Eyes of the Beholder (Loveme)

Alexander let out a sigh as he stared at the school. Once upon a time he dreamed of starting his freshmen year here but that didn't happen, he was a little too late. Now he was the new kid and its been quite a long time since he had even been in town. He walked in and made his way around looking for where he was suppose to be. He hated moving he never knew where anything was. Finaly finding the office he was given his locker assignment and schedule. He didn't really didn't have anything to put in his locker so he went straight to class. Being the last sttudent to enter the classroom the attention was drawn to him. "Ah, you must be Mr. Walker. Have a seat at that empty desk there. Class this is our new student Alexander," the teacher said. "Call me Alex..." Alex said in a soft tone as he sat down. The teacher was probably the only one that could hear what he had said.

Becoming soft spoken wasn't the only thing that changed about him. He had grown taller but stayed thin. His skin looked a little more pale than it was before. His black hair fell wildly from his head, washed but not kept. His green eyes reamained hidden by his hair. He slouched as he walked. His grey hoody was noticably worn out but at least it was clean. His black jeans were fading and torn, not in a drastic way. His black sneakers were scuffed and seemed a bit old. Today he looked rough, but for him that was every day now. He kept himself clean and smelled nice but he no longer care what he looked like. This was all a result of what happened to him after moving.

Elena hadn't paid the new kid any attention. Nor was she paying the teacher any attention, so if any one would of asked her if she knew the name, she would say no. Laughing with her friends, she turned her attention to the boy who had set down right in front of her. He looked strange, un kept. But of course now to her every one looked like that. Elena had changed a lot over the years. Becoming beautiful, with long black hair that fit perfectly. Bright blue eyes that would lure anyone in. But the guy that had set infront of her was a totally different story.

Shaking her head, she pulled her books out and started to read up on the lesson. Of course, she was popular but was also smart. Watching, she noticed the boy hadn't any books, should she share or let him sit there? Being nice, she tapped him on the back. "You can share with me untill you get your book..." She glanced back at her friends. They knew not to tell her anythng.

Alex turned his head to look at her. He moved his hair from one of his eyes to get more of a clear look. He then quickly shifted his gaze to the book letting his hair fall. "Thank you..." he let out softly. At first glance he knew exactly who that was. He was pretty sure she didn't realize it was him and figured he should be glad for it. Look how she had grown, she was absolutely gorgeous. He looked rough and knew it himself so mybe it wa better that she didn't even know it was him. Just the though of her realizing how he turned out made his heart sink a bit.

Nodding, she scooted her desk up next to his. Sliding the book two meet between the two desks, she showed him where they were in the current lesson. She listened through out the lesson, taking notes and glancing over to the kid next to her. Something about him looked oddly familar, but she couldn't pin point what it was. Maybe if she had a name... She would wait, wait and see if he had any more classes with her. If he didn't, she would ask him tomorrow who he was.

When the bell rang, she smiled towards him. "You may have some of the same classes as I do.. Check your schedule. If you have History next, you can walk with me." She smiled, and gathered her things up. Including the books. "Ill wait outside." "Elena! Come on!" "Im coming..." Her best friend, her trouble mate.

He checked his schedule and no surprise they did have the next class together. He grabbed his bag and walked out of the classroom turning his head looking for her. He walked up to her and showed her his schedule. "Is this the class?" He asked curiously. He sort of hoped she said no so there wasn't a way she found out about him, but he had missed her all this time it was a little ridiculous that he didn't want to try and catch up with her just because of the way he looked.

Grinning as he came up to her, she smiled. "Yes, thats it. I'll see you later... I'm going to show him around." She nodded off towards her friends and moved closer to him. "I missed your name in class... I was not paying attention... I am Sophia." She smiled and started to walk towards their next class. "That's the cafeteria... Gym's down the hall. Our next class is upstairs." She spoke sfotly, but kindly towards him.

"Alex..." he said simply. Luckily he had a common name. So at least she wouldn't realize who he was right away. He walked with his hands stuffed in his pockets. He listened to her as she showed him around. "Thanks," he said to her, avoiding eye contact.

Watching him, she smiled softly. "Why did you move here? If you don't mind my asking?" Her voice was soft, turning towards the right. Leaning against the side of the stairs. "I hate this part of the school... The stairs..." Shaking her head, she starter to walk up the stairs. Shifting her books atound in her hand.

"My dad's job moved here," he answered. His father's job was the reason they moved. It had come back to town and it was too far for them to stay where they were just like before. He slightly smirked as he followed her. "It could be worse, a spiral staircase would be longer," he said. He didn't mean for it to sound nearly as nerdy as it did.

"Oh, that's cool I guess?" She laughed and moved up the stair case. Huffing by the time they got to the top. "You know... That sounded like something my friend would say... But I wouldn't know... We haven't talked in a while. Though I get you don't want to hear about that. You would also thank I would be use to these stairs by now too..." Shaking er head she walked a little ways down the right hallway and into a classroom. "This is out class... "

Alex didn't respond to what she said about her friend. It was a little weird since he assumed she was talking about him and he was right there. "Well this is pretty far to get from first period to second..." he commented before walking in. He greeted the teacher and the teacher told him to take one of the empty seats.

Watching him, she frowned. "What was your last name...?" Now that she had set down, she could see different things that reminded her of her old best friend. Years ago when his dad had to nice away. But she hadn't even thought of it to be Alex.

He didn't know what to say to her question. Should he lie and let her find out later? No it would make her mad that he lied. Should he tell her and play that he didn't realize it was her? Well it seemed like the teacher was going to do that for him. "It was Alexander Walker, right?" The teacher asked. Alex nodded then turned to Elena to see her reaction.

Waiting for his responce, she turned to get a drink of her water. When the teacher said his full name, she almost choked over her water. No wonder why he seemed just like her best friend, he was here... The same person. No, not the same person. But she didn't care, she was happy to see him. "Alexander! Why didn't you tell me!" She screamed out, kind of loud. "Sorry Mr. Angler..." She blushed and watched Alex closely. Slipping a piece if paper towards him. "You should of told me!"

Alex shrugged. "I really didn't know how to tell you... and look at me. I thought you would think badly of me if you saw me like this..." he slipped the paper back. He wasn't expecting that big of a reaction, but it reassured him he was overthinking things. She hadn't changed much in the personality department and he was happy to see that.

Smiling softly, she started to write back. "No you idiot. I dont care what you look like! When did you get back... and I can help you with the looking better..." Grinning she passed it back to him. She was in awe, her bestfriend was back. He had changed... but they had both changed a whole lot. He was still cute as ever, just under all of those baggy clothes he had on.

"Well we just got back last night we live a few houses further than the old one," he passed her the note. He started smiling. She didn't care what he looked like, that was probably the nicest thing anyone had said to him in a long time.

"Im so excited....." She laughed softly and hushed when the teacher looked at them. "Still a trouble maker?" Smiling, she passed it back to him. She was so excited, that he was back. She had missed him while he was gone. "I missed you..." She whispered softly.

"I didn't have a partner in crime when I moved," he chucked as he passed it back. "I missed you too," he whispered back. He had such a crush on her when they were younger. All the time they spent together, no one could have replaced that when he moved.

"Looks like you just got your partner in crime back...." Smiling softly, she watched closely. That crush was coming back. But once she made him over, she kne all the girls would be all over him. Shaking her head, she started to write stuff down from the lesson.

"I know... its great," he wrote back. He couldn't wait for them to spend time together outside of school. They could catch up and it would be like he never moved. He didn't know what to think about being made over. He hadn't done anything for his appearence in quite some time.

Laughing, she shook her head and crumpled the note up. Later that day, she waited for him outside of the school. Since their houses had always been a few blocks from school, they had walked and she still did sometimes. Today, she had. "Do you want to walk home...? My mom would be thrilled to know your still here....."

She was the first thing he saw when he walked outside. He quckly walked up to her. "Yeah, let's go," he said with a smile. He hadn't been this happy in a while. Now it was time to see what he had missed while he was gone.

"Come on..." She smiled softly and started walking towards their block. "I missed you so much!" She laughed and hugged him tightly. "What happened to you... You look horrible.." She was joking of course, but he had changed.

He hugged her back, but when she said what she said his gaze shifted to the ground. "Well... where we moved to they really cared about appearence and they didn't like mine so they made fun of me for it... eventually I stopped caring what I looked like..." he said with a sigh. He used to have a real punkish look to him before he moved away which was a lot diferent from how he looked now.