PULSE

Chapter Five

[ AUGUST 7 ]

Despite the fact that Ava, Lev, and I all shared our last class of the day, they both managed to get out of the room before I could finish packing my things. I had to run out of the classroom and down the hall a few paces before I was able to catch up, at which point I slowed to a walk and did my best to cover up the fact that I'd run.

Even though Lev was deep in conversation after being absorbed into a group classmates leaving the building, he still noticed me before Ava did. Since the first day that he had arrived at the school, I had picked him out as someone a little too observant for his own good. He always seemed to have an eye on everything, whether it involved him or not. It was a never had nosey, malicious intent; but instead, it just seemed like he couldn't shut it off. He had just born acutely aware of the people around him.

Maybe this is why so many people had taken such a liking to him. He came off as an intensely observant, genuine person, and I had watched hoards of people gravitate toward him since his first day.

He noticed me before anyone else and gestured for me to join them. I hesitated for a few seconds, before Ava caught on and turned toward me.

"Aidan," she said smiling.

I almost asked her on the spot, Where have you been? Don't you like soup anymore? Don't you know that I've been waiting for days?

Instead, I forced a small smile and walked next to her.

When we reached the double doors and the staircase that led off of the campus, the swarm of students began to disperse, and Lev, Ava, and I continued on our own. I silently thanked the school for making the staircase so long, descending the long hill that the main building was born on and sloping down toward the street. I walked at a slightly uncomfortable distance from both Ava and Lev, unsure of whether their greeting had been an invitation to walk with them. Luckily, they both seemed to be adept at filling gaps in conversation, and didn't let any stretch of silence last too long.

When we were finally nearing the bottom of the hill, Lev tightened the straps on his backpack and turned fully to Ava.

"I have to work right away, so I'll have to catch up with you later," he explained.

She nodded, waving as he hurried off ahead of the two of us.

For a few minutes after he disappeared at the end of the street, Ava and I continued on in silence. At the bottom of the hill, she turned toward me, seeming ever so slightly more uncomfortable than I'd ever seen her.

"What are your plans this afternoon?"

I shrugged, sliding my hands into my pockets. "I don't have any."

Her eyes flicked up toward me. "Do you want to walk with me? It won't be exciting, but I hate walking alone. I'll buy you food when we finish if you keep my company."

"I'd be an idiot to turn down free food."

"Well, I have to get groceries, so..." she gestured to our left, toward the center of town. I nodded, and the two of us began walking slowly away from the school. Luckily for the both of us, it was cooler today than it had been in the past weeks, and the walk wasn't so excruciatingly hot just getting down the stairs. I was especially grateful for the weather given the mile-long walk from the school to the center of town.

"This is nice," Ava said without warning, walking by my side. "I haven't been here long, so I don't have many friends. It's nice to talk to someone else, other than Lev."