Until I Met You

6 | "nice seeing you again, Luke."

As if my day hasn't already seen enough of Luke, he appears when I least want to see him.

As I'm entering my English classroom with Emma next to me, my gaze immediately drifts to a blond boy in the corner I instantly recognize as the spawn of Satan himself, sitting at a desk with his head down and face in a book. My first thought is that Luke is looking over some sort of class-assigned text, but a closer look leads me to the realization that it's an actual book. As in, Luke is seemingly reading for fun.

The two of us really couldn't be any more different if we tried.

"Don't worry about him," Emma whispers by my side, as if she can sense my apprehension. "Luke's really harmless. Once you get to know him, he's a good guy at heart. His bark is much worse than his bite, I swear."

I nod in response, though Emma's words only seem to make me feel worse about Luke. Because it's no secret that he doesn't like me. I'll never get the chance to know that "good guy at heart", as he'll only push me away if I try to come close. I'm unsure as to why this makes my heart feel heavy.

Emma leads me across the classroom to her desk, gesturing for me to take the seat next to her. Unfortunately, this happens to be the desk right in front of Luke's. I purse my lips as I lower into the chair, noticing that Luke has glanced up from his book, his glare searing into my skin. It hits me that I'm now stuck sitting in front of Luke for the rest of the semester, and I know that there's one thing he and I can agree on: this blows.

Emma looks over her shoulder at Luke, expression somewhat nervous. "Hi," she murmurs faintly, as if testing the waters with him, no doubt thinking back to what happened during lunch.

Luke slips his index finger into his book as he temporarily closes the cover, so as not to lose his page. "Hi," he says to Emma, and I notice that his tone is soft rather than angered, which is the only emotion he ever regards me with.

Emma offers him a relieved smile, and risking a glance at Luke out of the corner of my eye reveals that he doesn't hesitate to return the gesture. His blue eyes shimmer with warmth, when all they've only ever done is glare at me coolly. I'm unable to put my finger on exactly why, but in this moment I am undeniably envious of Emma.

The attention of my classmates shifts to the front of the room as the English teacher, Ms. Edwards, walks through the door. Turning her back to us students, Ms. Edwards writes a few notes on the whiteboard before discussing the answers to the homework assigned the previous night. Afterward, she clears her throat, her dark blue eyes surveying the class in silence.

"I'm pleased to announce," Ms. Edwards starts to say, the hint of a smile tugging at the corners of her lips, "that we are soon to be starting Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet."

With her announcement, my classmates simultaneously release pent-up groans. Even I'm hardly able to stifle my disappointment. I'm not much of a reader, nor do I consider myself a romantic. Therefore Romeo and Juliet will be nothing but a bore to me.