de·sire

noun

1. a strong feeling of wanting or wishing for something, someone, or an event to take place. 

"It took him all his will power to not act on the desire he felt for her when she smiled unknowingly to herself. " 

synonyms: Longing

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She made her way through the cold air nipping at her skin. The wind blew through her hair, slightly tossing it over her shoulder as she made her way to the back of the school. The white slate painted building tend to be quiet on the outside. 

Some athletes played football or soccer in the yard and some of what Shoreline called the "chill pills" would sit on the cobble steps, just talking. Or judging, maybe both. She wasn't neither a sports on-goer or judgmental laid back teenager. (although she had a tendency to judge after observation)

 She liked to sit in the quiet area past the yard, submerged in her own thoughts.

 She made her way to her favorite gated area. It held a window which reflected an always empty classroom and where the bushes were trimmed to perfection. In the gated perimeter there was a secret shredding of the gate where Clementine often snuck in to sit by the trimmed flowers. 

She sat down, breathing deeply as a relaxation trick which she had picked up from her former councilors. She closed her eyes. The darkness acted as a blanket as it hid the bright sun and quiet courtyard. 

Still and silent. 

What she loved. 

She rested for a few minuted. It was cold but okay weather. Usually she would spend the whole 20 minutes she had left just lost in her own mind, but today was different. 

Her ears perked up when they heard the rattle of the metal gate. She opened her eyelids to see 'New kid' walking towards her. 

"Hey."

She purposely ignores him, trying to block out his voice with the howling wind. 

"I know you don't want to talk to me." he sighes. From the corner of her eyes she saw him run his fingers through his hair. Giving him a more messy and natural look. 

"Good, because I don't." Clementine replies, shifting slightly. For some reason she felt uncomfortable around him. Not from him in general, but uncomfortable from the odd feeling he gave her with his presence. 

"So let's make a deal. If you give me one reasonable answer for why you want me to leave you alone, I will leave and let you continue whatever type of silent meditation your doing. Although, if you don't, I stay and we talk."

"Just talk?"

"Just talk."

For a brief moment she thought about his offer. He patiently waited for her to answer, silently sitting down next to her. 

"Fine." She mutters. 

He grins before waiting for her 'reasonable' answer in which she counters his silence by saying, "You're annoying. I don't like you."

"Annoyance is an opinion, a choice." He says, smiling. 

"So then why did you choose to be annoying? Besides, I still don't like you." She sees him frown slightly. 

Something in her chest is tugging at her insides. She felt some sort of anxiety creeping into her system. It was almost as if she was stuck in some sort of circle, she was watching her life play out, laid flat in front of her like a deck of cards. 

"Why don't you like me?" Jace asks jokingly, you could tell he was doubtful of her answer. 

"You're breathing? You talk a lot..."

"So you don't like me because I'm human?"

"Sure."

"But are you not human, if you don't like humans that means you can't not like me without not liking yourself." he says in a matter-of-factly tone. 

Clementine felt as if she were looking down at her cards while she sat at the gambling table. 

Others looking expectantly at her. She bites her lip before flipping over her first card. 

A black clover eight. 

Clementine lets out a small laugh, taking Jace by surprise, "Who said I liked myself?"

The next card. A black ace of spades. 

There was silence. Then he spoke up, so quiet, she hadn't thought she heard him at first. 

Jace himself was surprised. He looked at Clementine to see beauty in its best form. His feeling for her were confusing yet that didn't stop him from being in a state of euphoria whenever he was in the same room with her. It's an odd concept, yet she makes him want to live life without thinking of the ramifications.

"You're so perfect." he whispered. 

She shook her head, nobody had said anything to her along those lines. So she was shocked to hear a stranger say it. She begun rubbing her hand up and down her arm, 4 times. 

"What do you know about me?" She scowled, glaring at him. 

The third card, black clover ace. 

"I know everything." Jace says. 

Clementine refused to show that his words sent a soft chill up her spine, yet a slight blush to her cheeks. 

"No, shut up." she demanded. 

He only stared at her, or rather through her. He saw through her disguise. A facade. 

Before she knew it, he grabbed her hand. Instinctively she tapped her forefinger agains the palm of his hand two times. She pulled back forcefully. 

"Don't."

 He was really beginning to weird her out. 

Although he didn't seem to notice, it was as if he was focused on the gesture of her tapping against his  palm. Then he smiles a warm smile. 

A genuine smile. 

The last card is an eight of spades. 

"Clementine, do you like strawberries?" asked Jace. 

Jace says her name as if he were her best friend. She looks back at him slightly confused. 

"I guess?"

He seemed to be thinking, then asked his next question. 

"Do you like to make paper planes?"

Clem shook her head no. 

The air grew colder and the bell rung a piercing yell echoed through the courtyard. Clementine hauled her backpack tighter onto her shoulder and begun making her way back to class before she was grabbed by one of the hanging straps on her backpack. She jerked back, narrowing her eyes at Jace conspicuously. 

In her mind she is staring at her cards. The 'dead mans hand'. She looks up at the rest of the table to see they have all gone. It was only her, her and the cards. Playing with her life on her hands. One choice determined everything. 

"I need to go." she tells him. 

"One more question!" Jace stutters. He lets out a slight cough before looking up at her. That is when he finally looked into her eyes and died.

Drowning in her brown eyes. 

To him, the beauty was irresistible yet he was cautious not to tell her. 

Her smoldering eyes reminded him of melted chocolate with a hint of gold, her stare bringing him a warm sensation awakening from inside.

There would be no way he would show this to her, not now.

"Do you believe people meet each other for a reason?" His question lingered in the air for a bit. Clementine only replied with a shrug, not knowing what he exactly meant. 

Do people meet for a reason, or was it all just a coincidence? A coincidence that they seemed familiar with each other, a coincidence that they asked the right questions. A coincidence that they had crossed paths, again. 

Was it all just a coincidence?

"I guess that answers my question." Jace says according to Clementines shrug. He gets up and walks away, holding something in a balled fist that Clementine hadn't taken notice to before. 

She was ready to forget this moment, to get back to class and dive in to the abnormally normal life in which she endures through everyday. Painstakingly. 

She watched him leave, surrounded by a crowd of adolescence. 

She felt empty the second time that day. 

♡Chapter End♡

Okay to clear it up, the dead man hand is a lucky or unlucky series of cards you get when playing poker!

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☆"You don't find love, it finds you. It's got a little bit to do with destiny, fate, and what's written in the stars"- Anais Nin☆