I look up, just in time to see a pair of deep green eyes staring at me before the gap of talking heads closes in again, and they’re gone.
I feel like an entire bucket of ice water has just been dumped over my head; and I keep looking, hoping to catch another look at him.
“Creepy, huh?” Randi says, through a mouthful of ice cream and nuts.
“Um…” ‘Creepy’ wasn’t what I wasn’t the vibe I was getting. More like curious, intrigued.
“Do you know him from somewhere? Have you seen him around?” she asks, twirling her spoon in the air.
I don’t recognize him from anywhere. But he looked like he knew me. Intimately.
“Er, no.” I force myself to turn back towards her, keeping my voice light. “Do you?”
“Nope, but don’t worry, we’ll protect you. Right, guys?” Randi shouts to the group sitting around the table.
“What? What’s going on?” Jack asks, sitting forward in his seat, his unzipped jacket falling open, as if he’d only just noticed us sitting there.
“Some creepster is starting at us, but I just told Malynda that you’ll take care of us.”
“Oh yeah, hey… don’t be scared,” he reaches over and lays a hand on my shoulder, and I try not to shrug it off. “I’ve got you. I promise not to take my eyes off you, babe.”
I don’t know how I hold back an eyeroll, but I do.
We hang around for another hour and the crowd dissipates, but the owner of the eyes never reappears. It’s close to five when we all get up, picking up our bags off the pile in turn. I feel a sweaty hand grip the back of my neck.
“Hey, babe, I’ll see you in history tomorrow, okay?” Jack finishes his promise with a wink, thankfully pulling his hand away before I have to push it away. Ever since the one disastrous date we went on a few weeks ago, I’ve had a hard time avoiding him.
“Um, sure. See ya,” I say, keeping my voice as flat as possible.
I hang back, not wanting to have to spend another second in his presence.
“Need a ride?” Randi asks, as she pulls her hair into a ponytail.
I give her a grateful smile. “No, I’m going to walk home, to make up for the missed work out.”
“Okay, call me if you want to chat later.”
I give her a wave and watch as the door closes behind her.
The silence is calming. It’s only me and the owner behind the counter, wiping dry some clean glasses.
I sit and watch as the second hand makes a full turn around the clock, half waiting for Jack to be gone, half hoping maybe if I wait just one more minute, Mr. Green Eyes will make another appearance. The owner throws me a glance, though, that tells me he’d rather I go.
I sigh and push myself to my feet, hooking my hand into my backpack’s strap. Just as I reach for the door handle, there’s a loud shout from outside, and another one follows it right away, and then a round of yells. I turn to look at the owner, who just shrugs, and goes back to his work. I tug on the door and run outside to see what’s going on.
In the parking lot, a crowd has formed in a circle. Just from their backs I can see it’s made up mostly of the people I’ve just spent the last hour with.
“Get the fucker!” I hear one voice yell and then everyone joins in.
“What the…?” I push through the circle, only to come to a complete standstill at the sight in front of me.
It’s him.
Green Eyes.
Except now I can see the rest of him.
He’s tall, lanky; his hair is dark and pulled back into a short pony tail. A lock of black hair is plastered against his forehead, sweeping just above his eyes.
Those glinting, emerald green eyes.
That are doing their best to avoid mine.
Jack is circling him, arms up, ready to fight.
“What the fuck is happening?” I ask the guy next to me.
“It’s that guy, that guy Randi said was perving on you guys. Jack’s showing him that we don’t take too kindly to that kinda thing around here!”
“But he didn’t do anything!” I yell.
“Looks pretty guilty to me. GET HIM, JACK!!! Fuck him up!” he yells, pumping his fist, his eyes dilated, as if high on the anticipation of bloodshed.
At the sound of the growing cheers around him, I watch as Jack takes a half step back and then lunge, swinging his arm around, his fist making contact with his opponent’s face. Everything suddenly moves in slow-motion. I hear myself gasp as Green Eyes stumbles back into the crowd. Someone shoves him forward into Jack’s swing radius, and another punch lands on the other side of his face. Jack takes the opportunity to push him to the ground, stepping on his back, holding him down.
“Stop it!” I yell, but I can’t even hear my own voice over the shouting. “STOP IT!” I scream again, the air dragging against my throat like a razor. I run over to Jack, pushing as hard as I can against his arm, making him sway to the side. “Get off him! He didn’t do anything!”
Jack growls, spinning around towards me, his eyes glazed over and red, his arm raised, ready to strike.
“NO!” Green Eyes, jumps to his feet, shoving me over, standing between me and Jack. I trip and almost fall over, but someone catches me, and holds me upright.
Jack blinks; his arm still raised.
They stand there, chests heaving, blood dripping down the right side of Green Eyes’ face.
“Oh, so now the pervert is a hero?” The sarcasm drips from Jack’s lips. “Relax, I wasn’t going to hit her.” He takes a breath and steps back, a sneer creeping up his face as he rubs his knuckles. “I would say I don’t hit girls but the black eye you’re going to sport tomorrow, is evidence to the contrary.”
Green Eyes doesn’t move. But I can see his jaw clenching, the vein snaking its way down his throat growing thicker. Something tells me, if I don’t stop it, someone is going to get seriously hurt.
“Just… just go,” I say, glaring at Jack. “Please.”
“Great way to thank me, babe.”
“There’s nothing to thank you for. Just go!” I yell.
Someone squeezes my arm and I realize it’s Randi who had caught me. “Hey. You okay?” she asks, softly.
“It’s fine. I’ll be alright. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.” I give her a tight smile.
Jack snickers, shaking his head at me. I stare him down until he finally moves, pushing through a gap in the circle, with the rest of the group following behind him. Leaving me with Green Eyes.
It’s almost a minute until we’re completely alone, but he hasn’t moved. The trickle of blood reaches the top of his dirtied collar, and I reach forward, as if to wipe it away.
As soon as my fingertips touch him, he jumps and pulls away, turning his back to me.
“You go, too,” he says, so softly I’m not even sure he said it.
“No, please. Let me help you.”