Through The Dark

27: Pesky Stranger

Saph

I never expected I'd be excited to attend class, especially not one that was in the subject of Biology. For months, I dreaded the moment I would have to walk through this room's door, and I dreaded the moment I would have to awkwardly sit next to a pesky stranger, who seemed to always be up for a chat even when I would make it very obvious to him that I was not interested in the slightest to what he had to say. Desperately trying to avoid speaking to him or even looking towards his direction while having to deal with the constant blabbering of the teacher was all I did during the lesson.

But I ended up eating my own words, something that Kris made sure to remind me of every chance she got, amused by the way things played out.

That pesky stranger has somehow managed to drill himself into my life and become my one and only reason to not only want attend the stupid class, but he was probably the only reason that was keeping me from dropping out of school completely.

Walking into class, I saw him at his seat on the other side of the room as always, with a notebook ready to go and a pen in his hand. As I walked towards our shared desk, my mind trailed back to the memory of him looking up at me nervously while I glared at him whenever we would meet. That anxious look he always had was now exchanged for a bright smile, which I couldn't help but return. Probably the most bizarre and unexpected thing in the whole situation was that I was wearing a piece of clothing that belonged to him.

I took my assigned seat and dropped my backpack onto the desk. Unexpectedly, Niall gripped the underside of my chair and pulled it closer to his, catching me completely off guard as I let out a squeak, making him chuckle.

"Hello Ms. Hall." He greeted, his tone serious and his voice deep, making the hairs at the back of my neck stand up at the rasp of his voice.

"Hello Mr. Horan." I answered in a similar tone, mirroring the smug look he had plastered on his face.

"Always a pleasure to see you." He added, winking at me.

"Mr. Horan, if I didn't know any better I'd say you're trying to get with me." I teased, raising an eyebrow.

"You'd be correct to assume that." He responded, chuckling. We could've gone on with that conversation for a while, but the entrance and greeting of the teacher cut our suggestive banter short. Niall shuffled in his seat and sat a little straighter before clearing his throat, averting his full attention to the teacher.

In an attempt to get more comfortable in my seat, I swung my right leg over his left one, turning a little in my seat so I was facing towards him. He shot me a confused look for a split second, but didn't seem to mind it as he placed one hand on my knee while he started scribbling notes on the paper infront of him. He was completely engrossed into the lesson, constantly darting his head between the teacher, the blackboard and his notebook. I didn't want to distract him, because I knew how important it was to him to do well in school, but I couldn't help the urge to touch him in some way. So I brought my hand to the back of his neck, starting to twist the short strands of blonde hair. He smiled to himself at my move, causing me to smile at his reaction.

The teacher stopped writing onto the blackboard, causing Niall to stop taking notes as he leaned back into his seat and pushed the sleeves of his black shirt up to his elbows. His right hand returned to my knee, tracing shapes on my knee cap while his left hand fidgeted with the pen he had, twisting it around his fingers while he listened to the teacher intently, running his tongue over his teeth before he bit the inside of his mouth and slightly clenched his jaw.

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to keep watching him, because I suddenly felt the temperature around me rise, and I couldn't bare having the hoodie on for any second longer. Thankful that I was wearing a tank top under it, I pulled it off of me slowly in an attempt to not draw anyone's attention. The good thing about sitting at the very back corner of the class was that every other student was facing away from where I was sat, so no one ever took notice of whatever I was doing.