A/N Hey! This is my first story so comments and criticism are welcome! I hope you like it!
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians
The trees are almost done changing colors. Beautiful reds, golds, oranges, browns, and dark greens. I shuffle along through the fallen leaves that blanket the path to school. A chilly wind blows through and the leaves around me swirl. I pull my sweater closer to myself. It smells like a mix of my dog and syrup. If I look a little closer I can even see dark fur covering it. Great, he must have slept on it last night. Oh well. I set down my backpack and shuffle through it. 'Where is it?' There. Finally. I pull the lint roller out of the front pocket, and run it down the length of my jacket. If you have a black dog and white clothes the first thing you need to learn is always carry a lint roller with you. As I try to de-dog myself I hear a loud rustling behind me. That was when he ran full force into me. I had been too preoccupied with the fur to notice him behind me.
Ugh. I can feel the rough, cold pavement below me, leaves crinkle as I push myself up. Ouch. I put my hand to my head trying to settle my spinning brain.
"I'm so sorry! Are you OK?" I open my eyes, and see a guy sitting In front of me. He has small cut right above his left eyebrow. For some reason all I can do is watch as a small drop of blood drips down the side of his face. I should help. Do I have bandages it my bag? "Hello?" I shake myself out of it.
"Sorry what did you… say?" the words come slurred out of my mouth.
"I asked if you're OK. Are you?" I nod then curse myself for doing so. My head aches. I must've hit the ground pretty hard."I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention. You passed out for a second." I cover my ears, close my eyes, and take a few deep breaths. After a while I can finally think clearly, and remember how he was hurt.
"I think I have a few bandages in my bag," I say. Reaching towards my backpack. "You cut your head." He puts his hand to his head, and looks surprised to find blood there, when he pulls his hand back.
"Don't worry about me. Do you go to Goode?" I nod. "Me too." He says. "Lets get you to the infirmary." He puts his arm around my waist and pulls me up. Then he grabs both his and my backpack, and puts them on his shoulder. Now that I can think, I get a good look at him. He has short blond hair, and grey eyes. His orange t-shirt now has a small bloodstain on the sleeve from his head. His worried, I can tell. I don't see why. I'm not that hurt. "We're almost there, don't worry." He's telling me not to worry? He should see himself. The school comes into view. The red bricks of the buildings kind of meld with the colors of the trees around it. He half carries me to the door of the infirmary, even though I can walk fine, just not very fast. He pulls open the white door and the second we walk in and the nurses catch sight of me they jump up and pull me onto one of the beds. 'I'm not that bad, am I?' That's when I see myself in the mirror. And gasp. I can see bruises forming on my forehead. My hair's a mess, full of leaves and sticky with blood. 'My blood?' I put my hand to the back of my head, and gasp with pain. Then I pass out a second time.
When I wake up he's sitting there. He has a book in his hands but he's not really reading it, just blankly staring at it. His soul's a bright yellow, but it's doing flips in his stomach. He must be worried, and… his soul does a series of loops... nervous. I can see souls. I've always been able to. I've never told anyone though. From time to time I think I might be crazy, but I don't feel crazy. Does anyone really ever feel crazy though? Every single person has they're own color. This guy's is yellow. Mines a bright green. The way they move tells you how they feel. I try not to look most times though, it kind of feels like an invasion of privacy. I try to sit up, and am surprised by how hard it is.
"Wait! Don't try to get up." The guy stands up and rushes over to me. "Do you feel alright?"
I nod. "I'm fine, I think." My voice comes out a little raspy, and I realize how thirsty I am. "Could I have some water?" I croak out. He spins around and practically runs to the water cooler. 'He dropped his book,' I think, and look down to see what he's reading. Moby Dick. Whoa. That's a hard read. Seriously, last week I looked up the hardest books to read just out of curiosity and on every single list that was on it. He must be really smart.
"Here you go." He holds out a glass of water.
"Thanks," I say, and gulp down the glass. "Much better. Thank you."
"No problem. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Oh I'm fine. Really. Thanks for helping me."
"I was the one who hit you with my bike." He blushes and runs a hand through his blonde hair.
"I know, but still thanks." I say. I set down the water glass on the table next to me. "Sorry, but do you think you could give me your name?" He looks surprised I asked for some reason.
"Alan."
"I'm Evie," I say. His soul twitches for a second. He already knows me. My eyes widen. How could he… I decide to let it go. No use in thinking about it now. I stick out my hand to shake "Nice to meet you." He takes it.
"Nice to meet you too," he says.
The nurse walks in holding a file. "Good morning Evie," she says and places the file on her desk.
"Morning?" I ask and look at the scraped up watch on my hand. 9:37 AM. "I have to get to class!" I yell and try to stand up. Whoa. The world spins around me. Alan reaches out to steady me, but I grab onto the bedpost and wave him off. The nurse runs over and forces me to sit down.
"You really shouldn't move she says and pulls a couple sheets off her desk. She shows them to me, "This is all the work you missed from yesterday, and what you will miss for today. You'll have plenty of time to work on them later." I try to reach out for them but she pulls her hand back. "Not now, later." I sigh and pull my legs up to my chin.
"How long will I have to be here?" I ask.
"By the end of today you can go back home," she says and closes the blinds around the room."It's probably best if you stay in darkness. You most likely have a concussion." She walks out a softly closes the door behind me. A concussion? Great. Just great. Finals are coming up, and I can't even study. Alan sits on the end of the bed then jumps up and looks at me for permission. I wave my hand towards the bed and he sits back down. He's pretty jumpy. He's also really nice though.
"You OK?" I ask and tap my forehead asking about his cut.
"Oh. I'm fine thanks." We kind of sit there awkwardly for a while.
"So," I say twiddling my thumbs. "You didn't stay here all night did you?" he looks surprised then his soul does a little wave. Guilty.
"Yeah." He looks slightly embarrassed. "I wanted to make sure you'd be OK."
"I'm so sorry," I say. "You didn't need to do that."
"I know but…" he trails off.
"Weren't your parents worried?" I ask.
"Oh I live in the dormitories here actually." At Goode High school you have the option to live at home or in the dormitories. I live at home.
"Oh… well thanks," I say and blush. I'm not really used to attention, I kind of slide under the radar as much as I can. Someone starts knocking on the door. LOUDLY. "Agh!" I throw my hands over my ears, and my head pounds. I hear Alan jump up and run to the door, then the knocking stops. I drop my hands with relief, and open my eyes. Alan pulls two people through the opening.
"Be quiet!" He says angrily. One of them a boy with short light brown hair and dark brown eyes, sighs. His soul, which is navy blue, curls up with relief then, shoots up in annoyance. He looks to the small girl next to him. She has brown hair too, and the same eyes.
"Where have you been?!" she says. "We've been looking every where for you!" Her soul's a medium toned purple. It writhes around angrily.
"Yeah." The brown haired guy adds, "You didn't answer any of our calls or texts, or anything!" He thinks for a minuet. "What are you doing here anyway?" Alan looks at me, and they follow his gaze.
"Hi." I say weakly, as they notice me for the first time. Alan blushes and puts his fingers through his hair.
"I uh, kind of hit her with my bike."
"What!" They both glare at him. The girl steps forward.
"You were reading and riding your bike at the same time weren't you?" Alan takes a step back, and his soul shows his guilt, and nervousness from being corned by this small girl. "Maybe." He mumbles. Trying to avoid eye contact.
"I'm really fine actually." I interrupt. The girl looks over and smiles.
"Good." She says. "I'm Paige."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Evie," I say. She seems nice.
"And I'm Brady," The other guy says. "I'm Paige's brother." That explains the similar appearance.
"Hi," I reply.
Brady glares at Alan. "I better text Logan and tell him you're OK he's been looking everywhere too you know." He pulls out his phone and walks to the other side of the room. Paige sighs and slumps into a nearby chair. Alan walks over and sits on the end of the bed. He picks up Moby Dick again. It only takes him a few seconds to finish a page. He's the fastest reader I've ever seen. His soul moves with understanding. He's even smarter than I thought. Suddenly he just stares at one part of the book. His mouth moves as he tries to sound out a word. Before I can think of what I'm doing I crawl over and look over his shoulder. His finger traces the word as he works. There was a slight mishap in the printing and the word is at an awkward slant.
"Infinitely," I say, and he jumps not realizing I was there.
"Oh sorry, thanks." He smiles.
"I have dyslexia too you know," I say. He looks up at me.
"Really?" I nod. He smiles again and looks back down at his book. I crawl back over to the head of the bed, and look over at Paige. She's sound asleep. Her soul does little flips and loops. She's dreaming. I need to stop looking at their souls. I've looked too much already, and I feel kind of bad about it. Brady walks back into the room.
"He's on his way." Just as he finished his sentence the door flung open.
"Where have you been man!" the guy had dark blond hair and bright blue eyes."We've been looking everywhere for you! And what's this about hitting someone with your bike?" Alan guiltily shuts his book.
"That would be Evie over there." I jump as Paige speaks, she must have woken up.
"Oh hey Evie. I'm Logan." He raises his arm as a greeting."Nice to meet you." He smiles.
"Nice to meet you too," I say. Logan walks over to Paige and kisses her cheek. Paige smiles, they must be dating. Brady turns away, and walks to the water fountain.
"Are you feeling alright?" Logan asks.
"Oh I'm fine thanks." I yawn. They take this as their cue to leave. Logan stands up, and Paige and Brady follow him.
"We'll see you soon 'K?"
"It was nice to meet you," I say. They wave and walk out the door. Alan stands up next.
"It was nice to meet you Evie. I'm sorry we had to meet this way though."
"Don't worry about it," I say, and smile. He smiles back, and softly closes the door behind him.