Continued from yesterday:
And all of a sudden, there he was, holding her hand. She could only see him if she looked at him directly. “Hello,” she smiled. “Of course I’ll sit next to you, dear. I need someone to lean on.”
“Trouble?” he said. “Someone beat you up?”
“Nuh. I just feel like heck.” She squinched her eyes again. “Maybe I *am* allergic to something…”
“Yo’ got any of them antihistamines?”
“They always knock me right out,” she said. “Bad idea when I blend into the walls.” She let him guide her to two adjoining seats, and pressed the heels of her palms into her eyes. “Gyah…”
“So wassup? Yo’ kay?”
“Ungh… my eyes…” she barely kept herself from whining. “They're all itchy and gritty. Got some weird kind of flimmer on the edges.”
“Flimmer?”
Sara made herself look at him. “Sorry. Speaking in tongues. Flimmer's a kind of flickery, misty obscurity in the vision field. Ever had one of those really bad migranes where you lose patches of reality?”[1]
“Uh… no… but I know someone who does. You should see Lance when he’s got a bad one. Feelin’ aroun’ fo’ shit on the way to the tylenol, yo.”
“Ouch. He has my sympathies.” She blinked again. Her eyes were watery but she could fake ways of seeing around that. “I’ve got the obscured vision but none of the headache. At least, not yet.” She groaned. “I'm ultra-hyper-sensitive on the back, too. How often do you go through this?”
“Once a month,” Todd murmured. “Take it cool, yo. Yo’ prolly got scales growin’ in. That’s gotta be tough.”
“Scales?”
Todd managed a sick, I’m-sorry-as-all-hell grin. “The doc mentioned it might be a possibility. Sorry I couldn’t break it to you.”
Scales. She was probably growing scales. That jagged, abrasive, glass-in-the-back feeling was *scales*. “Well… at least I’ll be waterproof…”
+
Todd saw the water bottle in her bag. “An’ speakin’ of water, yo’ need to keep hydrated…” he risked it, “…sweetums.” He loosened the cap and pushed the bottle into her hands. “Here. Take a good swig.”
Someone was glaring at them. Some dumpy chick with copper frizz-hair and brackets. She looked extremely pissed off and kept staring at both him and Sara.
“Yo, take a picture,” he sniped.
“I would, but you’d break the camera,” she said, and went back to gossiping with her neighbours.
“Janine?” said Sara. She turned her head at a slightly wrong angle. "There you are. Got plenty of good material?“
"I’m thure I don’t know what you’re talking about Thara,” lied Janine. "I wathn’t thaying a thing about your allergieth.“
_Shyah. *Riiiight*,_ thought Todd.
"OmiGod!” The Trish next to Janine squealed laughing. “Allergic to *sperm*?”
Janine tried to look innocent while the whole school rivitted its attention on Trish, who blushed and tried to hide.
“Thank you, Miss Walker…” drawled Kelly. “Now, if we could move onto more *important* news?”
Sara was laughing behind her hand. “Ah, cosmic justice,” she said. "Where is thy sting?“
Todd allowed himself a small chuckle. "She gets what she deserves, yo.” _I’ll see to it all, personal-like._
“Leave her be,” said Sara. “Janine’s just seeking social acceptability. It’s difficult with her current appearance, so she falls to gossip.”
_Damnit,_ Todd thought. _Can’t you let me kick her? Just once?_ Aloud, he said, “Yeah, but she shouldn’t talk shit about *you*… Yo’ her friend.”
“Associate,” corrected Sara. “We kind of banded together as the kids that no team wants.”
_Ouch. I’m hurting._
“She has her good moments, too, you know.”
“Yo’ got three of them?” wondered Todd.
[1] Yes, I have had headaches like that. It’s most unnerving when one is writing notes and ‘loses’ one’s notes, pen and hand, but not the notepad.
~
Sara chewed on her lip. “I appreciate the cavalier attitude, but I don’t tend to judge friends for their shortcomings or flaws. She’s not a dragon. That’s good enough.”
“Dragon?”
“Someone you have to do battle with.”
“Ah.” Todd was wincing inwardly. _So is that why she tolerates me? Cause I don’t give her shit?_
Sara seemed to pick up on what he was thinking and poked him. “Don't you *dare*. I might not have high expectations of my acquaintances, but you I like. A lot.” She faltered, uncertainly. What if she’d said too much?
_Good, scare him off. Not that you could do otherwise, but you’ll be better off alone than with this one,_ her inner Mom put in.
Sara’s eye flickered. She looked away from Todd and stared at her hands.
“I like you too, babe.” Todd found no problem this time adding the endearment. She needed it. “A lot,” he echoed with a teasing grin. _I wish you could know how much._
“Today, we will be conducting a fire drill,” Kelly’s voice droned on. The student noise level swelled with groans and excited chatter. “If I may have your undivided attention,” the principal called out over the ruckus. He did not speak until there was considerably less sound traffic. This happened fairly quick since nobody wanted a prolonged assembly. “Anyone caught skipping out on the rest of the school day will be given a week’s worth of detention. Suspension seems rather pointless for people who want *out* of school.” His joke earned a few chuckles from both students and faculty.
Out of the corner of his eye, Todd saw Janine glare at him again and whisper something to Trish. He fought the urge to reach over and smack the back of her head. Sara saw his scowl and followed his gaze.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “Associating with me will kick you down the social ladder a few pegs.”
“People gossip about me all the time, yo. I’m used to it.”
“Ah.” Sara nodded knowingly. “The worst is when you don’t know *what* they’re saying, yet you know it’s about you.” She took a long draught from the bottle.
“Thirsty, Essel?” sneered Taryn. “You drink like a camel.”
_Uh oh._ Sara could feel Todd’s hackles raising. She moved her foot to nudge his and shook her head as he looked at her. Sara lowered the bottle from her lips and licked them. Oosh, they felt dry even while wet.
“Ignore them, dearest, and save thy energy. They’re just dragonlets.”
“Like I said, I’m used to it. But it’s *different* when it’s aimed at you,” Todd murmured, looking distraught.
Sara’s heart melted into a puddle of happy goop, but her brain sensed danger for him. “Don’t invite more trouble on yourself.”
“Trouble’s my middle name, sugar. It don’t need no invitation.”
~
Halfway down the hall, following the shuffling masses, Sara said, "Want to see if I can spit like one?“
"Huh?” said Todd.
“That’s what I should have said. I thought water made the brain *work*.”
“Don’t feel bad, yo. I’m always a li'l fogged when I’m sheddin’. Guess all that water’s bein’ used elsewhere.”
Sara shut her 'bad’ eye. “Nearly outside,” she said. “Thanks for being my seeing-eye person.”
“Hey, no problem,” he said. “Yo need help an’ I’m here, y'know?" _Besides, you’re kinda pretty and I don’t want neither side getting their claws into you and I want you in ways that I’ve never considered with the other girls._
Sara giggled. "I keep waiting for the shoe to drop. The hammer to fall. Or Damocles’ sword…”
“Who?”
“Myth and legend, never mind.” She sighed and moaned slightly in the sunlight. Mmmm. Warm. “Nobody’s ever this nice to me unless they're setting me up. No offence, dear, but life has taught me paranoia.”
“Eeehhhh…” said Todd. “An’ I know there ain’t nuthin’ I can say to make it feel better 'cause the rats’ve said it first. Shit.” He kicked a rock, and watched it sail directly over to Duncan Matthews’ head. _Score!_ So what if it was only a pebble? Dunc would never trace it to him. “But I mean it when I tell yo’ I don’t want nuthin’ bad happenin’, 'kay?”
“Intellectually, yes. Alas, my instincts cry to protect myself. Just ignore it when I get twitchy.”
They had to seperate to file into their first-period class lines. And by the time Sara found Janine, half the school was murmuring that Adrian Essel was currently high on E.
Sara ignored them and applied another coat of calamine while they waited. At least the sunshine felt good. If only she wasn’t so feverishly *thirsty*…
~
He couldn’t help but play over her words in his mind as he walked to his class. He couldn’t help but think of the time he’d laughed when Pietro bragged about scattering Sara’s bag all over the campus. He didn’t even know who Essel *was* and hadn’t really had any part in it. Just felt good to be on the side of the prankster for once. Yet it still felt as though he’d helped torment her.
Well he could do something now, couldn’t he? Todd rescued his text book from the trash-cluttered doom box that was his locker and scuttled as he noticed the hall clock. He could prove it to Sara somehow that his intentions were honest. Er, maybe 'honest’ wasn’t the best choice all things considered.
“On time for once,” congratulated his teacher as he ducked in at the last possible minute. He managed to score a seat in the second front. Unfortunately it was next to Daniels. The boy wasn’t paying any attention to him which was good. Todd could do the same.
“Today we will be pairing up. You will interview your partners as if they were Shakespearan characters from Hamlet. I’ll write a few sample questions up on the board. I want you each to ask about six and share the answers with the class in thirty minutes.”
_Cool,_ Todd thought. Until he realized that everyone in his row had selected their partners, leaving Daniels. Evan looked half asleep already.
The only way Todd could tell he was still awake was by a lazy rolling pair of brown eyes which came to rest on him.
“So we’re together.” Evan’s tone was flat.
“Er, guess so. Unless you wanna pass out and I can interview Yorick.”
Evan stared blankly.
“The dead jester, yo.”
“I cannot believe *you* pay attention in this class. How can you bear this stuff?”
“It’s good, yo. More drama than Springer. Kid’s mom marries his dad's murderer and pretends to go crazy. How can you bear to fall asleep?”
Evan rolled his eyes again. “Let’s just get it over with.”
Todd opened his text and flipped to the story. “Hang on for a minute. I’ll pick out my character. Okay, I’m the uncle. Shoot.”
Daniels stared at the scribbles. “You draw? That looks like Essel.”
“Her name’s Sara, yo. She’s a girl. Everyone thinks she’s a boy though.”
Daniels looked wide awake now. “Are you shittin’ me?”
“That doesn’t sound like a very appropriate question, Mr. Daniels," remarked Mr. Hinkley as he passed them.
"Sorry.” They waited until he moved on. “So he, I mean she … if that’s true why hasn’t she said anything?”
“Because people are stupid and they don’t listen.” Todd saw Mr. Hinkley coming back. “Okay, ask a question before we get detention. And I said nothin’ about Sara that you need to go repeatin’ around anybody, you unnastand, foo?”
Evan glared. “Wasn’t going to.”
“Good.”
“You sure are protective of this info. Makes me wonder how you found out.”
“Watch it wiseass. So, what made you believe Hamlet’s mom was going to let you ax her hubby?”
“Huh?” Evan asked, caught off guard and not realizing the teacher was standing behind him. He caught on when Todd kicked his ankle under the desk. “Oh! Well … she thought I was hotter.”
“Uhhhh huh. Anything else? Did you threaten her or promise her goods?”
“I guess I did both. I think I said I’d kill Hamlet if she didn't cooperate.”
“Very creative, boys,” Mr. Hinkley approved, smirking in amusement. He moved to another pair.
Daniels sighed in relief and Todd moved on to the next question. They didn’t bring Sara up again and something about the way Todd had looked when he did talk about her warned Evan against making a second attempt. By the time the bell rang ending class, Evan had forgotten her in favour of realising that he had five minutes to study for an algebra quiz.
~