Chapter 5

AUSTIN'S POV

Turquoise. 

That was the color of his eyes, like a beautiful beach during daylight. Not quite green, not quite blue either. A phenomenal combination of the two where they met in between and worked together to bring out this lovely shade. 

Our longest lasting battle when we had been children had always been about the actual color of his eyes. 

" My mom has blue eyes! So mine are also blue, " he'd once said to me. And despite only being about ten, I had been sure he was wrong, so I had researched and told him of the color which before then I hadn't known existed. 

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" You made that up, didn't you? " 

" Of course not, it's an actual color. The internet doesn't lie Stevens!"

" Actually, half the things on the internet are false, you should try spending less time there. "

I scoffed and reached for his book with the intention of copying whatever he had written down. The fifth grade science teacher didn't have a heart, the kinds of assignments she gave us were too complex for my young mind to understand. But lucky for me, I had Stevens. 

" I told you to stop that! Give it back. "

He took his book away from me and I groaned, pressing my forehead to the table's surface. We were in my room, my mom had as usual picked us up. Kyle's mom never picked him up, he always said she was busy but I had once eavesdropped on my parents talking. The words they had been using were once again very difficult for my young mind to comprehend, but I had an idea of what they had been saying and I agreed. Kyle's mom wasn't good at taking care of him, before my mom volunteered to drive him to and from school, he had always gotten there late. 

" It's not even that hard, you just don't study enough. "

" Yes I do. "

" No you don't! "

I locked my small fingers together and rested my chin on them, then I looked at him and smiled almost deviously, the same way I did whenever I wanted to bribe him into doing something for me. 

He furrowed his brows, leaned back against his seat, then he realized my intentions and quickly shook his head.

" Don't you dare-"

" I'll buy you pretzels! "

" Not interested."

He returned his focus to his homework, I could tell he was almost done yet I hadn't even started. And I knew that if my mom came up she would insist on checking my book to confirm whether I had done it. She said Stevens was a good influence, before we became friends she had to force me to do it. Nowadays all I had to do was wait for him to finish up before I copied his work. I liked it that way, it was less problematic for me.

" I'll get you as many as you want. "

" Nope. "

" Stacks and stacks of them. " 

He liked those things, I was sure he'd give in eventually. Yesterday had been crackers and he'd given in right away. The day before that I offered him my skateboard to use for the entire weekend. I don't know why he ever bothered to refuse. I was the king of bargaining.

" Don't pretend Stevens.." I said in a low voice, inching closer to him with what I thought was a manipulative look. He quickly glanced at me and looked away, reaching for his textbook to look something up. He was blinking an abnormal amount of times and I could tell he was a little nervous. His spine had stiffened.

" We both know you want them. Just say yes. "

" I told you yesterday was the last time. "

I got close enough to him, I knew what I was doing. I might have been young and terrible at studies but I wasn't stupid. 

" Please?" I pleaded next to his ear. He turned to me and leaned slightly back. A frown on his face. His hand went up to his ear, it had turned completely pink. That was a habit of his whenever he was feeling anxious or uncomfortable.

" I told you to stop doing that!" 

" Doing what?" 

" Whatever it is you're doing!"

" Then say yes, " I started inching closer. He swallowed and his eyes widened. Then he freaked out and stood. Stepping away from the table. 

" Fine then, here. " He passed me his book, a very unamused look on his face. I laughed and took it from him. 

" I want them extra salty, you hear that? "

" Anything you want. "

" And make sure they're warm too. "

" Sure, now sit down. Those equations won't solve themselves. "

He reluctantly did so, then he moved his chair slightly away from me and went ahead to do as asked. 

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Five years and he still held a grudge. I hadn't even known he lived in Colorado, he had left without saying a word. I was still pretty upset though, I don't know why. Nothing interested me, all I wanted to do was smash something, yell at someone or maybe accomplish both. And I hated the fact that my father had made us move all the way there just because his pretty little new wife liked the kitchen layout of a house she had seen while surfing the internet. He hadn't cared that I wanted to stay exactly where I was. I had nothing against Khloe, his wife. I mean, her existence did anger me and I did wish she one day woke up, packed her designer bags and left...but other than that she was okay. What I didn't like was the fact that she was always trying to get closer to me. She was literally only eight years older than me. Old enough to be my older sister. I didn't want to say she had only married my dad for his money but that was clearly the truth. Otherwise why would she have? He wasn't charming, not anymore at least. But I didn't care, they could do whatever they wanted with their lives as long as they stopped trying to meddle with mine. 

Stevens.

Ever since I found out he was that close I haven't been able to focus on anything else. I have this urge to get closer to him, he had literally been my best friend. It was however evident that he wanted nothing to do with me, but thankfully I have never been known to give up a fight. This was a challenge and I was determined to face it head on. All I needed was a little time. And who knows? Maybe if I concentrate more on him and less on other things I might make it through this entire semester without any problems. This was my fourth school in less than eight months. I had gotten expelled from the last one for smashing the principal's car windows. I knew there were cameras there, it was one of the reasons why I did it. But the old man deserved that and much more, he was glad I considered him a member of the elderly community otherwise I would have done the same thing to his face. But I have to behave this time, in as much as I doubt I can. It had been difficult for my father to get me admission here seeing as I didn't have the best record when it came to discipline. My grades were even worse. But he had money and as I had come to learn over the years. There wasn't a single thing money couldn't buy. 

He had also warned me that if I got expelled again then off to boarding school I'd go. I knew he wasn't joking. And I had a strong feeling that Khloe was the one putting the idea in his head, she was pregnant after all. She must have wanted me out of the picture so that she could finally get the family she had been dreaming off. And all she was doing in the meantime was pretending that she was nice to me. My dad didn't believe I could go for a few months without him being called to school and I was determined to prove him wrong. 

I glanced around at the hallways, inwardly groaning when I saw two girls approaching me. I hadn't been there a day yet I had gotten invitations to about three parties already. I didn't want to make them four so I turned around and quickly made my way out of there. Minding each step I took before yet another student "accidentally" bumped into me and dropped her books. What sort of place was this? 

I exited the school building. There were a few students outside but I didn't pay much attention to them. I was dying to ditch the classes left and just go find something else to do but I wasn't going to. So instead I walked around the school until I found a private spot. Then I sat in the grass and leaned against the wall, taking out the alcohol flask in my inner jacket's pocket and taking a sip. And as I did so I thought about Stevens and his reaction towards me earlier. It angered me like nothing else had managed to do so in such a long time. He was so different from the eleven year old boy I remembered. That boy never shouted, he was always calm and calculative. he was also rarely prone to anger and very easy to forgive. But I understood why he was the way he was, I couldn't blame him.

Yet I still believed that five years was more than enough time to get over something. 

God but had I missed him!

And I was certain that with time, I'd be able to get him to let go of the past and move on. I took another sip of the Brandy I had taken from my father's liquor cabinet and then I closed the flask and tucked it safely away. I didn't drink to get drunk, I just needed the warmth. 

My next class had already began so I decided to head back in. But that day wasn't going to come to an end until him and I had an actual chat. He couldn't keep running from me forever, eventually he had to stop and catch a fucking breath. And once he did I was going to be there, right when he least expected it. 

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We had about four classes together from what I gathered. Each one as devastating as the last. I let him have his space this time. Even when a certain student asked me whether I wanted to trade seats with her so I could sit at the front. 

" Now why the hell would I wanna do that?" I arched a brow at her and she frowned, seeming confused. Then she activated her charm and smiled sweetly. I was getting sick of it all, the smiles and the suggestive glances. All of them.The one person I wanted to glance at me was set on pretending I didn't exist.

" Your eyes, I remember you saying that--"

" My eyes are perfectly fine. And currently they wish that you'd disappear from view because your smile is too bright it might blind them. "

She seemed offended at first, then she inclined her head to the side and her expression changed.

" I'll take that as a compliment. "

" It wasn't, now shoo!" I said in the most even tone I could master, flicking my hand to send her away so she could know I was serious. She called me an arrogant prick and turned to walk away, fuming. 

I was hoping that she'd also warn her friends against approaching me, and they would in turn warn their friends. If I wanted company I'd search for it myself,I was fine just how I was. The girl went and sat a few desks away from Stevens, the girl Infront of her turned to ask her something and she turned to me with a look of pure dislike, or was it interest? I could no longer tell. She must have heard of my very unpleasant nature. Stevens turned to them, clearly listening in, then he glanced back to where I was and I could tell that something was on his mind. I stared back, leaning forward as if by doing so the distance between us could shorten. Then I winked at him and he immediately turned back around. I smirked, watching as he instinctively reached up and touched his ear, then his hand lowered to his neck. At least somethings hadn't changed, I was glad to know that.