Sunsets and Constellations | B X B

• E L E V E N •

E L I J A H

Elijah didn't know what had boosted up his confidence last night, but he sure as hell was having a hard time concentrating on Mr.Rufus's voice. He loved everything about philosophy, but today he just couldn't focus. They were learning about Epicurus' Ethics of Reciprocity, the Golden Rule.
Every now and then, Rufus would ask the students as to how they'd counter certain points.

Arius was the only face he recognised in the class and he was currently sitting behind him.
There were not many students taking philosophy and it was quite a surprise to see Arius there. He felt the constant need to turn around and look at the boy behind him; it was like an itch at the back of his throat.
When he did turn around, giving in to the urge, Arius's stubborn gaze locked on to his curious one immediately, challenging him to look away.

But how could he?

At least not of his own accord.

"What do you want?" Arius sighed, the look in his eyes no longer steely.

"Uh I was wondering if I could borrow an eraser?"

"You're holding a pen, Kingston."

"Yeah, no. I'm going to doodle, so I need an eraser in case of any errors."

"You're a terrible liar you know that?" Arius said, mouth turning into a half, lopsided grin.

Elijah felt like he was running out of breath again. But strangely, he liked the feeling.

He shot Arius a quick smile and took the eraser from his outstretched palm, his fingers brushing Arius's as he pulled his hand away.
He was nervous and it was so out of character for him to feel this way.

Whatever the fuck happened to having these feelings under control?

He was going to end up dead, at the rate his heart was hammering in his chest.

He willed himself not to turn around or even move his head again and listened to Mr.Rufus as much as he could. He slipped the tiny blue eraser into the pocket of his blazer, totally forgetting about it.

He shot a quick text to Ryder who had a free hour this period.

This is going bad Ry ;-;
3:24 pm       

                                                 What's up?
                                                       3:24 pm

Remember how I told u I had it under control?
Not in the slightest.
3:25 pm

            Fuck😂 What're you gonna do?
                                                         3:25 pm

Idk. Listen I'll ttyl, or I'm going 2 get caught.
3:28 pm

                                                Ok. See ya :)
                                                         3:28 pm

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

That was the last time Elijah would consciously think about Arius. The next two weeks were packed and passed by in a blur. They had games starting for the season which required them to travel for longer than the usual school did because they were in the middle of a fucking forest.
Jake had made it to the soccer team and was simply ecstatic.
Tirzah had managed to somehow get him to learn the unit of derivatives even before they finished it in class. At least Harold wasn't breathing down his neck all the time after what had happened. He had scored a 90 on the test, which was actually pretty good for him. Arius had scored a 97. And Tirzah, a 99.
Arius had shot Tirzah a dirty look as Mr.Harold praised her which only sent her into a fit of laughter.