Ariella's biggest desire in life has always been such a simple one. She wants to be 'normal.' Unfortunately, that one simple wish has never been within her grasp. Coming from a long line of witches is bad enough, but she's even more different than t...
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As the bell rings, announcing the end of the day, I gently place my sketchpad in my bag and leave the classroom. Art is my last class of the day and by far my favorite. I'd always loved drawing. I'd become very good at it, too. Years of practice while stuck on the third floor of the house will do that for you.
I had trouble losing myself in the familiar motions of my pencil today, though. My usual headache is becoming too painful to ignore, and I'll be spending most of the night surrounded by too many people. I need a bit of a break.
When I round the corner into the hallway, I catch sight of Lawrence casually leaning against the red metal of my locker. When he sees me approaching, he steps to the side, giving me just enough room to open it. As soon as I place my books inside and close the door, he presses his forearm into the metal above my head, leaning in towards me.
He's spent a lot of time around me since he came here yesterday, and I've noticed his getting close doesn't bother me like it usually does. His proximity does make me nervous, and the butterflies in my stomach go crazy, but it's a nice change from my usual reaction to people. I much prefer the butterflies to the usual cramping I get with other people.
"You going to the game tonight?" He asks, leaning so close, I feel his breath on my cheek while he speaks. Turning my head, my breath catches in my throat when I see he's even closer than I'd thought. My move brings our lips only a hairsbreadth away from each other. His grey eyes drop down quickly before returning to my own.
He seems to be searching my eyes for something, but I don't know what he's looking for. After a moment's hesitation, he takes a small step back, and my held breath whooshes out of me. He's still very much in my personal space, but at least I can breathe again.
"Yeah. I kind of have to. Got to support my friends. Oliver is the quarterback. Micah is the star receiver, and Hazel is head cheerleader," I reply after taking a second to gather my thoughts.
Leaning closer again, a small smile lifts the corners of his mouth, and my eyes are drawn to the movement. I really wish he'd stop leaning close like that. Every time he does it, it makes me think he's going to kiss me. I'm not opposed to the idea, but all the false alarms are going to give me a heart attack if he keeps it up.
"I'm glad. I hope to see you there," he says, turning and walking away without another word. Well, that wasn't strange at all.
I realize why he'd done it a second later when my friends suddenly surround me, chatting excitedly about the upcoming football game. Lawrence hasn't really talked to anyone except me since he arrived yesterday. Plenty of people have approached him, especially River, but he seems to stay to himself for the most part. He also doesn't come around me when my other friends are with me. It probably has something to do with the strange scene that happened in front of the office yesterday, but I still haven't been able to figure out what it was.
