Lyn trudged on through the cold and snowy mess that had accumulated over Christmas break. She was back at school and she cursed under her breath, angry she hadn't decided to drive to her next class. She repositioned her bag and started walking faster, wary of the dark clouds billowing above her. She hadn't checked the weather, either.
"Hey!" Lyn didn't bother turning around; she didn't ever meet anyone she knew coming this way. "Hey!" the voice called again. This time, she chanced a quick look back and saw someone jogging towards her. Or at least, it had to be her because she was the only person around (and probably the only person dumb enough to walk through the snow in freezing weather to get to a class ten minutes away.)
The person caught up. He was taller than she was with dark hair haphazardly spiked into a short fauxhawk. She couldn't place his face, though she might have seen him in class before or something.
"Hi," he said, joining her side. He was clean-shaven, though she could see the stubble of a rushed morning on his cheek. "You don't remember," he realized.
She gave him a look and didn't stop walking. She wasn't much in the mood for being hit on. The next class she had was with Damien and she was already dreading every moment of it. He had tried calling her only once; it made her even angrier.
"You saved me," the boy reminded her lamely, "from those guys at the beginning of break."
The boy's face still wasn't clicking, but Lyn hadn't really taken a good look at the kid that Peter's gang had bullied. "Can I help you?" Lyn asked.
The boy frowned and even faltered a step. He ran to catch up again and said, "Well, I never got to thank you!"
Lyn couldn't help but grin. "You're welcome," she said. She turned down the path and crossed the street. She could see the huge building that held her class, but it was still a seven-minute walk.
To her annoyance, the kid was still following her. "What do you want?" she asked. She pulled her scarf farther up her neck.
"Can't I get a name?" he asked.
She gave him a look and answered, "Lyn."
"Lyn. Is that short for something?"
"What? You want my biography, too?" They were passing under the huge oak tree where all the obnoxious jocks that played football hung around and wolf-whistled at girls in tight jeans.
"No, I-…" The kid seemed to falter as he eyed the few jocks still huddled around the tree wearing their letterman jackets. He looked down at his feet and even seemed to shrink a little.
Nothing the kid had said yet interested Lyn as much as his actions then. She was going to ask what was wrong with him until one of the jocks yelled, "Hey, look who it is!"
Lyn looked up, interested. None of the jocks had ever paid her any mind because they all knew Damien and they knew how rich and powerful he was. His father was the one who gave them their football scholarships, after all. Then she realized they weren't looking at her, they were looking at the kid.
"Gay-briel," one of them jeered. The rest laughed. Lyn was thoroughly confused; she hadn't heard this sort of taunting since high school.
One of the jocks said something quieter and the rest burst into uncontrolled laughter. They got up from the picnic table they'd been sitting on and made their way towards Lyn and who she could only guess was Gabriel.
"The ass pirate's got a girlfriend," said one of the jocks. He was the tallest and had dark, tanned skin. Lyn half wondered if they allowed men to tan at salons.
"Hey, you're Damien's girl," one of the other, smaller jocks said. He had blond hair and Lyn thought she remembered him from one of Damien's many parties he hosted.
"Nah, they broke up, man," said the first jock. He was staring at Lyn lustfully and she scowled back. He laughed loudly. "Fair game," he said. He took a piece of her hair and let it fall through his fingers.
She looked disgusted and said, "Come on," to Gabriel. "We're going."
Gabriel followed her for three steps before one of the other jocks – the largest, by far – stopped them in their tracks.
"I'm going to be late to class," she said lamely. She wasn't scared, just more or less annoyed.
"We'll write you a note," the main jock said again. "Come on. Hang with us for awhile." He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her close. She didn't blink an eye.
"Stand back, Gabriel," Lyn said. She pushed away from the jock forcefully and he let her go with a laugh.
"What are you going to do?" he asked with goading laughter in his eyes. Lyn stepped back a few feet, as did Gabriel, though he didn't know why. Suddenly, the great oak tree shook as if a forceful wind had swept across campus and it dropped feet of snow on all of the jocks. Lyn and Gabriel were just out of reach of the snow.
"Come on," Lyn said. She walked for another ten seconds before she heard the main jock yell angrily, "Come back here you slut!"
She reeled around and he was coming towards her, just as angry as she. He stopped in front of her and said, "Maybe Damien was right. You'd make a lousy girlfriend. To be honest, I would've slept with Katrina, too."
Lyn punched him square in the jaw.
"Jesus!" the jock exclaimed, clutching the side of his face. "You're crazy!" He backed away and returned to the rest of the jocks.
Lyn was pleased. She hadn't planned to release so much anger before class. But as silly as it seemed, the words that the jock had said hurt worse than anything.
"Wow," Gabriel said as they walked farther on. "That was incredible."
"If you weren't here, they wouldn't even have been a problem!" Lyn snapped. Apparently, she hadn't gotten rid of all of her pent up anger.
Gabriel looked hurt and she sighed. "I'm sorry," she said. "I'm wound up." She rubbed her knuckles. They were red.
"Right," Gabriel agreed. It started to snow.
"Damn," Lyn muttered, pulling her jacket closer.
"Why did you walk, anyway?" he asked. Lyn held her tongue so as not to scream. It started to hail.
"Ouch!" Lyn yelped as a golf-ball sized piece of hail hit her head.
"Not good," Gabriel announced. "Where are you going?"
"The science building," Lyn said, putting her arms over her head.
"Are you kidding?" Gabriel asked. "Come on, follow me. My dorm's right over there." He pointed to a row of senior dorms.
Lyn hesitated. "I'm not creepy, I promise," Gabriel said. Lyn nodded and they switched directions and headed toward the dorms. As they stepped inside the warmth, Lyn was grateful of at least one choice that day.
"I'm Gabriel by the way," he said as he took off his jacket and hung it on a coat rack. The dorm was large and filled with comfy furniture.
"Are you an RA?" Lyn asked, taking off her coat, scarf, and gloves.
Gabriel nodded. "I've got the whole place to myself."
"Lucky," Lyn said with a smile. She walked into the main area and looked around. There was a bedroom or something down a short hallway and a bathroom. A kitchen stood off to the side.
"You were incredible back there, you know," he said. "I know those guys from high school. They never grew up."
"Are you gay?" Lyn asked bluntly.
Gabriel laughed and took a seat on the couch. She sat across from him on the loveseat. "No. I even have a girlfriend, surprisingly."
"Surprisingly?" Lyn inquired. She'd thought a lot of things about this kid, but one of them wasn't ugly.
He shrugged. "Do you want anything?" he asked, remembering his hospitality.
"I'm all right."
"So are you…" Gabriel paused. "You're special, aren't you?" Lyn raised an eyebrow. "I mean…" He hesitated. "You have certain abilities, don't you?"
"I'll show you mine if you show me yours," she said with a grin.