Animus

Chapter Two - A Story Retold

My eyes fluttered open from the breach of the sun's rays. I was rested, and rested was good. I slowly pulled off the comforter on my bed and sat up, arching my back and stretching to the ceiling. I couldn't remember my dream. Every time I tried to think about it, only blackness returned.

My daily ritual consisting of: showering, dental hygiene, and eating. Today, however, I made it through each stage rather quickly and had a few more minutes to kill before I departed. I looked around the house for Father, but I soon realized he had left for work.

The sun greeted me yet again when I stepped outside. I fastened my pack, and tied my long hair in a ponytail to prevent it from flying in front of my face.

"Excellent," I muttered aloud.

I paced down the street, making my way down the same route I took from yesterday. When I arrived at school, no one was there to greet me. When I reached for the door handle of the front entrance another hand grasped it as well. I looked behind my right shoulder.

"Liara?" I said.

Liara Vasir was a full-blooded Nathak. I've never actually had the opportunity to talk to her personally. She keeps to herself, I mean, most Nathak do, but she was different. She seemed to intentionally distance herself from any form of contact with sentient life.

Jane said she's the same age as me, but her cool attitude and icy voice suggested otherwise. She was about the same height as Jane, but had perfect posture. Almost rivaling mine! Her eyes, from what I briefly saw, were aqua blue, and her hair was a combination of silver and blue highlights.

Liara locked eyes with me, sending a cool shiver down my back. I held the door open for her and then walked inside.

She didn't even say 'thank you'.

I didn't see Jake when I went upstairs to my locker; instead I unlocked it and gathered my books for the next few periods. I headed to English, my first class of the day.

Jake was there, I sat in the desk next to him as he greeted me. I stared at my nails, they were beginning to sharpen. Very soon they would be claws. I didn't need that.

"You listening, man?" Jake said, sending a light tap on my shoulder.

"Huh? Oh, no, sorry," I apologized.

"I said there's a small football scrim out in the back field at fourth lunch. You in?"

"Ha! You know I am!" I said smiling.

"Good, but we both know I've got the stronger arm between us both," Jake said with a wink.

Both of us laughed, but were silenced when our teacher finally showed up.

Second period was more of the same. It was math, I wasn't too fond of it, but it was the second class I remembered that Liara was in with me. She was a monster at numbers and crunching equations, she made it seem so simple while I could only grasp it.

When lunch rolled around my mind felt like it had been scrambled like an egg. Numbers were not my strong point. Jake met me at the lockers and both of us headed out to the field for the scrim.

"What a surprise," I said, coming over the hill, "he's here."

Bobby was there with seven other guys, two of which I could tell where Chiron. Bobby split the teams so that he would intentionally get both Chiron boys. A cheap tactic, but I would expect nothing less from Bobby.

"Hey! That's not fair!" Jake said. "You can't have both of them!"

I placed a hand on Jake's shoulder while Bobby grinned. "Don't worry," I reassured him, "he'll get his just desserts."