EYES ON ME
916 Words
Chapter Two – Eyes on Me
The smell of coffee and toasted bread drifted through the kitchen as Lena padded downstairs the next morning, her hair still damp from the shower and her mood firmly lodged somewhere between irritated and exhausted.
She wasn’t ready for this. For new faces, new halls, new rules.
And she definitely wasn’t ready for him.
Eric was already seated at the long oak table, scrolling through his phone with one hand and lazily stirring his coffee with the other. He looked irritatingly perfect even at seven in the morning — sleeves rolled up to his forearms, dark hair slightly messy, like he’d just rolled out of bed and into a magazine cover.
Lena ignored him completely. She slipped into a chair on the opposite end of the table and focused on her plate, not once glancing in his direction.
“Good morning, sweetheart,” her mom chirped as she walked in, all sunshine and optimism. “Are you excited for your first day?”
Lena stabbed at her eggs. “Thrilled.”
Her mom either didn’t hear the sarcasm or chose to ignore it. “I’ve asked Daniel to take you and Eric to school,” she said, referring to the driver. “It’ll be easier than figuring out the route on your own.”
“I’ll take the bus.”
Both her mom and Eric looked up at that, though Lena refused to meet either of their eyes.
“Lena, don’t be ridiculous. Daniel is already—”
“I said I’ll take the bus.” Her tone was final.
A beat of silence followed before her mom sighed, clearly deciding it wasn’t worth a fight. “Fine. But please, at least let Eric show you around if you get lost.”
Lena almost laughed. Over my dead body.
Breakfast passed in strained silence. Eric didn’t speak a word, but she could feel his gaze flicker to her every so often — assessing, amused, something else she couldn’t name. She didn’t return it. Not once.
When she finally set her fork down and pushed her chair back, her mom called after her, “Have a good day, sweetheart!”
Lena didn’t answer. She was already out the door.
---
The school was bigger than she expected. The moment she stepped through the gates, conversations hushed and eyes turned. Whispers followed her down the hallway like ripples in water.
“Who’s the new girl?”
“Pretty, isn’t she?”
“She’s in my homeroom — I hope she sits next to me.”
Lena’s stomach twisted. Attention was the last thing she wanted.
A group of boys broke away from the lockers and hurried toward her, all bright smiles and hopeful eyes.
“Hey, you must be new,” one of them said. “I’m Jason. I can show you around if you want.”
“Or I can,” another chimed in, elbowing him playfully. “Our school’s a maze — you’ll need a guide.”
Lena forced a polite smile. “Thanks, but I think I’ll manage.”
She turned to leave — and froze.
Eric was striding down the hallway, surrounded by his usual orbit of friends and followers. The air around him shifted as he passed, people parting without a word. He didn’t even look at her. Didn’t acknowledge her. But as their paths crossed, he glanced sideways just long enough to smirk.
It was small, fleeting — but it made her pulse spike.
Keep walking, she told herself, and did just that.
---
“Class, we have a new student joining us today,” the teacher announced as Lena stepped into the room. “Please welcome Lena Leone.”
Dozens of eyes turned to her.
“Hi,” she said, her voice steady even though her palms felt slick.
“Ooooh,” someone murmured from the back.
“Pretty,” another whispered.
The teacher gestured toward an empty seat. “You can sit there, next to Mr. Leone.”
Her stomach dropped. Of course. Of course fate had a twisted sense of humor.
Eric didn’t glance her way as she slid into the chair beside him. He leaned back in his seat, arms crossed, eyes forward. His friends around them said nothing either — just watched her with cold, unreadable stares that felt more like a test than a welcome.
Across the room, a girl with perfectly styled hair and a too-bright smile narrowed her eyes at Lena, then leaned toward her friend. They whispered, giggled, and shot matching looks of disdain.
Great. Day one and she already had enemies.
The class droned on, but Lena couldn’t focus. She could feel Eric beside her — the warmth radiating off his skin, the faint scent of something sharp and intoxicating she couldn’t place. She hated that she noticed. Hated even more that it unsettled her.
When the bell finally rang, she bolted, desperate for air. But as she stepped into the hallway, a voice — smooth and low — stopped her.
“Bus ride treat you well?”
Eric. Leaning against the doorframe, eyes glinting with amusement.
Lena glared. “Stay out of my way.”
He smiled then — slow, deliberate, infuriating. “That might be harder than you think.”
---
And just like that, she knew this year was going to be hell.
But deep down, beneath the anger and resentment, a darker truth whispered:
Hell had never looked quite like Eric Leone.
- Writer
