Beyond Goodbye

Slipping Away

Maya could feel something really different and weird when she arrived at school the next day. She looked around carefully, expecting Damon to pop out of nowhere and ruffle her hair again. Instead, she saw Jared looking at her intensely, lost in thought.

What? Jared looking at her??? It must be someone behind her. She quickly looked behind her to see who it was but there was no one. Then she subtly looked at her outfit, convinced she must have worn something backwards. Everything was normal. There must be something on her face then. Too bad she didn’t have a mirror with her, she thought, as she combed her fingers through her hair nervously. Maybe her hair was a mess?

“Look at that little simp.”

Jared chuckled to himself, rolling his eyes.

“She is acting like a fool right now. The poor girl just can’t believe I am looking at her. This will be too easy.”

Maya felt really out of place that day. Jared was too focused on her, something he had not done in all the years they had been in school. She didn’t know what to expect from this. She wished Mark was here already. She felt small and insignificant in front of this unexpected attention she was getting. She used to day dream about having Jared’s undivided attention, but now she was not sure if she wanted it in real.

She stumbled on her own feet as she rushed to the washroom. She looked in the mirror trying to find anything that was out of place in her appearance. She hated this feeling of being judged and scrutinized. Or maybe she was just overreacting. He must be lost in thought, must be worried about something. He was just staring into space and she happened to be in his line of sight. Maya reassured herself as she went out to look for Mark.

The rest of the day went by smoothly as she spent it with Mark and they made plans for later. Jared was on her mind but she was too afraid to look around and see if he was still looking at her. Mark, on the other hand, noticed this unexpected attention towards his friend and couldn’t wait to point it out to her. He could see she was nervous and he knew she was avoiding talking about it at the moment. Maybe later….

Jared had the time of his life though. He could see the effect he was having on her and realized how much control he could have on her. He was a little taken aback at this newly found power and wasn’t sure how to feel about it. He may be an arrogant boy carried away by his popularity at school, but there was still some good in his heart.

“She almost looks cute..”

He chuckled to himself, looking at her short hair sticking out in weird places whenever she drew her hand through them. Maybe he had judged her too harshly. She might not be his type, but she wasn’t that bad. She could be a cool friend. That is why Mark was sticking by her, even though his love was clearly one-sided. There were girls swooning at Mark’s feet, but he was too blinded to notice any one of them.

Jared enjoyed his day looking at this strange girl. She wasn’t like any other girl he had ever known and he was not sure if she would ever become his type. He smirked whenever Maya accidently looked at him, to show her he was staring right at her. Maya had come to realize that Jared was indeed looking at her and she didn’t know why on earth that was happening.

Finally, when Maya managed to spill her drink on her shirt twice while stumbling on her own words, Mark sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. He got up and picked up both their things, got hold of the poor girl's arm and pulled her up with him. He dragged her after her as he made his way out of the school, passing Damon as he was walking down the hallway.

“Okay, what have you done now?”

Mark was standing in front of Maya, with his arms crossed. She looked at him with wide eyes, drink still dripping down her shirt.

“What?”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know what I am talking about! Can’t you see Jared staring at you all day!?”

“Uhhh…I haven’t done anything.”

Maya squeaked. She had hoped it was her silly day-dreams getting into her head. Mark had just confirmed her worst fears. She just stood there in front of him like a deer caught in the headlights.

Mark felt sorry for his friend, even though he felt angry and jealous at how Jared had this effect on her. He had seen her distracted all day, stumbling around, forgetting what she was saying, and being nervous all the time. He wished he had half the effect that Jared had on her.

“Okay relax, its nothing serious, he must be messing around with you. Lets go, we have better things to do than ruin other peoples’ days.”

He took her hand gently and pulled her with him. He wanted to protect her from this boy that he didn’t trust even one bit. He had this feeling that if Jared came to talk to Maya, she would run to him and not listen to a word Mark said. He felt uneasy, as if his friend was in danger. He decided to keep a close eye on Jared and not let him near Maya.

He could already feel her slipping away from him. This fear in his heart was making him scared. He wanted to pull Maya close to him and hug her tight, tell her how precious she was to him. But he couldn’t do that. Instead, he squeezed her shoulders affectionately, as if reassuring her.

“You are my most precious friend, Maya.”

A small smile appeared on his face when she scooped nearer and put her head on him as they walked back to class.