(Alex Rider Fanfiction) Floating in the Dark

Seventeen

The rest of the day was, Ian thought, simply strange and increasingly annoying. Here he was in a familiar environment, surrounded by familiar people, yet it was all so different at the same time. The students kept their distance, casting uneasy glances his way when he thought he wasn't looking. The instructors were the opposite - they kept asking him questions and watched him closely, as if they were worried that he was a bomb that would go off if they left him unattended.

What was with that? Did they treat all transfer students this way? Or was there something different about him in particular? Ian couldn't figure it out.

And Tom. Ian could feel the boy's gaze burning a hole right through him the entire day. It was making him nervous - what if he knew? What if Tom knew the truth? Ian suppressed a chill. Forget about it. Next class was P.E., and he had to figure out to hide his scars. Kids his age weren't supposed to have that many scars, not to mention a still-healing bullet wound.

As it turned out, he didn't have to worry. He changed in the bathroom, and tucked his shirt into his gym shorts so it wouldn't ride up. During the warm-ups and laps, he was careful to take it easy. His injury still hurt when he strained himself, and the last thing he wanted to do was to go to the nurse's office and get a physical examination.

They played dodgeball for the first half. Before he knew it, he was one of three boys still standing in the middle. And Tom was gaping at him. So were the others. There were watching him with a gaze that expressed a minor amount of disbelief.

What? He wondered. What's up with them?

The ball sailed his way, coming from the left. Without moving his head, his eyes darted in the ball's direction. He quickly calculated its trajectory, and decided that if he didn't move it would still only skim his nose. So he took a small half-step back, and the ball flew by, its breeze brushing his face.

Realization hit him suddenly, and he nearly groaned aloud. What was he thinking? He was a normal teenager in school, not some professional agent on the battlefield! He had been dodging the ball with an ease that made it look like he could tell the future. The instinct to dodge was second nature to him, and he'd been doing it without even thinking. Scowling at himself, he made sure that the next ball to come flying at him, hit him.

For the rest of the P.E. Class, they played soccer, and he made sure that he acted like a normal teen-aged boy. He ran no faster than the others, made just as many mistakes as the others, made as many goals as the others. At the end of the class, he doused his head under the fountain and panted for breath, so that he looked just as exhausted as the others. It wouldn't do to let the rest of the class know that he was only a little winded, and could have gone to another three P.E. classes easily.

The last class of the day was a Science nightmare. He had been away from his studies so long, he had no idea what the Professor was talking about. And of course, the man just had to pick him to answer random questions. By the end of the class, most students had seemed to have forgotten their apprehension of him, and gave him sympathetic looks. A few even talked to him.

"Don't take it too hard," a girl named Mindy told him. "The Professor's like that to all of the new students."

"Thanks," he mumbled in reply. It's gonna take me years just to catch up.

"Um, no offense, but you look like you can use some help with the project he gave us. If you want - "

"It's all right," he quickly interrupted her. "Thanks, but I've got a tutor. I've actually missed a few weeks of school because of the move and everything, so. . ." he trailed off, and offered a small smile.

"Oh, um. . .it's fine, then. I'll see you later!" Ian watched as the girl ran off. She was kind of pretty, but a bit thin, like she wasn't eating enough. Probably one of those types that dieted frequently.