Geia sas!
So, this one is pretty short, to make up for the amazingly long one yesterday. I feel like I am moving this too fast, but we'll see how I do, right?
Thanks to Lady Midday for her review! I appreciate it!
The word was picked from the dictionary today. It's really being appeasing with the nice simple words, isn't it? I haven't gotten anything like 'surplus', 'bubblewrap', or 'votive'. Of course, I probably just jinxed myself and I'll get 'ipsilateral' tomorrow. And that actually is a real word.
Continue!
...
Strange
Serra traced the words engraved in her desk with an absent minded finger. "Are Roses Red?" is what it said, and Serra didn't fully comprehend what the author of the words meant. The blue ink that had once made them had begun to fade away, leaving only the imprint of the words left. It was hard to see unless you felt it as well.
Tearing her eyes away from the words, she glanced nervously at the empty desk beside her-the one that belonged to Matthew. She still couldn't believe how stupid she'd been, making up a whole family to tell him about. Although her dad had been a doctor, he wasn't any longer. Mark, her foster dad, was an author and Lisa, her foster mother whose name she had learned by now, was a lawyer. Now every time Matthew made a casual comment about her family, she froze up, wondering if he had figured it out yet. It was worse than just not talking about them at all.
She was almost happy that Matthew didn't seem to be here today. But there was a nagging sense of worry in her mind. Florina had come to her locker somewhat preoccupied today, not even trying to respond to her flow of words and the hallways had been abuzz with whispers. Something about transfer students, a girl named Leila, and Matthew. She'd ignored it for the most part, but mow it had taken root in her brain, poking and prodding at her as the bell got closer to announcing the start of class.
Two minutes to the bell, Matthew shuffled in and placed his books softly in the very center of his desk. She turned her head to gaze at him curiously. Usually he was bounding in and throwing his things on top of his desk before going to talk to her, or someone else he knew. Now he was just staring at his clasped hands, his knee bouncing up and down, shaking the floor beneath her.
"Are you alright?" she asked, before she could think over what she was saying. He returned her eyes, and she had to stop herself from flinching in surprise. He seemed to stare right through her, like she wasn't there and the smile fixed on his face wasn't convincing at all.
"I'm fine!" he answered, enthusiasm seeming to get stuck in his throat a little, making his voice a little hoarse. He coughed. "I mean, I'm fine."
She opened her mouth and would have said more, but the bell broke through her thoughts and she reluctantly shifted her face towards the front of the room to listen to Mrs. Reglay's lesson.
…
Later at lunch, she watched Florina introduce a new girl to their lunch table. She had short green hair and a cheerful smile. However, Serra could see that she was slightly worried about something. Having been hiding things for so long, she could usually tell when someone else was hiding something.
"This is Nino Reed," she was saying. "She just transferred here today. Nino, this is Lyn, Serra, Kent, Sain, Farina, and Rebecca."
Nino sat across from Serra and smiled at her again.
"Hi! Are you Serra? I'm Nino. I just transferred here today because my mother teaches English here and I missed her lots. I came over from Black Fang HS, have you heard of it? Apparently these two high schools are big rivals. I don't know what I think about that. I kind of just like it when people get along, don't you?"
For the first time in awhile, Serra found herself struck silent by the sheer talkativeness of this girl. "Y-yeah, I guess…"
"That's good. I also like it when people agree with me, right? It's a nice feeling when someone makes you feel like you're right," And with that, she turned to devouring her lunch. She ate the way she talked; with pure enthusiasm and without stopping for breath. With the girl's mouth preoccupied, Serra looked over at Farina and Florina.
"Hey, what's wrong with Matthew today?" she asked quietly. Florina broke eye contact guiltily while Farina just cocked her head to the side. "He seemed awful in English."
Nino was staring at her with wide eyes, a bit of cheese from her pizza hanging out of her mouth, and Florina still wouldn't look at her. Farina appeared to be in great thought.
"You're right, he did seem a little off today!" she exclaimed. "I didn't notice! It was almost like last year."
"Last year?" Serra inquired. Farina just held up her hand and shook her head.
"That's not my place to tell. Figure it out yourself, or just ask Matthew," she answered dismissively. Rolling her eyes, she asked Florina again. Florina just kept her eyes even more averted and said, "Read the newspapers from last year; I'm sure you'll figure it out."
"He was kind of upset this morning, but then he just slumped," Nino told her, having finished her pizza. She mimicked his actions, first sitting up very straight, eyes ablaze, before relaxing all her muscles at once and letting her head flop against her chest. "He tried to tackle my friend, but I got there first! I may not look it, but I'm a fast runner. I'm thinking of maybe going out for track, but I'd want someone to do it with me. I hate…"
Serra tuned her out, frowning to herself. Nino had somehow managed to switch the topic around really easily there and everyone had grasped onto it like drowning people to a piece of floating wood. And there was that whole offhand comment about Matthew trying to tackle someone. Why would he do that? And everyone had looked pretty uncertain after she had asked her question, like they weren't sure what to tell her.
It was suspicious. They were hiding something in their strange behavior. And she would find out what it was. You could put any amount of money on that.
…
Hee hee. Serra's prying into people's personal business. It's really very like her. She can't keep her curiosity to herself.
I love Nino. I make myself crack up with her sometimes.
Drop in a review, won't you?
Antío!
