Chapter 1

I still hadn't shaken off the dream with the monsters in it by lunch. James was laughing it up to the Spartan on his right; I wasn't paying attention to his dry, pointless jokes.

I was focused on either understanding my nightmarish dream or forgetting it. James must have noticed I wasn't paying attention to his jokes, because he interrupted my thoughts with "OH COME ON! My jokes are good enough for you to pay attention to!" He punched my arm lightly and I glared at him, but stopped.

"Sorry, I've just got something on my mind." Out of nowhere I saw another side of him. His amber eyes softened and his mouth lost its large smile. He placed his hand on my shoulder and gazed affectionately at me. I felt like he was starring into my soul.

My cheeks grew hot and my roes tingled. Time seemed to slow to me around us. I had no idea what he might do. I felt so helpless, weak and frail as if anything could knock me down. I felt frailer as he moved has hand from my shoulder to my curly black hair. He ran his hand though it a few times and my face quickly grew red all over at the sensation. Lucky for me I have tan skin, but he smiled wider than ever.

"If you want to talk to me about anything, I'll listen and I always will Liz." I opened my mouth to speak but stopped when I realized he wasn't done speaking. He moved away from me, a cheeky smile on his face. "You sure do glow when you blush Liz. So, do I make you blush Liz?" Time went back to normal as I punched his unarmored stomach, making him lose his breath. He fell to the ground from his seat with shock, trying to catch his breath.

"You sure do get cocky James; normally you would laugh at that!" I turned away from him, my cheeks burning.

"YOUR CHEEKS ARE GLOWING!" He exclaimed in a funny voice when he finally got his breath. I turned back to him and jumped over the table we had been sitting at. He watched me with wide eyes, and tried to crawl away. But I was too fast. I kicked him 'where the sun don't shine' and walked away, everyone around stopped talking or eating. Just to watch James squirm on the floor howling with pain. The Spartan next to him sighed and shook his head, mumbling something to James who hissed. "I KNOW!"