Eric stared out of the window as the car drove along the road. He was in the front seat of the car while his girlfriend drove in the driver's seat of the new car he had bought for her. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining bright in the sky. Too bright for him.
He turned away from the window, tired of looking at the reflection of his bruised face. He adjusted the tie that he had borrowed from Anna and slicked back his hair. He also knew that the bruises were visible and he also knew his college mates were going to insult him there.
'Why did I listen to Anna?' He thought, sinking back into the chair. 'I'm just allowing myself to be targeted by them.'
But he knew why he accepted, it was because she had helped him a lot. The least he could do was agree to her request and come with her.
He adjusted the collar of his blue shirt and his gray suit. Also borrowed from Anna's closet. He didn't know who it belonged to or why she had it in her closet but he knew better than to ask.
He turned to Anna who was driving. As beautiful as ever, her dreamy blue eyes were focused on the road, as she drove to the destination. Staring at her, he thought to himself how lucky he was that she was his girlfriend. In his opinion, there were other guys in the college she could have gone out with. Plenty. But she sought him.
He adjusted himself, while thinking about it. It was strange. His expression had changed to one of thought. Anna was popular, beautiful, sexy even. But why? Why was he the one she wanted? Other guys were more confident, more assertive, gifted, and amazing at the university. He was just a joke, being treated poorly by his family and relatives. It was like he was a prodigal son.
'No, something doesn't feel right.' He thought. 'I feel weird. Why am I feeling weird?
It was strange to him. For him to feel this way just by thinking about why she was with him. As if on instinct, he turned to face her. Her eyes were still on the road, softly humming espresso from Sabrina Carpenter.
'She looks normal.' He thought, his eyes all over her. 'Like nothing is wrong with her. Like nothing is bothering her. Or is she able to keep her emotions in check?.'
He coughed two times before turning to stare at the window. He felt her turn her face to him.
"You okay?" She asked.
He turned. "Yeah, good?"
He turned back.
"So, excited about the party?"
"Not one bit." He answered, scoffing. "I'm just allowing myself to be a target for their bullying."
"Oh, come on. Don't say that." Anna replied. "I think they'll behave themselves."
"Behave?" He scoffed. "Did you just say 'behave'? Them. Teenagers. No way. And to make it all worse, my siblings are gonna be there. They're gonna be on my case after the freaking stunt they pulled on me last night."
"It's not gonna be as bad as you make it seem," Anba replied, rubbing his knee. "The most they can do is give a few sarcastic remarks and maybe some teasing. A high-class event and I'm pretty sure they're gonna act dignified."
"Maybe."
The couple didn't say anything again as the car was reduced to a crawl. But the thought didn't leave Eric's head. He tried to make it go away but it just didn't want to leave. And also he could force his face to stop staring at her and also his expression to not be staring at her with a deep suspicious expression on her face.
He saw Anna's eyes turn just a little, but it was enough to see his face, and he also saw her face morph into a confused expression.
"What?"
He didn't stop his face. "Huh?"
"Why are you looking at me like that. It's creepy." She chuckled, flicking her hair in a playful haughty manner. "I mean, I do know I'm stunningly hot and sexy, but that's too deep a stare."
Eric couldn't help himself. He just couldn't help the words that came out of his mouth.
"Why are you dating me?"
Anna turned to face him, confused. "What?"
"I asked a simple question?" Eric asked. "Why are you here with me?"
"Uh, Eric." Anna chucked nervously. "I don't understand these types of questions."
"Then let me rephrase it then!" Eric spat, furious. He sat up, straight. "Why is it that I'm the man you chose! You never spoke to me the first time we met in uni! You were with Cameron Price! But three weeks later, I'm seeing you come up to me and start talking out of nowhere!"
"I just wanted to get to know you better." Anna protested. "That's it. And I actually got to know you better."
"You're fucking lying!" He screamed. "I can feel it somehow! Something hasn't been right! What are you hiding?!"
"Can you just calm down, Eric" Anna replied, confusion laced in her eyes. "You need to calm down. Nothing is going on. Why are your emotions all over the place?"
Eric was about to retort when he sensed something in the question. He shouldn't be behaving like this. Not after she just took him in last night with no hesitation at all. He was being insensitive and he knew it. Now he was wondering if he had seen him weirdly.
"I'm sorry." He muttered, apologising. "I'm really sorry. I don't know what came over me."
"It's all right," Anna replied her eyes back on the road. "I understand."
Eric didn't say a thing again. He knew better than to. He wasn't dumb and so the car was reduced to another heavy bout of silence and now choking with pure amounts of awkwardness.
He didn't know how long he stayed without talking but he knew when the car had finally stopped. He turned to face Anna as she switched off the car engine and proceeded to remove the keys from the fob and put them in her purse.
"We're here," Anna announced, smiling brightly. "You ready?"
Eric didn't say a word. He was staring out of the front window focusing on the university before him. There was one thing he didn't understand about himself. He just wasn't so sure if he would ever find the answer. And the reason was this. Why was it that every irrelevant thing, object, even a human, got his attention and somehow warped his mind into believing it played a major role in life?
To him, it was a nuisance he just couldn't get out of his head. It was like a scab you just couldn't wait to flick away from an old wound. He hated it. Behaving that way. And yet he was doing it. Staring at the university wondering what major role it was or had played in life.
The university, if described in a single word, was posh. Now he wasn't sure why he was saying posh since he was brought up in a posh lifestyle but that's what he was going to call it. Posh.
He just couldn't find the grammar to describe the university to the detail, but all he could think was that the university was neat, sophisticated, well-pruned and manicured, and totally a university for the elite.
But it was also a place where he had nightmares, where he had trauma, where he was bullied, mocked, and ridiculed, and he didn't know the reason why. In his opinion, he couldn't think of a reason why he was bullied. He knew he didn't portray himself as a nerd, but he was smart enough to pass grades and that was it. He was rich and even though he didn't get enough money from his family, he always made sure he was neat. He was confident a bit, able to interact with the high-class without making a mockery of himself. He was taught that very early. But it was futile as he was the joke of the entire college class.
But the thing that made it funny was that his two older brothers and sisters did the same and they knew he was being bullied. His father knew. His mother knew. But they did nothing.
"Are you okay, babe?" Anna asked, concern laced in her voice. He snapped out of it.
"Yeah, I'm okay." He smiled. "Just a bit nervous and you know....excited."
Anna smiled, opening the car door. "Well, I'll see you there. I need to see some people before you come in."
"Okay."
Anna smiled at him, kissed him on his cheeks, and stepped out of the car.
Eric watched her leave, his smile fading with each step. He knew in his heart he shouldn't be thinking like this but he also knew that he could deny it. Suspicion was covering him like darkness and he didn't like a single bit of it. Not a single bit at all.