Jackie laughed.
I did my best imitation of Maddison in the best high tone, stuck-up voice, “There is no way I’m letting that bitch get all of my attention. I mean, who does she think she is? Does she know who my dad is? Hello?”
Laughter filled the air as we imagined Maddison saying those exact words. She was the biggest drama queen we knew.
I heard someone clear their voice, “Lila.”
Oh, my God. He knows my name.
I didn’t have to guess who was saying my name. I knew whose voice it was immediately. Not even I could come close to imitating the coolness and smooth tone of his voice.
I choked on my laughter as I turned awkwardly towards James, blinding myself by the sunlight and stumbling as I tried to stand on my two feet.
James reached out and grabbed my arm to steady me. I felt my cheeks blush beetroot red at the touch of his hands.
When I’d finally decided to kick my clumsiness to the curve and become steady and cool, I took a step towards him.
“Are you okay? Are you always this unsteady on your feet?” He asked, still holding onto my arm.
Great! He had seen me fall into the door in English class earlier.
When I nodded in reply, he let his arm fall to his side and I instantly felt the heat disappear from my arm.
“We haven’t officially met. My name is James.”
“Lila,” I replied quickly, too quickly for my own good though, “but you already know that.”
“I wanted to check that you were okay after this morning?”
“I’m fine,” I replied taking a deep breath, trying to keep my cool. Boys rarely un-nerved me the way James seemed to do.
James looked at me for a moment, almost searching for signs that maybe I wasn’t being truthful.
“The school said I was fine to go back to class, so it’s nothing serious.”
James nodded his head slowly at my words, and when he seemed to find the answer that he wanted, he smiled. “Good to hear. Take care of yourself.”
“Okay,” I replied.
I waited until he’d turned and walked back towards the group of guys near the sports shed who’d been watching our encounter, along with nearly the whole school. You would think we were both naked the way everyone paid so much attention, before I sat back down next to Jackie.
It was the first time we’d spoken to each other and as much as I tried to gauge whether he recognised me before, and we had in fact met somehow, I was left feeling more confused than ever.
I couldn’t explain the dreams. I couldn’t explain how I’d come to know his face. I couldn’t explain what had happened yesterday. I wanted to know the truth, but when I was with him, it was like none of it mattered. Every sense of worry and confusion I’d felt disappeared. I felt safe and reassured just by his presence.
“What was that all about?” Jackie asked with humour in her voice.
“He was just seeing if I was okay,” I replied smiling at myself.
Jackie giggled. “You so like him.”
“No, I don’t,” I said half seriously. “It’s nothing. I’m sure Maddison or any of the other seniors have already grabbed his attention anyway.”
Jackie nodded her head towards me smiling, “I’m sure.”
The sarcasm in her voice wasn’t left unnoticed.
Truthfully, I didn’t know what I felt for him, I’d really only just met him. What I did know though, was that there was something about him that made me want to be around him, and his touch did something so ridiculously stupid to me that I couldn’t explain, and I couldn’t help but smile at what that might mean.
“I’m thinking it might be best to avoid Maddison for the rest of the day too. If she wasn’t pissed before, she sure as hell is now,” Jackie said, nodding towards the lockers that stood near the edge of the gardens leading onto the oval.
I looked up and saw Maddison and her posse death staring me. I watched as she slammed her locker door shut and stormed off, her followers quickly scurrying behind her.
“I think you might be right,” I said giggling.
I let out an audible sigh. High school.
***
Of course, Hayley wanted to know every single detail of my encounters with James in the pool and on the oval. I told her as much as I could, leaving out minor details, like the weird colours I saw in the pool that led me to blacking out. She had hung onto every word I said and questioned me all the way from school, and after what seemed like the hundredth time of listening to me tell the events of the day, she’d finally had enough and retreated to her bedroom for the night.
I had a quick bite to eat and headed off to my bedroom to work on some much needed study. It wasn’t until late in the evening that I went to see Hayley.
“Hayls?” I said as I knocked on her bedroom door lightly. “You still awake?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” Hayley replied as I walked into her room and found her lying on her bed watching TV.
“My computer has decided to have a spaz attack. Any chance I could use your laptop to send some study notes to Jackie.”
“Yeah, sure. It’s on the desk,” she said pointed to her desk against the wall near the sliding glass doors to her balcony.
“Cool, thanks,” I replied.
I sat at her desk, put my USB into the side of her laptop, and turned it on.
“Why are you still using that old computer anyway? It’s so bloody slow.”
“Because,” I replied, “it’s easy to use, and it’s reliable.”
“Clearly.” Hayley laughed.
“Well, it normally is… but just not right now.”
I waited for the computer to come out of sleep mode and clicked on Internet Explorer.
Hayley’s Facebook page opened up by default and I could see messages from Poppy come up on the screen through the little chat box.
I didn’t have Facebook of my own, or any other kind of social media. I was that weird teenager who wasn’t very good at technology, and as much as social media was a great way to interact with other people, I was old fashioned.
I couldn’t help my curiosity though, as I looked to see what Poppy was messaging about, especially when I’d seen James’s name being mentioned.
Poppy- I can’t believe James saved your sister like that today! Apparently, he picked her up out of the pool like she weighed nothing. I’d do anything to have those muscles wrap themselves around me!
Hayley- Hell yeah! He’s so freakin hot!
Poppy- I’ve tried to find him on Facebook but I can’t find him anywhere…??
Hayley- Weird. Maybe he goes under a different name?
The sound of new message rings out on the laptop speakers.
Poppy- I’ll ask Dale tomorrow, maybe he knows.
“You okay?”
I clicked onto the address bar quickly and typed into the bar to get away from her Facebook page.
“Yeah, I’m fine, just trying to get into my email.”
I didn’t go back into her Facebook page. I knew I shouldn’t have been snooping like that, but part of me just couldn’t help myself when I’d seen Poppy talking about James. I suspected everyone would be talking about what happened today. What I found strange was that James didn’t have Facebook, or possibly anything else for that matter. Sure, I didn’t have it, but James didn’t seem like the kind of guy who would have trouble with anything, especially technology.
I finished sending my email and said good night to Hayley. I would normally have stayed up late working on assignments or study for upcoming exams, but after today, I decided to call it a night and welcome the many hours of sleep that I would get before school tomorrow.
***
Thursday felt like it went at a hundred miles an hour. I’d been so engrossed in my classes and study that I’d almost forgotten about everything that had been happening, and when I say almost, I mean almost. Maddison and her clique continued to glare at me every chance they got, and I found myself on more than one oc
casion searching for James. No matter how hard I tried to push him from my mind, a part of me just couldn’t stop thinking about him.
I decided that it was a good day to go to the library and catch up on some assignments before I created any more drama for myself. Not many people came to the library anymore, especially at lunchtime, so I was pretty much alone. Everything could be found online these days, but I liked to read from the pages of a book rather than a computer screen. There was just something about holding a book in your hands, the smell of the pages, and the texture of the paper…
I found my usual spot in the corner of the library and began working on the many assessments that needed to be done. With only a few weeks until graduation, I had to put in as much study as I could. However, not too long into my study, I was interrupted, and I knew all study I had planned had gone out the window.
“Pardon my intrusion.”
I was startled when I looked up to find James standing over me.
“May I sit with you?” he asked as I stared at him dumbfounded.
I couldn’t find any words at that point, so I just nodded.
I looked around the room while he sat down, wondering why on earth he wanted to sit with me. Maybe there wasn’t any other seats anywhere else? But of course there was. I was the only one in the library, so he must have only wanted to sit here because he wanted to sit with me.
Oh crap.
“I hope I’m not interrupting?”
I shook my head.
Come on brain! You need to speak or you really will look like a complete idiot!
“What are you studying?”
“Math,” I replied.
There you go, now that’s a start, I coached myself.
I took a deep breath, trying hard to concentrate, but feared I was failing miserably as his eyes met with mine, and crushing all hope that I was going to remain calm and collected.
“What are you doing here?” I blurted out more abruptly than I had hoped. I quickly cleared my throat and continued calmly, “I mean, did you need something?”
A smile crept onto his lips and he shook his head slowly.
I pulled my gaze from his and searched my papers, for what, I had no idea, but I knew staring at him would get me nowhere.
“Is something troubling you?”
I stilled myself. I wasn’t going to accomplish anything if I continued to be rattled by his presence, so the best I could do was at least try to gain back my confidence, even if I didn’t think I could around him. At least I could pretend.
“Are you always this intense?”
He paused before answering. “Do I make you uncomfortable?”
“Honestly?”
He nodded.
“Yes.”
He frowned. “I’m sorry,” he apologised, standing from his chair. “I do not wish to make you feel that way. I’ll go.”
“No, stay,” I said quickly, “I don’t want you to leave.”
Honesty never hurt anyone, did it?
I feared that with every moment spent near James, I wanted to be near him more and it scared me. The thought of him walking away now didn’t sit well with me. He was doing something to me, which I couldn’t explain.
“Okay,” he said and sat back down. “Can I ask why it is that you feel this way around me?”
“I…”
I thought about what I should say. Was it him in my dreams? How did I come to know his face? Was he the reason why all these strange things had happened to me?
“Have we met before?”
“The first time I met you was at school, earlier this week. Other than that, I don’t think we ever have.”
“Just at school?”
He continued to stare at me. “Is everything okay? Is this why you feel uncomfortable? Do I remind you of someone?”
I shook it off. I was being stupid. Of course, he hadn’t been in my dreams. I needed to come back to reality.
“Sorry,” I said apologetically, “I’ve just got a lot on my mind.”
He smiled. “It’s quite alright. Anything I can help you with?”
“Any good at math?” I jested.
“Actually, I am.”
I smiled in reply and thought, what the hell, I might as well milk this for everything I got. So we spent the next twenty minutes or so going through my math study and he was right, he was good at math, very good.
He listened to my concerns and explained everything to me in so much detail, and on a level that I could understand. He didn’t look down on me for not knowing, but quite the opposite. He was happy to help and the uncomfortable feeling I’d felt slowly eased.
The way he spoke was different though. Although he used slang every now and then, it didn’t seem to come natural, it was almost forced. He spoke with sophistication and distinguished. It was mind-bogglingly weird.
“Thank you, James.”
“You’re welcome,” he said sincerely as he sat back on the chair he’d moved closer to mine.
There was silence between us as I played nervously with the pen in my hand, as my feet tapped the ground rapidly.
“So what are your plans after you finish school?” James asked, still calm and collected in his chair.
“Nothing set in stone. Still trying to figure out what I want to do career wise.”
“I see.”
“What about you? What are your plans?”
“Depends.”
“On…”
“On where we’re told to go.”
I frowned. “By who?”
“It’s complicated. We go where we are needed.”
“For your parent’s work?”
“Something like that.”
“Okay… Is that why you transferred here so late in the school term?”
“Yes, although I’m unsure if the transfer was the right thing to do.”
“Why’s that?”
“I didn’t intend on facing so many obstacles.”
“Care to elaborate?”
“It’s complicated.”
Okay…
I decided I wasn’t going to get any further with this conversation, so I started to pack up my books, as lunch would be over soon.
“Will you be going to Dale’s party on Saturday night?” James asked.
“I… uh…”
Jackie had told me about it earlier on in the week, even Dale had been texting me asking me to come. I hadn’t really thought about going, it wasn’t something that really interested me… that was, until James asked.
“I’m not sure.”
“You should come.”
Before I could reply, I spotted Jackie out of the corner of my eye approaching our table.
“Hey,” I said smiling towards her.
Her eyes lit up at the sight of James.
“Hey, to you two,” she said cheekily towards James and I.
James stood from his chair and greeted Jackie. “Hi, I’m James.”
“Jackie,” she replied.
“I’ll leave you ladies to it then,” James said looking at Jackie, then me. “See you soon.”
I nodded as he started to walk away.
“What was that all about?” Jackie asked with wide eyes when he was out of earshot.
“He was just helping me with my math.”
Although I was still confused by James’s secrecy, I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face as I finished packing up my things and walked out of the library with Jackie. I could still see James as he talked with some of the seniors close by.
Before Jackie could question me anymore, the bell rang, and lunch was over.
“I better go,” I said quickly.
“You are so telling me what happened with James after school!”
I smiled at her and shrugged.
I liked the idea of seeing James again, but I was also baffled at his weird secrecy and short answers when I asked him questions about himself.
She rolled her eyes and started to walk in the opposite direction of me.
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“Oh, and Jackie?” I called out after her.
She turned to face me.
“I think I’m going to Dale’s party on Saturday too.”
“Oh really?” she replied smugly. “I wonder why?”
4… LONELY
Jackie was quick to remind me that night that I promised to tell her about James, not that I needed reminding, he was always on my mind. I had no idea how one person could change your life and consume your thoughts until I met James…
Jackie- Do u recon he purposely went to the library to find u? Or was he just there and saw u so decided to chat?
Lila- No idea. He is weird though, like really mysterious. Do you recon he is like that with everyone? Or is it just me?
Jackie- Not sure. U could talk to Dale about it. They seem to be close.
Lila- Talk to Dale about James? No thanks.
Jackie- Hey, ur the one that wants to know more about him.
Lila- mmmm
Jackie- Speaking of boys… I got a date to the school formal…
Lila- Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lila- Just kidding. Now I’ll be the only one going solo *sob* so who’s the lucky guy? Someone in our grade?
Jackie- haha sorry! Nope… His name is Jacob and he goes to the state school. He’s in grade 11.
Lila- Dating a younger guy hey ;)
Jackie- haha barely!
Lila- How’d you meet him?
Jackie- At work. He’d been coming in when I was on and a few weeks ago, he asked me for a movie suggestion… So when I was showing him some of the dvd’s he could hire, he asked me out.
Lila- Just like that?
Jackie- Just like that
Lila- *squeal*
Jackie- He’s soooo cute! I’ll show u a pic of him tomorrow.
Lila- You’re up to taking photos of each other? OMG!
Jackie- haha yeah although we haven’t officially said we’re bf and gf, I think we pretty much are.
Angels of Moirai (Book One) Page 5
