Aurora

2. TROUT

THE NEXT DAY WAS BETTER …

    It was easier because Vesta felt she had broken the ice. Surely, nothing could be worse than the first day. It wasn't raining yet when she finally left her chair to get ready for school, though the clouds were dense and opaque. Benedict came to sit by her in English. His eyes looked tired but he smiled. Vesta's response was hesitant. He walked her to the next class where sulky Nate was with his corn-blond hair pulled in a low ponytail. He scowled when she walked down the aisle to the free seat at the back but she didn't mind at much. People didn't open gawked quite as much as they had yesterday, and at lunch she sat with a big group that included, Benedict, Nate, and several other people whose names and faces she now remembered. She didn't shudder and black out as much as she had yesterday, even though she didn't sleep all night, listening to the wind echoing around the around. Vesta was starting to feel . . . settled.

    It made the rest of school more tolerable. Mr. Varner called on her in Trig when she was trying to stop her shudders and she had the wrong answer which made Nate snicker. At gym, they got partnered up and Vesta tripped over his shoes when he got in her way of the ball and fell. It wasn't serious enough to get her sent to the nurse but she was benched with the people who were too scared, sick or lethargic to play.

   The sky was more clear during lunch so Benedict proposed they take their trays to the seldom used picnic tables to the southside of the cafeteria. The benches were still a little damp, so they sat on their jackets and coats. Vesta was seated between Benedict and Justin - a ginger-haired boy with a worse haircut and even paler skin than her, almost translucent -. Justin had freckles spread over his face and smelled of peppermint. He talked softly to Benedict over Vesta's about the new issues of comics he'd bought and if Benedict would like to swap with him when he was done. Nate soon steered the conversation to the upcoming trip to the beach and Benedict - to Nate's displeasure - asked Vesta if she would be interested in coming along.

   "Um. Sure. Yeah." Vesta worried the edge of her sleeves, avoiding Nate's eyes. They were heavy with dislike. It was odd to her how quickly he'd taken to disliking her, from the first moment he heard her name, Vesta noted. She wasn't used to that. She'd been loved and liked in her close-knit family but never outrightly disliked.   
 
   "Why not just invite her to the Lair while you are at it?" Nate demanded sarcastically.

   "Great idea," Benedict agreed and turned to Vesta. "Do you want to visit the Lair?"

    "Such an ominous name. Do I have to sacrifice chickens to be able to enter?" she mumbled.

    Benedict barked a laugh and Nate's scowl deepened.

   "What about you, Lorraine? Coming to the beach with us?" Benedict asked the mousy-haired girl who was Nate's partner at gym yesterday. She seemed elated at the attention, twining a long curly lock around her finger.

    "Of course," she smiled brightly.

   "Then it's settled. The seven of us. Unless, you want to invite any other?"

    The seven were : Nate, Benedict, Vesta, Lorraine, Justin, a thin girl with braces who was in Vesta's Government class called Jen and Brian, a bespectacled pimpled stocky boy with spiky black hair. Of the seven, only Nate, Benedict and Justin were in the drama club. Lorraine was on the volleyball team and she thought Drama was dumb but she came to their meetings to watch anyway - mostly because of Benedict. Jen sometimes wrote their plays but she didn't want to be part of the drama club because organization and responsibilities gave her anxiety and she'd rather be with her camera taking photos of everything. Justin had moved to Forks from Port Angeles when he was eleven and was in a two-men band with Brian. Nate, Justin and Lorraine all play chess together but they've never been able to beat Nate who puffed with pompous pride whenever it was mentioned.