04| His Eyes... God, His Eyes Glowed!

JULIE

"Blue!" My palms turned into fists as I leaned closer and whispered into her ear. She is sitting right before me. 

"Yeah?" She whispers back. Her head comes closer to me as she leans back, giving more attention to my rant than Mr. Fransisco's lecture. 

"You know I saw Mr. Taylor in the cafe," I say and she hums, asking me to continue. "His eyes… god, his eyes glowed!"

"Did they?" She whispers back and I notice her eyebrows pulling together as she tries to focus on what I am telling her. "How's it possible, by the way? Did you see his eyes under the light? Then they're bound to glow, stupid," she adds and giggles in the end, bowing her head and hiding her stretched lips behind her palm. 

I sigh. "Come on, I'm not that stupid!" I complain and she giggles again, the sound coming hushed. 

"And his eyes are dark, for your kind information. They can shine only under the sunlight," I tell her with a roll of my eyes which she can not see. I do not care. 

"Good logic, but still, Jules, it's baseless."

I roll my eyes again, chewing on my sweet gum. I pull back, putting my arms on the desk and giving my precious attention to Mr. Francisco. He is now writing something on the whiteboard. I squint my eyes yet can't see, so I take out my specs and focus on the board. 

The class starts to laugh and I do not recognize the reason unless I read out the words he wrote on the board. 

"To our chatterbox, dear Ms. Dawson. We've gathered for our most pampered student and we sincerely request her to pay attention to the poor lecture and gain some knowledge." 

In the end, I sigh. Mr. Francisco turned back to the class and his eyes bore into me. I stay still and murmur, "Sorry for the disturbance," while looking down in shame. 

"What about the pink junk in your mouth?" He asks as he looks at me sharply. Everybody here hates my chewing gum but nobody tries to understand why I keep chewing it. 

"Sorry, sir," I say as I dare to look up at him. I do not find him near the board anymore so I look at Blue, who gestures behind my back. 

I follow her direction and gaze back. There he stands — Mr. Francisco, glaring down at me and his jaw is clenched. I fear his dark blue eyes more. The look in them makes me swallow hard and I murmur, "If you allow, I'll throw it out right now." I am glad that I did not swallow the gum, otherwise, the gunk from my nose would come out while coughing hard and I would have been insulted in front of everyone so damn hard. I can't even imagine that scene. 

"Yes, please, do us the honor. Then what? Throw it somewhere or stick it under your desk so nobody will be able to catch your desk next time, no? You're so sharp, Ms. Dawson!" 

As I find it awkward and disrespectful for Mr. Fransisco that he is standing on my head and I am sitting on my desk — even if I am utterly uncomfortable, I get up and shake my head slowly. 

"No, sir, I don't do such things," I say honestly, and in return for my politeness, he growls, "Like I asked, hm?"

"No," I mumble. 

"Julie!" I hear Blue gritting out my name in a warning but I can not help this sincere mouth of mine. If I don't answer him, he will say that I am ignoring him. I am aware of this problem of elders. They can't digest anything. 

"No, Ms. Bradley, let your friend argue with her lecturer, and then I'll ask our respective principal to—" 

His ear-piercing speech comes to halt when someone knocks on the door of the classroom. I am grateful to that person right now. 

"Mr. Taylor, what brought you here?" The man in front of me frowns, looking displeased because of the sudden appearance. I can't be more grateful to Mr. Taylor though I do not like him as well. 

"Mrs. Stones asked me to give them to you. I was on my way to my next class, that's why." As Mr. Taylor starts to excuse him, he walks to him, leaving me finally so I breathe peacefully. 

"Oh, thanks, Mr. Taylor," he says, not looking up at the man. He takes the pink file and puts it under his desk. 

"Sit down, Ms. Dawson," he says and I do it as he says. I do not look up after that and feel tears brimming my eyes. I know I should not have talked in the middle of the lecture but I know Mr. Francisco was being mean to me. 

"Hey, it's okay, Jules," Blue whispers, and I ignore her. I can hear the two males sharing a hushed conversation which is short and suddenly, the bell rings. 

I hurriedly get up and grab my belongings, put my specs in my backpack. Everyone does the same and I step ahead to leave when Mr. Francisco interrupts me again, "Ms. Dawson, you have to stay for a while." 

I peer up at him, not finding Mr. Taylor there anymore. The students start to flee, leaving me alone with Mr. Francisco. Blue also leaves, bidding me a mum goodbye. I smile at her weakly and then, it is just Mr. Francisco and me. 

He moves to the door and closes it behind him. He starts to close the distance between us and I step inside my desk, so he won't be able to step in my privacy. 

"I'm sorry for yelling at you back then, Julie," he sighs. I stare at him quietly, watching him pull out a handkerchief which he brings to my face but I step back. 

"No, I'm fine," I stand straight, now glaring at him. 

He smiles, taking the offer back. "You've earned it, Julie, by not accepting my offer like always. What's so hard about that?" I can't believe this man. Is it not dirty that he asked me to sleep with him on my first day on campus? I said no, so now he harasses me by insulting me every time and even sometimes giving me fewer marks and not accepting my assignments. But thanks to my lovely dad, who was with me every time and because of his identity, he asked the authority to recheck my tests. 

I do not even answer him. My silence lingers further. 

"Just give it to me, baby," he whispers and leans in to do I-can't-even-imagine but I swat away his hand. 

"You're so disgusting!" I grumble and move to leave when he clutches my arm and pulls me against his chest. I wriggle, snatching my arm and shooting daggers at him through my eyes. 

"I can show you what 'disgusting' means, you sweet little girl! I haven't done even one percent of it, understand? Stop behaving like Mother Teresa, now, and give in to me or I will—"

"Or you will what, huh?" I yell, interrupting him.

He smirks, saying, "Just wait and watch!" 

I scoff and leave the classroom successfully. Outside, I bump into something hard yet soft when I pass through the corridor. I hold my nose which hurts due to the collision and look up at the person as I recognize it being someone's stone chest. 

"I-I'm sorry, sir," I say quietly, my eyes widening a bit because it is Mr. Taylor who stands before me, looking down at me like some mini thing with amusement in his eyes. 

"Always look ahead when you walk, Ms. Dawson. And it's okay." 

I resist the urge to roll my eyes. Even now — at the end of the day, he has to lecture me about something. Like I do not know about looking ahead when we walk, huh? People like me can have their own reasons, of course, can't he notice such a small point? 

"Yes, sir," I mumble and move to leave. He does not stop me after that and I am grateful for it. I reach the main gates and find Jeremy and Blue there. 

"Hey!" They wave at me. I wave back and reach the car. 

Before I hold the door, Jeremy grabs my face and kisses me on the cheek, salivating the skin. I shriek as I push him back, wiping the alive off my skin. 

He laughs freely. "It's really easy to annoy you, Jules," he laughs again, this time joined by Blue. 

"That was ew," I mutter as I hop inside and Blue follows me while Jeremy sits to drive. They laugh together but do not stretch it further. I don't even want them to stretch the matter further so I look out of the window and there my eyes spot Mr. Taylor. 

He is standing near his car but his eyes are set on our one. I don't point out directly that he is glaring at 'us' but the way his jaw is clenched, I feel a part of me fearing it. His eyes seem darker than usual before they glow once again. I can't believe it happening once again but even with this distance, I could see his eyes shining like some… fireballs. 

What was that?  

——〃♡♡〃——

After going home, I put my things in their place and fell asleep as soon as I got on the bed. With no one in my house, there was peace that I encouraged. And after Papa came in the evening, I stayed with him all the time, giving him my all attention. 

The doorbell rings and I put my pastry down on the table before me. I get up and run to the door, opening it. A huge grin comes on my face when my eyes land on my lovely dad. 

"Dad! Welcome home!" I utter, opening my arms wide for him. He chuckles but accepts the hug silently. 

"You're not going to grow up, are you?" He questions in my ear while wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me against his chest tightly. 

"Oh c'mon, dad, it's not bad either if I stay like that forever?" I pull back to bat my eyelashes. He chuckles again, his eyes squint and the skin around them wrinkles, giving him a cute look. I can't stop admiring him. 

"No, I'm ready to pamper you for the rest of my life," he says and pecks my nose before he makes his way inside. I follow him to the living room and he sits on the couch. 

"Congrats, you succeeded in melting my heart once again, dad!" I laugh and he joins me. I fill a glass of water and offer it to him. He takes a few sips and I flop next to him on the couch. 

"That's not something hard for me," he says proudly, blinking once. I laugh, palming my mouth. 

"Well, you know, your principal let me know they replaced your accountancy professor, how's the new one?" We are serious here. He puts his mobile on the table and gives me his full attention, turning down the audio of the television which I was watching while having my pastry. 

"Better than the previous one," I try to shrug off the topic because the new one is not good either. He is also strict. But that's not my problem. I know teachers have to stay strict with us students but that does not mean they will get a right to insult their students in front of the whole damn class. 

Why can't they understand that even we students have some respect and feelings? 

"Good to hear. But if the new one also harasses you, don't hesitate to complain against him, okay?" 

My dad cares a lot about me. My mom is no more, so he tries to make me comfortable with him so I can share my problems with him. There is no problem with communication between us, but when it comes to the teachers, I take risks and do not rush to complain about them. Just like Mr. Francisco. 

My dad is still unaware of what he 'offered' to me because I do not want to create a scene. Mrs. Lavigne's matter already earned a lot of attention.

"Yes, dad," I answer him smilingly so he won't get suspicious and that smile is more real when he is with me. 

"And you know, your principal canceled the meeting!" 

"Really? But what made him take such a good decision? I didn't think he'd be so intelligent?" I murmur as if I am talking to myself but dad heard it anyway, interrupting me with a growl.

"Respect him, Jules," he warns. 

"I'm sorry," and upon listening to my baby voice and seeing my guilty face which is clearly fake, he laughs, letting the matter go. 

"It's okay, you can say that in front of me, but not when he's with us," he whispers near my face as if telling me a secret. I giggle, his childish behavior lightening my mood. I have such a lovely dad. I love him the most.