Cold Hearts


Lance Alvers sat on the hood of his dark green jeep. An unlit cigarette dangled from his mouth. The sun shown down, soaking into his tan skin. Dark aloof eyes scanned the student body which left the building in a mass exodus. They were headed towards some other destination. Hell freeze over if school was ever their sanctuary. Lance shook his head bemusedly at the thought.

He pulled a lighter from his pocket and lit up. Smoke slowly billowed from his mouth and nose as he exhaled. He sighed and took another slow drag. Smoking wasn’t allowed on school property. Not that he gave a damn. He was nineteen, no longer a member of this school. He was just here to pick up the others.

Lance squinted across the parking lot to see if he could spot any of the three boys. They weren’t out yet. His eyes suddenly lighted on a certain brown-haired girl. Despite the hardened myriad of scars that encased his heart, she still took his breath away.

I have a smile stretched from ear to ear to see you walking down the road, we meet at the lights, I stare for a while, the world around disappears, just you and me on this island of hope, a breath between us could be miles, let me surround you my sea to your shore, let me be the calm you seek, oh and every time I’m close to you, there’s too much I can’t say and you just walk away.

His dark eyes followed her as she separated from the jostling student body and went her own way. The white locks framed her face and she still wore the same gothic skirt and transparent shirt with a tank top underneath. She was beautiful. Lance couldn’t take his eyes off of her. He watched her retreating form hungrily. She hadn’t changed much from the last time he’d seen her.

The cigarette lay burning forgotten between his fingers. As for the oblivious girl, she suddenly stopped, as though sensing another force. Turning slowly, she saw Lance, sitting on the hood of his car across the parking lot, watching her.

Time froze and the electricity flew between them. Each stared into the other’s infatuated eyes. Lance’s heart leapt. A hopeful smile alighted on the girl’s sullen face. But the undercurrent of self-preservation made them both look away.

And I forgot to tell you I love you and the night’s too long and cold here without you. I grieve in my condition for I cannot find the strength to say I need you so, oh and every time I’m close to you there’s too much I can’t say and you just walk away, and I forgot to tell you I love you and the night’s too long and cold here without you.

She walked away without looking back. His dark eyes followed her and Lance was suddenly filled with sorrow. He looked away and realized his eyes were wet. Fuck the emotions that cursed him. He crushed the still-burning cigarette underneath his boot. Why did he have to cry?

A tear slid down his cheek and he angrily wiped it away. Despite the hot afternoon sun, he still shivered. He could hear the laughter of the Bayville students as they milled about the parking lot. Ahead, he could see Pietro, Todd, and Fred. Lance quickly replaced the empty pain with a cocky smirk.

"Where the hell have you guys been? I’ve been waiting long enough." He said as they approached. He lit up a fresh cigarette as the three other boys scrambled into the jeep. He went in after them and got into the driver’s seat. Lance checked them in the rearview mirror. "We’re going straight home today."

He started up the car and peeled out of the parking lot. He didn’t look back. If he had, he would have seen the wet green eyes that cried for him. Maybe if he had let himself see, he wouldn’t have been so cold.