The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)

Chapter 30.5: Her Eyes

Part 2/3

She was well known by everyone at Altos High, and the ones that did know her were most likely friends with her. Not only that but she had to have been one of the smartest girls in math class, she had always been participating when the teacher asked questions and even got higher test scores than Ben.

In a way, she was kind of flawless.

Ben didn’t know why she was here, but he noticed her waving at Mrs. Dugo with a smile. It was as if they had known each other for a long time.

Then she turned around and began walking toward Ben.

Ben blinked his eyes, squinted at her, then decided the most polite thing to do was wave. He waved at her softly and with a bright smile on his face. She waved back and gave Ben a smile.

“Hey! What are you doing here?” Ben asked curiously.

“Ah, nothing really,” she replied while looking around the place. She was wearing blue jeans and a white blouse, and her hair was…

What did her hair look like again?

Ben didn’t remember, but this was the day he found himself drawn to her.

“Well, there’s got to be a reason, right mate?” Ben said as he took a quick glance at his food.

“Of course there is. But… It shouldn’t be too hard to figure out,” she replied with a giggle. Just then Mrs. Dugo herself walked up to her with a plate of tacos. Mrs. Dugo gave them to her, and she said something in Spanish before she walked away, giving Ben a wink. Ben squinted at Mrs. Dugo in confusion.

“I don’t get it,” Ben finally admitted.

“Come on. It can’t be that hard,” she said, widening her eyes at Ben, “Our last names?”

Ben blinked again, and then nodded in realization, astonishment in his eyes.

“Ohhhh, she’s your mother!”

“Yes. I’m glad you’ve figured it out. Now can I sit here? I need a place to put my tacos down.”

Ben saw the chair in front of him and waved his hand at it.

“Of course.”

She put the plate of tacos down and then scooted the chair out, letting out a sigh as she sat down on it, putting her leather purse onto the table. She picked one of the tacos up and took a bite out of it, chewing softly and with a smile. Ben looked back at his plate hesitantly, and she raised her eyebrow.

“Something wrong with your food?” she asked. Ben looked back up at her and shook his head.

“No. Of course not, no.”

She looked into Ben’s eyes and smirked.

“I see that look in your eyes. Tell me what’s wrong with it.”

Ben couldn’t believe it. How did she know?

“I don’t know, it's just… It doesn’t taste right today,” Ben answered truthfully. She shuffled in her seat, until finally speaking.

“Well maybe you just need to try something new.”

Ben looked at her tacos, filled with pork marinated with spices and pineapple bits. Ben blinked at it before his stomach rumbled again. She laughed and pushed her plate toward Ben.

“Why don’t you just give it a try?”

Ben eyed the taco for a bit before grabbing it and taking a bite out of it. It was al pastor, and the flavors of the spices and meat melted in his mouth as he continued to chew on the morsel. The pineapple bits made it even sweeter, and Ben couldn’t help but take a few more bites.

“This is- This is-”

“Really good, huh?”

Ben nodded, taking one last bite and finishing the taco.

“Sometimes, you just need something new in life,” she explained, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair, “Going through the same loop over and over again makes people go crazy, right?”

“Right.”

The two just sat there a little while longer, and Ben could feel her staring into his eyes. She squirmed in her seat again before asking another question.

“Say,” she said suddenly, putting a leg over another, “I heard you got really high state test scores. But… you rarely study or bother putting effort into learning. Why’s that?”

“Where’d you get that from?” Ben asked curiously.

“Your eyes,” she said while tilting her head to the left, “You know what they say? Fall in love with a person’s eyes, because eyes never age. People shrink, their faces wrinkle, and people grow weaker but our eyes will always stay the same.”

Ben blinked his eyes for a moment, staring off into the nothingness before nodding.

“I guess you’re right on that,” Ben said, still confused by HOW she even found out by just his eyes, “But still, how did you- how did you know?”