Mateo's Pov

She didn't look the part. Her demeanour seemed fragile and the cuts, fresh. But her eyes were what drew me in. They were entangled with fear and goosebumps ghosted over her arms. Making me believe there's more to this. More that I want to find out.

Other than the obvious, what exactly is she hiding?

Turning the same corner she does, I see her walking into a classroom, and I don't want to intrude, but remember this was the way I was going initially and smirk. I knock on the door and the teacher comes almost a second after. He's most likely in his late 30's with a full head of brown hair and glasses.

His outfit isn't worth discussing.

"Good morning, nice to see that you're late as well," The teacher presses but I'm not bothered

Rolling my eyes and scoffing, I push past him and scan across the room. The only thing I'm focused on is looking for the mystery girl. Finally seeing her and locking eyes, hers widens and the same panic expression washes over her, causing a shiver to roll through me.

And she notices.

••••••••••

"Well, now that we have gone over the syllabuses and supplies, are there anymore questions?" Mr. Jacobs, our teacher, asks while looking at the clock

In 5 minutes the bell will sound, signalling lunch and I hope to see her. The thought of having more time with her makes me grin deeply and I turn back towards the teacher knowing I probably look like a maniac.

Suddenly he looks towards me and points making me reload the gun, tensing significantly.

"By the way class, this is -

"Mateo!" I hurriedly cut him off and he looks taken back but clears his throat before continuing

"Yes, this is Mateo, a transfer student, so someone will need to show him around later on," he finishes and I instantly put the gun back on safety

Turning my gaze to the wooden desk, I soon hear girls erupting in giggles and guys smacking their teeth in annoyance. The various reactions make me smirk and when I finally take a look around the room, I see all the girls arm raised to show me around.

Except one.

Before Mr. Jacobs can add anything, the sound of the bell ringing is heard and we grab our things making our way to the door.

To my surprise, the mystery girl jets out the room first and a low chuckle escapes me at her attempt of getting away. Grabbing my bag and walking out the room not sparing the teacher a second glance, I look around trying to find out where she went.

Thinking she could have went to the cafeteria, I follow the rows of students until they lead me there and smile once I see her with a group of three other girls.

I roll my eyes continuing my way to the lunch line, and make the motive to go over to their table once I grab my food. So I turn my head again to see if they're still there, and my blood runs cold seeing a full head of curly hair and light brown skin.

I start to feel dizzy ragingly hoping that that isn't her. From the small features I've glimpsed at, she looks the same from when we were kids. But now she's grown up. We're both grown up.

I wonder if she remembers me.

Suddenly feeling a finger violently tap my shoulder, I turn around to see a red head girl behind me giving me a bored look, and I internally thank her for breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Can I help you with something?" I ask giving her eye contact

Her eyes fall to the floor and I give her 5 seconds to reply, and when she doesn't say anything, I tense turning back around. Hearing her scoff softly, I smile thinking she's going to leave, but when I feel a tug on my wrist, my head whips back to her as my feet stumble over themselves following her out of the cafeteria.

Before we make it out, I look back to the girl's table and to my demise she notices, making us briefly have eye contact. She softly smiles at me and I feel my heart pitter patter against my chest realizing she does remember me.

I know I didn't prepare myself for this, but I still didn't expect it to affect me this much. It has been 4 to 5 years after all.

But seeing her smile, the dimple in her right cheek, and those eyes, hell seeing all of her features, that once brought me comfort, now brings haunting memories that creep through my brain in the middle of the night.

But what haunts me more is the mere thought of them still together.

What if they still are?

Feeling heavily vulnerable and confused, I close my eyes tightly trying to calm myself, but I keep envisioning rusty iron bars that's holding me hostage. Seeing her this close to me makes all of my bottled up emotions want to explode, but when I faintly see a pair of dimly lightened eyes, the switch inside of me flips.

Making my eye twitch, harshly pulling the trigger.

"Leave me the fuck alone! I'm not going any fucking where with you," I shout pulling my hoodie further over my face and she turns back to me shocked

Feeling angrier by the second, my jaw clenches and everywhere I crane my neck, I see her eyes. I see her.

I see them.

But when the red head girl softly touches my shoulder noticing my tensed body, I turn to her wide eyed, my hands balled in tight fists.

"I can help you,"