[pre]part 2
“Oh,” his voice let out softly, almost inaudible as we reached the classroom. “Interesting.”
“Is that it?” I asked, expecting more for a complete answer than the incomplete sentence I received.
“Yep,” he said simply as he ushered me into the classroom where I saw Brandon was already there.
“Hello, again, Garnet!” Brandon said cheerfully and gave a nod toward Damon. “Damon.”
“Brandon,” Damon replied. When did just saying a persons name become a greeting? Damon continued, “So we do have a class together. How much Spanish do you know?”
“Basta,” Brandon decided to show off his Spanish by responding with ‘enough’ in the language. “¿Cuánto sabes?” he asked Damon back.
“So you do know something,” Damon teased as he walked to the teacher to hand her his slip.
If there was one thing that Brandon did well it would be a tie between singing and language. He was currently ahead of the class but he wasn’t allowed to skip it because he needed the credit. Though, it seemed Damon also had a high intelligence, almost making the two of them opposites.
“So you’re Mr. Perfect?” Brandon questioned as he sat on a desk near Damon. “I wouldn’t want to be someone who shows off on the first day.”
“I’m not you, am I?” Damon responded as he was handed back his slip with a “Bienvenidos,” from the teacher. “I don’t like to showoff, you just make it too easy.”
I could tell this was going to get rough if something didn’t happen to interrupt the atmosphere. Thankful, something did.
“Damon!” Nori said as she pranced into the classroom with a smile on her face. “We have a period together! Isn’t it great?!” Her cheerful voice echoed in the classroom. Damon’s back was facing her to she didn’t see the completely peeved emotion that crossed his features.
“Sure,” He said, turning to look at her with a smile. I noticed his lips moving but he didn’t say anything. I thought this was odd but I didn’t look into it for I knew he wasn’t talking aloud for a reason.
I decided to distract myself by turning to Brandon, who was still sitting on the desk, as more students entered the classroom. He played with a pencil in his hand and he watched Damon and Nori intently. “What’s up?” I asked casually as I leaned on the Desk next to him.
“It’s just weird having this new kid around,” I was so happy Brandon saw me as someone he could talk to. “He seems to be so good at so many things and it ticks me off.”
“Jealous?” I asked slyly as I raised an eyebrow.
“Of what?” Brandon asked as he slid off the desk and walked toward his own with me at his heels.
“The attention Damon’s getting,” I said with a shrug. “Don’t worry too much about it; people are attracted to anything new. It’s like a crow to a shiny object.”
“If only there were less crows…” He barely whispered, “…or no shiny objects,” He added with a smile toward me.
I smiled back and had a thought: Was I a crow drawn toward the shiny object known as Damon? I wasn’t able to answer before the bell sounded once again and I took my seat. We began class by reviewing how to make a sentence future tense…
---
I smiled as the last bell of the day sounded like music to my ears. It had been a strange day, though. I was putting my Spanish book in my backpack when I heard a huff from Brandon’s direction. I looked up to see him glancing at Damon and Nori as they walked silently out of the classroom. I quickly put my backpack on and followed them, motioning for Brandon to follow.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, referring to the huff earlier. I figured it had something to do with Damon and Nori sense he kept glancing at them.
“They wanted to talk. Damon did, anyway. I don’t know what he wants to talk about but I don’t think I’ll like it. I might not like Nori at all but I won’t let him say anything he shouldn’t,” He said with determined eyes and he followed by my side. He really did care about his friends, even if they were like Nori.
I nodded in encouragement but I trusted Damon enough not to say anything bad. I just played along to let Brandon see Damon wasn’t as bad as he thought he was.
We watched them turn a corner once we were outside. They stopped when they saw they were alone. Brandon and I were hiding behind the wall. I heard the fence to the tennis court creak so I guessed Nori was leaning against it.
“So, why did you want to talk to me, Damon?” Nori asked with a sly tone to her voice. This was an odd behavior for her. Did she always act this way when she was alone with a guy? I sure hoped not.
“I think you know why,” Damon said with a stern look as he stood in front of Nori, putting his backpack on the ground.
“Oh, I don’t think I do,” She said with a look of innocence. “I wouldn’t mind if you explain it to me.”
“You know what I am, I know you do,” He seemed hesitant to continue but did. “Witches aren’t supposed to like what I am. Why are you flirting with what you despise?” I could hear the agitation in Damon’s voice clearly.
I wondered what he meant by ‘witches’. Maybe it was just an insult or a name of group, I wasn’t sure. What did he mean by ‘You know what I am’ and why would she despise him? I didn’t understand what they were talking about.
“That doesn’t mean I can’t like you!” From the sound of her voice she must have been smiling widely. “You interest me, even if you’re not liked because of what the scientist did to you.” It almost seemed like she spit out the name ‘scientist’. What did a scientist do to Damon? I needed to find out but this didn’t seem like a conversation I was supposed to be hearing.
I looked behind me, where Brandon was listening as closely as I was. His eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as he tried to make sense of what they were saying. I turned back around as they started to talk again.
“I moved here to get away from that. I wanted to try and live normally for once, for get what happened there,” he said before pausing for a moment. “You’re the one watching over this area, aren’t you, Nori?” There was silence and then he continued with “I thought so.” I guessed she must have nodded.
“Nothing exciting has happened, though! Until you came, that is!” Nori’s voice came clearly around the wall.
I heard Damon let out a groan and Nori’s voice change into one of concern. “Damon, it didn’t work did it? You still have it, don’t you? I saw you go to the nurses’ office with Garnet.” What did he have? I remembered him hiding his temperature, was that what they were talking about? Were they talking about his ‘symptoms’ he was talking about earlier?
“Yes, I do. It didn’t work like I thought it would and now I’m a failed lab rat,” His voice seemed to crack a few times, as if it was hard for him to talk about.
“Don’t talk like that! I, of course, didn’t agree with your decision or the scientist’ but it already happened-” Nori was quickly interrupted.
“Yes, it’s over and it can’t be undone. That’s why I’m here: To try and live as if it never happened,” I heard shifting which might have been Damon picking up his backpack. “Can you at least let me try to live a normal life?”
“I can’t do that, you should know that. I’m not in a high enough level,” Nori said softly. I wondered what she meant by ‘level’ as the fence creaked again, signaling she had pushed off the metal wire barrier.
I heard a defeated sigh from Damon as the tap from there shoes came close.
I stepped back, not wanting to get caught overhearing their conversation, and I ended up stepping right into Brandon. We both fell back and he grabbed my shoulders to hold me in place, making him become my cushion. We hit the ground with a thud and the first thing I thought was if Damon and Nori had heard the very obvious sounds of us falling.[/pre]
