Chasing Sunset

Chapter 4: The Things I Notice

There were things I knew about Kael Reyes.

He despised instant coffee

was always keeping two pens with him because, somehow, he always lost the one he was using by the end of the day

tapped the table with short, sharp beats whenever he was thinking

pretended not to care about his grades, but checked every one the second they were posted

and

most importantly he noticed everything. Everything about me.

"You're doing it again."

I didn't look up from my notebook.

"What?"

"Frowning."

"I'm focussing."

"You look angry."

"I'm always angry when you're near."

He sat down in the chair next to me.

"That's nice."

I looked at him.

"How is that nice?"

"It means I have an impact on you."

I stared at him for a moment, then went back to my notes.

"You are having an impact. A headache."

He laughed

It was Monday morning and our classroom was unusually loud. The windows were open since the electric fans were down again. Outside, the morning air smelled of wet concrete. Someone in the room was running through a presentation. Two boys were arguing about a basketball game. Mira was eating crackers on my desk even though our teacher had told us multiple times to stop.

It was an ordinary Monday morning, except that Kael had somehow chosen my desk to sit on.

"Move."

I looked at him.

"From where?"

His chair.

"I'm sitting here."

"I know."

"So?"

"I think you're blocking my notebook."

He looked down at my notebook, then at me. I had it right in front of me. He looked back.

"Am I?"

"Yes."

"How?"

I pointed at his elbow.

"That's your elbow."

He looked at it, then at my elbow. Then he moved his elbow about a centimeter to the left. "There".

I sighed.

"You're unbearable."

"You've said that before."

"Because it's true."

Mira leaned forward suddenly.

"You two act like an old married couple."

I almost choked on my own saliva.

Kael laughed.

"We're not married."

"I know." Mira looked at me innocently

"Good."

"But you argue like married people."

I threw a piece of paper at her head and she laughed and moved back. Kael was still smiling."Don't encourage her."I'm not."

"You are."

"I think it's funny."

"Of course you do."

Our teacher walked in before I could retort and everyone quickly went back to their seats. The morning dragged by and by the time lunch break came, I was already tired. I grabbed my food and went to where Mira was waiting, but turned around the moment I saw Kael and Ethan. Mira grabbed my arm.

"No."

"I wasn't going to sit there."

"You were."

"I was checking."

"Checking what?"

"if the cafeteria was open."

She laughed at me.

"It's noon."

"I know."

We sat down with the others. After a few minutes we ate in silence before Ethan finally decided to ask

"So, how's the project coming?"

"Fine." Kael replied

"Just fine?" Ethan looked skeptical. Kael nodded. "We're almost halfway there."

"How do you survive working with him?"

I shrugged when Ethan asked me. "I don't." Kael looked offended.

"You make it sound like I'm a horrible person to work with."

"You are."

"You're worse."

"At least I'm organized."

"You're controlling."

"You're careless."

"I'm flexible."

"You're irresponsible."

"You're bossy."

"You're annoying."

"You're stubborn."

We both stopped speaking. The whole table was staring at us. Mira was the first to start smiling. Ethan looked between us.

"Should I leave?"

"No." I said. "Yes." said Kael at the same time. Ethan laughed.

"You two are ridiculous."

I looked down at my food. I hated how easy it had become. I hated that fighting with Kael no longer made me angry but instead made me feel strangely comfortable. That thought made me uncomfortable so I pushed it away. After lunch we had another project meeting. Our teacher let us use the media room and we spent the next hour and a half in there editing the film. Kael was sitting infront of one of the computers, editing the footage. I was standing behind him, watching the screen.

"Cut that part."

"Why?"

"The transition is too fast."

He rewound it and played it again. I watched, then nodded.

"You're right. There."

He adjusted it and I smiled.

"Better?"

He looked at me.

"Happy?"

"Very."

"Good."

After nearly an hour I suddenly realized something.

"You lost your watch."

He looked at his wrist, then at me. "No."

"You always wear it."

"My little brother borrowed it."

I blinked at him.

"You have a little brother?"

"Yeah."

"Why haven't I seen him before?"

"You have."

"When?"

"When we were little."

"I don't remember him."

"You don't remember anything before you were twelve."

"That's not true."

He smiled.

"It is."

"Whatever. What's his name?"

"Noah."

"How old is he?"

"Nine."

I smiled.

"He's cute."

Kael looked at me.

"What?"

"Nothing."

He turned back to the computer.

"He likes you."

I raised an eyebrow.

"What?"

"My brother."

"How would he know me?"

"He's seen pictures."

I laughed.

"You showed him pictures of me?"

He quickly turned back to the computer.

"My mom has pictures."

I smiled.

"Sure."

"Don't."

"You're embarrassing yourself."

"I'm not."

"You are."

He shook his head.

"You're annoying."

I smiled.

"You're welcome."

The afternoon went by and soon enough most of our group had already left, leaving only Kael and I in the media room. We had to finish the last few takes and the room was silent except for the sound of the keyboard and the computer. Outside it was already orange hour. I watched the sky through the window.

"Sunset."

Kael looked up at the window.

"We need to get footage."

I grabbed my camera.

"Let's go."

We walked out to the hill where the school grounds met the forest. It was almost empty and the air had gotten colder. The trees swayed lightly above us as we climbed up the hill. When we got to the top, the sun was already low in the sky. I set up my camera while Kael adjusted the tripod.

"Ready?"

"Yes."

We took turns filming the different shots. For once everything was going smoothly. The lighting was perfect and the sky was clear. There wasn't a single cloud in sight. We filmed a few different takes until it was finally time to go back.

When I looked through my pictures, I found that everything had turned out nicely. Kael was standing next to me, watching the sky.

"Good?"

"Very." I looked at him.

He smiled.

"Do you ever think about what you'll be doing when you graduate?"

He was quiet for a moment.

"Sometimes."

"What do you want to be?"

"Film."

I smiled.

"Of course."

"What about you?"

"Film, too."

He blinked at me.

"You never told me."

"I thought you knew."

"I didn't."

I looked at the sky.

"I want to be a director someday."

Kael nodded.

"I think you would be good at it."

I looked at him.

"You don't sound like you're joking."

"I'm not." He paused. "Because you notice things."

I smiled.

"Like what?"

"People."

He looked at the horizon.

"You notice when they're uncomfortable. When they're faking it. When they're happy, even when they don't say so."

I didn't know what to say. No one had ever said that to me before.

I looked down at my camera.

"And you?"

"What about me?"

"What do you notice?"

He looked at me.

"Everything."

My heart skipped a beat. I laughed nervously.

"That's very vague."

"I know."

"You're impossible."

"So you've said."

The sun disappeared below the horizon and I took one last picture before putting the camera down. I looked at the picture. It was lovely, but when I lowered the camera I realized that Kael was watching me. Again. This time I didn't look away. Neither did he. Someone's phone rang somewhere and I looked away first. It was my mom. I answered the call.

"Hey."

"Are you still at school?"

"Yes."

"Your dad is coming to pick you guys up."

"Okay."

I hung up the call. Kael was already putting the equipment away.

"Ready?"

"Yeah."

We walked back down the hill. The sky behind us was slowly getting darker. I thought about what he had said. You notice people. I think you would be good at it. I notice everything. For some reason, his words stuck with me all the way home. That night I opened the photos on my phone and scrolled through them one by one. The garden. The hallway. The classroom. The sunset. I stopped at one photo that I didn't remember taking. Kael was standing near the edge of the hill, his back to the camera, watching the sunset. He looked calm. Peaceful. Different. Not the stubborn Kael I knew.

I stared at him for a long time, then quickly closed the gallery. This was getting ridiculous. He was my rival. My biggest annoyance. My competition. Nothing more. Nothing less.

At least, that's what I told myself when I opened my eyes the next morning and saw Kael already waiting in my classroom. He looked up when I walked in.

"Morning."

"Morning."

He smiled and I found myself smiling back. I stopped almost immediately and looked away, but Mira saw it. Her eyes widened when she saw me and she leaned closer to me after.

"You like him."

I nearly dropped my pen on the floor.

"I do not."

She smiled."You didn't even let me finish."I know what you're about to say."

"No, you don't."

"Yes, I do."

She laughed. I looked at my notebook.

"He's still annoying."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"It means everything."

She shook her head.

"Elara."

I ignored her but as I looked out the window I saw Kael watching me from across the room. He quickly looked away when I met his gaze. And for the first time, I wondered if maybe, just maybe, he noticed things, too.