or in pensive mood,

They flash upon that inward eye

Which is the bliss of solitude;

And then my heart with pleasure fills,

And dances with the daffodils.

The rest of the period passes by smoothly and when the bell rings for the lunch break, I stop Ryder before he could walk away. He has some explanation to give.

"You lied to me when you said you didn't know any Angel." My statement comes off more like a threat and Ryder appears indifferent to it. His eyes scream 'so what?' but I choose to ignore it. "Why?" I ask patiently without any hint of anger.

"Oh come on, Nio," he whines bitterly acting unusual than the Ryder I've seen. "You know that you are nothing but a bully. Why would I tell you of someone as sweet as Celeste and let you bully her, too? I knew you would find her out eventually, however, I didn't want to be the one informing you. But seriously, Nio, is it really necessary for you to trouble every single person around you?"

"What did you just say?" I ask with my eyebrows almost touching the hairline. But Ryder doesn't spare me another glance and storms out of the room.

Several students exit the room after him talking to each other in low whispers calling me eccentric and Ryder a fool to be hanging out with me in the first place. And they do have a point. If the Ryder talking to me just now is the real Ryder, then why was he acting like a cool guy this whole time? There wasn't even any need to befriend the guy who sent him to the hospital.

A heavy hand on my shoulder snaps me out of my thoughts. As I turn to see who it is, Logan's deodorant is the first to slide into my nostrils. This guy has a strange choice of fragrances. All are tangy and thick and I've never really enjoyed them.

"Hey," my voice comes out gruff as I inhale sharply and hold my breath. The rest of the time with him is going to be tough anyway. So I release it a few seconds later.

"I heard everybody talking about what Ryder said to you just now," he begins. "After all the time you've spent with him has spoilt him like I had warned you about. He has forgotten his place."

I don't reply and just shrug. I have spoilt Ryder. He has forgotten his place. I don't see who's the one at fault.

Logan and I walk to the cafeteria and take our tray of food. He sits on a table that is already occupied by a girl in a black hoodie. I don't see much of her from behind except her black polished nails that are digging inside the juice can as Logan approaches. She stands up abruptly, the juice is spilled on the floor when the can drops and she runs out of the cafeteria without even looking back.

"That's how Ryder should have been," Logan sniggers pointing at the disappearing figure of the girl and bites the hamburger, taking two bites at a time. That's just how he is.

"They feed on the fear of the vulnerable," comes a masculine hushed whisper from behind me. I turn to face him and see him shrink as he realizes that I've overheard. I just look at him without any emotion whatsoever and go sit opposite Logan.

I can't help but feel tired. The shift in Celeste's attitude, the words of Ryder, the girl who ran away, and the whisper I just heard. They all are just too much for me to not give them shit. Especially Celeste. She seems to be stuck in my head. I see her everywhere I go.

I can even see her in the other part of the cafeteria, eating lunch with Kevin. I am sure we've often crossed paths but only now I'm considering her presence here. Kevin tells her something and she laughs. She laughs with her mouth open and I'm reminded of my mother. Celeste has that same carefree and hearty laughter mom once had. Kevin aims a fry in her mouth and she shuts it for once. Her eyes turn down at the corners when she smiles cheekily and I feel myself smiling along with her unconsciously.

"What's making you smile like that?" Logan furrows his brows and looks in the direction I'm looking. I look back at my untouched food and just shrug. I know Logan can't figure out the reason no matter hard he tries.

He looks back at me then sips his juice. I haven't told him about my after-school session with Celeste. It's not that she told me to keep it confidential, it's only because I don't have to inform Logan of each thing I do. Besides I have seen her only once.

"You have to change my schedule for the gym. Make it two or three hours later than they are now." I bite the sandwich, saving the tomato from falling out.

"Any particular reason?" He asks and his eyes show no concern.

"Tutor sessions by Mr. Harrison," I tell him licking the mustard off my lips. He doesn't ask further and I feel content with it. I even ask for a day off today to relax a bit on my own.

Just when I thought, Celeste wouldn't come in front of my sight for today, I see her in conversation with the hooded girl who ran away from us. She's sitting beside Celeste. My curiosity is obviously aroused and I look at them from time to time without raising suspicion of Logan.

Kevin is still there looking intently at that girl as she speaks. Her head is hung low and I can't make out her features from this far and also due to the shadow of the hoodie on her face. But she oddly feels familiar. Celeste gives her a hug and says something in her ear at which she smiles.

Out of nowhere, Celeste looks in my direction. The moment our eyes meet, I look away. The food itches in my throat and I cough uncontrollably, grabbing unwanted attention from the students near us.

"Don't die just like that," Logan chuckles as I drink water that he hands me over.

When I raise my head, she's talking to the girl again. She must have known I was looking at her. The girl then looks up and her face is clear now.

Her eyes are twinkling and I can sense the delight from my seat. Then I recognize her. My mind is taken to that morning from two years ago when she was feeding the stray kittens.

Hayley had this exact smile that day too, and it was further illuminated when the fresh sunlight fell on her face. I had seen it just before Logan approached her.

When her eyes land on mine, fear quivers in them. That fear was present in her erratic eyes that day after Logan pushed her in the mud. She had noticed me near her and looked at me with pleading eyes. But tears welled in them when the boy whom she thought of as her savior joined her bully.

Cross-eyed Hayley had been the beginning of this nasty abuse.