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“He stares at youallthe time,” Celeste said.
“Like someone else we know,” Hadley elbowed me again and I repaid the favour as my eyes jerked up.
Roman was over the other side of the oval where he and his mates usually were at Lunch. He was facing us, but nothing about that actually suggested he was looking at me.
“No one else looks at me.”
“Firstly, lots of people look at you. Secondly, Roman certainly does look at you.”
“God, I wish he looked at me,” Celeste sighed.
“No, you don’t,” I muttered.
“Me, too.” Hadley grabbed my arm with her other hand as we walked towards the bleachers. “Are you sure you’ve never spoken to him?”
I nodded. “I haven’t talked to him any more than either of you.”
“That isnotwhat his eyes say.”
“Eyes don’t talk, Hads.”
We all stopped and watched him for a moment as he and his mates goofed around doing whatever it was they did to entertain themselves. That was until some girl I only knew by sight approached him. You could feel the ice from the other side of the oval as he completely shut her down. Behind him, Steve and Jake doubled up in laughter before Rio gave Roman their weird handshake and the girl hurried away obviously upset.
“Roman Lombardi’s eyes talk, Pipe. Oh, how they talk.”
Did it not matter that we’d literally just watched him shit all over a girl he’d no doubt hooked up with over the weekend? That we’d just witnessed the infamous Roman Brush-Off, complete with insults from his friends? That she was the third girl in as many weeks that we’d seen, let alone the however many we didn’t?
“It’s about the only part of him that does,” I grumbled.
“That’s not true. We just heard him speaking.”
“We heard him antagonising the vice principal, not quite the same thing.”
“Oh, what did he do now?” Celeste asked excitedly.
Hadley recounted the incident in the hallway while Celeste gasped animatedly in all the right places.
I, meanwhile, snuck a look at Roman across the oval as we all sat down. It was true, we had just heard him talking. But, just about the only time anyone heard the sarcastic, gravelly notes of Roman’s voice was when he was riling up the establishment. Otherwise, he just walked around with a look on his face like someone had pissed in his lemonade.
Although, I suspected it had been a while since Roman had drunk lemonade. At least judging by the last time he’d been arrested for public drunkenness.
My headphones were blaring in my ears so I didn’t notice white twin cab ute until it was careening past me. I paused, my heart pounding in my chest. Then, before I kept on, I moved closer to the shoulder of the road.
I breathed deeply, trying to calm my heart. Except, the fright had sent it into a pattern it knew too well and I felt the usual shortness of breath and the antsy feeling in my fingers set in.
I shook out my hands as I walked, focussing on the song in my ears and the steps of my feet. I didn’t really hear the lyrics. I didn’t really hear the tune. I just focussed on counting the beat.
By the time I turned into the driveway, my heartbeat was back to normal and I remembered how to smile. That was until I noticed a mighty similar big white twin cab in the driveway next to ours, and Roman Lombardi was reaching into the tray and pulling out a cardboard box.
I frowned and blinked in confusion.
I knew the house had sold. Mum had told me the house had sold and there was a ‘SOLD’ sticker plastered across a ‘For Sale’ sign no one but the Barlows saw unless they’d come specifically looking.
Roman looked up as though he could sense me standing there and my heart thudded again along with a sick, sinking feeling in my stomach. My skin felt itchy the way it often did when he looked at me. I had that urge to get away from him, but my feet refused to move.
“Love, can you find the kitchen things?” a voice called from inside the house.
“I’ve got it,” he called back, only half-looking to the house as though he couldn’t take his eyes from me either.
