The grating noise of someone excessively chewing on a pencil. Mr Robson ranting on for the third time today about the state of America’s economical….politician….thingamajig, even though we’re in biology. Whatever, I don’t know, don’t care, all I know is that his droning is adding to the increasingly irritating background noise and it’s beginning to irk me.

I can still hear the guy behind me slobbering all over his pencil and I snap, spinning round in my seat I slam my fist down on his desk and give him my best warning look; what do I get for my trouble….a sarcastic grin as he continues to chew, only louder and more pronounced this time. God I hate everyone.
I pull my tattered hoody sleeves up over my hands and cross my arms over my desk before resting my head on this make shift pillow of sorts.
My eyes slip closed and the background noise seems to fade out until I am in my calm place, as my therapist calls it.

Darkness surrounds me and I am happy here until I feel it…..a burning uneasiness in the back of my mind. An intuition to the fact that I am being watched.
I bury my head deeper into my makeshift pillow in an attempt to thwart the feeling and return to a place were middle aged, balding teachers with too many opinions, and arrogant, know it all jerks who insist on ruining other people’s calm mood with insistent chewing don’t exist. It doesn’t work. I can still feel the eyes trained on my every move, almost burning a hole into my already tattered hoody. With a sigh I give up my calm place and lift my head, my eyes stinging as they adjust to the all to bright room before slowly turning my head, curious of who the wandering eyes belong to, and that’s when I see it, a flash of tan and brown, as a head quickly snaps away so that the eyes are focused on anything but me…..I already know this.

Slowly I turn back around and focus on my still bumbling teacher… god does he never shut up!
The hunter is about to become the hunted as I snap my head around as quick as humanly possible, feeling my bones click and freeze at the surprise and strain.

Gotcha.

Her deep brown eyes are locked with mine as I carefully study them, taking in all the information they have to offer. I know it was her and she knows I know it was her. My eyes trail down her smooth, perfectly tanned skin to her lip gloss coated bottom lip which she is currently chewing on with those whiter than white teeth. I glance back up into her eyes and something strange happens, the corner of her lips turn up slightly until she’s full blown smirking at me…..I don’t understand.

As quickly as I began this game of cat and mouse I end it and almost throw my head back down onto the desk, unfortunately catching the attention of Mr Robson.
“Are you ok there Spencer?”
I lift my head, stuttering to come up with an answer as I hear my classmates snicker and throw accusing glances in my direction….I can feel every one of them.
“I….uh….I, yeah” I finally manage to force out of myself.
“Okay, please pay attention”.
I bow my head down and stare at the few words scribbled on the page before me, I can still hear the mysterybrunette giggling almost silently behind me. As if it were a secret that only I could hear.

The bell rings and sets me free from my derailed train of thoughts, but things are not over yet.
As the brunette slings her bag onto her shoulder and makes her way to the door, she looks directly at me, and with a small wave and 1000 watt smile she utters, “bye Spencer” before disappearing into the semingly endless crowds of chattering people.

This girl is one messed up mystery.