Brand New Eyes

Sean looked down at his arm, running red with blood.  It poured down his arm, pooling in his palm, before dropping off his fingertips, staining the carpet below them.  Tears rolled from his eyes, and landed on the cuts, the salt stinging the open wounds.

***

Why are the birds so d--- happy all the time, Sean thought, the birds chirping relentlessly  as he walked to his own personal circle of h---.  High School.  His dark clothes greatly contrasted with the brightness of the spring sun.  Flowers were in bloom, but it was as if a dark cloud was hanging over Sean.  The slight creaking of the doors seemed to laugh at him.  Wait… no it was actual laughter.  Why is everything so happy? It was as if the world was mocking him.  He pulled at his left sleeve and walked in, only to be confronted by one of the most of the most horrific beasts in the whole world.  The high school jock.
“Oh, hey Bryan,” Sean said before Bryan could speak, hoping that maybe, just this once, he wouldn’t be insulted.  “How are you doing?” Of course that was way too much to ask for.
“Oh, hey,” Bryan said in a mocking tone, “I was fine until I had to look at you.” His ‘goons’ laughed at the clearly not funny joke.
“Whatever,” Sean muttered trying to walk past him, “Can I leave now?”
Bryan extended his fingers, pushing Sean backwards.  “I don’t think so goth freak,” he said cracking his knuckles.
“I’m not goth,” Sean corrected,quietly gulping.
“You callin’ me stupid?” Bryan asked loudly, pulling back his fist, and swinging it forward
“STOP,” Someone yelled, a millisecond before the fist connected with his face, sending him crashing to the ground.  A slightly feminine figure pushed itself between two of the ‘goons’ and offered him a hand.  Sean touched his lip with his finger.  D---, he thought, slapping the hand away to get up on his own.
“What the h--- do you think you’re doing?” The girl asked. Now that she wasn’t yelling a moderate scottish accent was apparent in her voice.
“None of your business, shortstack,” Bryan said muttering the last word, pouring in as much venom and malice as possible.

“Shut up,” The girl said, pushing a lock of reddish hair out of her eyes.  She grabbed Sean’s hand and began to lead him away from the jocks.
“Have fun with your boyfriend!” Bryan called after them.  The redhead turned and told him that he was #1, but with a slightly different finger. 
Once they were out of sight, Sean pulled his arm away from the girl.  “What are you doing?” he questioned.
“Uh, helping?” the girl said as if it was a trick question.
“Well I didn’t ask for it,” he said, “I have to get to class anyway.”

***

Sean sighed as he shut his locker leaning against it.  Only one more class to go he thought, Science.  He walked into class stealthily and took his seat in the back of the room.  Mrs.  Richards had already told them that they were going to start a project, but had not yet announced the pairings.  “Abigail, and Nate, you will be partners, Jessie and Ethan, Nicole, and Taylor…” She rattled on and on.  Finally she called, “Camellia, and Sean.”
Great Sean thought  another person to ignore To his surprise the girl with the red hair walked over to him.
“Hi” she said shortly, Dropping her textbook and binder on the table with a resounding thud.  “I’m Camellia.” She extended her hand.  Now that Sean could actually see her, he began to take in her features.  Her red hair was so dark that it was almost brown but it still held a red hue.  Her green/hazel eyes sparkled and showed of her fair skin perfectly, although her face was faintly dotted with freckles.  She would definitely be considered attractive.
Sean took her hand for a second before turning back down to his paper.
“What are you doing?” Camellia asked as Mrs.  Richards began to give out the directions.
“Drawing,” Sean muttered, almost inaudible.
“Can I see it?” She asked.
“Whatever,” He said uncovering the drawing.
It was a white rose, almost pure.  Red liquid was dripping down the petals, staining them, and continuing down the steam, which lead down into a half finished skull. 
“Wow, thats pretty… uh, cool,” She said astonished, not sure what to say.
“Yeah, whatev-”
“That doesn’t seem like science,” Mrs.Richards scolded.  The bell rang, and the class dispersed into the hallway.

***

It turned out that Camellia was a new foreign exchanged student from scotland, and shared every class with Sean.  Not the Sean liked it.  If anything it was an annoyance, as she would always be seated by him.  Finally by math class, she was placed on the opposite side of the room, and was silent by force.  The refreshing solitude didn’t last long as the last class of the day was study hall.  Once again, Camellia was in his class.  The teacher decided that it would be a good time to show Camellia around the school, even though it was the last hour of school.
Sean's answer was the same as it always was : "Whatever".
"That's the language section down there," Sean said.  "And over there is the home ec rooms.  And finally,"
"Sean," Camellia interrupted.
"Yeah, what's up?"
"You don't like me very much do you?"
"What gives you that idea?"
"Well you seem bored out of your skull right now."
"Yeah, sorry," Sean said apologetically, " I've just been a little preoccupied," he motioned to Bryan, who conveniently was inside a room that they passed.
Camellia nodded in understanding.  "I got ya," she said solemnly. 
     By that time they had made their way back to study hall. After that it seemed ad though Camellia had gotten over the excitement of her first day at school.  She had pulled out a sketchbook and began to draw.
     "What are you doing?" Sean asked mimicking her tone from earlier in the day.
    "Drawing," she muttered as he had done, a faint smile escaping her lips.
     "Can I see it?" He asked
     "Whatever" she moved away from the drawing.  It was a pencil sketch of a field of waving grass, a few sheep grazing in the background.
     Sean looked at her skeptically, raising and eyebrow as it didn't go with her Paramore T, her Panic! At The Disco wristband, or her insanely dramatic eyeliner.
    "What?" She asked, "It's for art." She flipped back a few pages and a drawing that made a lot more sense looked Sean in the face. 
     A knife was laid out on the paper. The hilt and grip were bone, ending in a pommel shaped like a skull. A ruby encrusted the middle of the hilt.
Sean stood looking at it, for a few seconds when the last bell finally rung.

Both sean and camellia walked to the bus, and had the inevitable second meeting with Bryan, who was very passive aggressive.
He walked by them and said "Oh look, the freaks found each other,"
Sean looked away and walked onto the bus, followed by Camellia, who took the first seat on the bus while Sean took a seat in the middle.

***

Sean threw his backpack on his made bed, and pulled open his dresser drawer eyes starting to fill with tears.  He needed something anything to help him control the pain.  He pulled out a flat bladed knife.  He winced as the cold metal touched the skin of his arm.  He stood that way for a long time before he looked away and grited his teeth pulling the knife across his pale skin.
Sean looked down at his arm, running red with blood.  It poured down his arm, pooling in his palm, before dropping off his fingertips, staining the carpet below them.  Tears rolled from his eyes, and landed on the cuts, the salt stinging the open wounds.
Suddenly Camellia walked into the room, "alright lets work on this assin-" She stopped and looked down at Sean. He let the knife fall into the pool of blood on the floor.
As Camellia knelt down next to him Sean felt his strength leave him, and the next thing he knew he was sobbing into her chest. He watched through tear blurred eyes as she picked up a stray T-shirt and began to wrap it around his arm, he red blood staining with white fabric around the Panic! At The Disco logo.  He couldn't believe it. He had only known her for about nine hours and she had been nicer to him than anyone else in his life.  And as he stared up at her he saw through brand new eyes.  He saw the beauty in her eyes.