“Remember to stay on school premises if you’re choosing to spend lunch outside”

Ms. Garnet had one hand in the process of putting what turned out to be a small cigar between her lips, and the other putting away the case it had been stored in. 

I nodded while beginning to make my way towards the green patch, and the grove my spot was in.

Amidst the gravel crunching underneath my feet I could hear a few bright flicks from Ms. Garnet’s lighter and I noted how I was still walking behind Ansel.

I realized I could try to apologize again now that there weren’t hundreds of other people speaking at the same time.

I looked at Ansel’s back as I tried to quietly clear my throat.

“Um, I’m not sure if you heard me back there but sorry for the… crash-”

I got cut off, slightly taken off-guard when Ansel suddenly stopped in his tracks, and snapped his head back as if he’d just now realized I was still behind him.

I was met with a familiar face of complete and utter confusion he had already introduced me to earlier in the day. 

Thinking back, I think this particular face of his was the most emotive I had seen him, ever. That is not to say I had been around him much at all, but so far his face had been completely neutral unless I had somehow discombobulated him without even meaning to.

“I tried to keep some distance to whoever was in front of me but in that particular moment it was kind of out of my control...”

I felt guilt twisting in my stomach again. Not because of burying my face deep into this poor guy’s back, but because I could’ve been apologizing for whatever it was Kel&Co had done to him.

I was certain something had happened, but wasn’t sure what. Although I wasn’t directly the one at fault, it was due to me having associated with Kel that he was pulled into this mess. 

Shaking off my digressing trail of thoughts I realized Ansel was still looking at me, face back to neutral, and making direct eye contact with me. I noted how his brown eyes had some flecks of gold in them, accentuated by the sun and tried to match his gaze.

I quickly faltered though, looking down at the gravel beneath my feet, and it wasn’t due to his stare being particularly intense.

Recently I’d noticed eye contact had become more difficult, most likely because I had been a tad bit on edge.