Hurricane

Chapter 3 - Changes

               Over the next few weeks Lyla dodged any hallway Chase was in.  She worked hard on her invisibility charm, but the minute she even glanced his way he would sense her and look.  Thankfully, confusion would set in and he’d look away.

               The charm, unfortunately, was the least of her worries.  Through no fault of her own, Lyla was becoming drawn to chase.  She couldn’t help it.  In trying to avoid him, she was forced to think about his whereabouts.  Every girl at the school noticed Chase, why should she be any different?  Except it was.  Chase didn’t notice any of the other girls.  He only noticed her, an invisible presence walking through the halls.

               The last few weeks were difficult.  She didn’t really get how her teachers knew to grade her papers, let alone give her homework.  She guessed that whatever mojo Mr. M was working was doing its job.  Chase daily looked her way when walking into the school.  It was especially difficult since he had come into full power mode.  They were drawn to each other in a way Lyla had never felt before.  It was hard to watch him struggle.  A part of her wanted to ease his confusion.  For the past couple of days, Lyla noticed Chase a bit agitated.  It was hard to watch because he was what you call the quintessential high school cool jock.  Easy going, everyone liked him, always had good grades, drove the coolest car, never lost his temper and had that gorgeous straight teeth bright white smile.

               It was October thirty-first.  Lyla had been meeting Mr. M every weekend since his first visit and  she felt strong and prepared, although her parents still couldn’t give her the exact time of her birth.  She knew Mr. M wanted her to have it so she wasn’t taken by surprise.  Lyla would just have to be cautious all day.

               As a present to herself, Lyla sat on the bench and waited for Chase to arrive.  It didn’t take long; he pulled up five minutes later.  He parked his gorgeous car and slowly walked toward the school.  Lyla felt like a freak.  Now she was officially stalking him.  But today more than any other felt right for her to be here, sitting on the bench, watching.  What happened next had Lyla’s heart beat so hard it almost burst out of her chest.

               As Lyla was sitting, twirling a lock of her long blonde hair with her finger, Chase walked right up and sat down on the bench.  Lyla let go of her hair and held her breath.

               Chase sat, looking out toward the parking lot, confusion marring his beautiful features.  He ran a hand through his hair and stood.  Looked at where Lyla was sitting and walked back to the parking lot.

               Lyla exhaled heavily.  That was a close one.  She stood and ran into the hallway to first period.  Within minutes Chase walked in, he scanned the room but couldn’t place the unease.

               Lyla looked outside.  A massive storm was forming.  It was still hurricane season and the news said today would be a bumpy one.  After twenty minutes in class, a voice came over the loud speaker:  “Attention students.  In a calm and orderly fashion, please exit your classroom and proceed to the gym.  I repeat.  In a calm and orderly fashion, proceed to the gym.”

               Ms. Waters looked outside and then back at the class.  “Might be a tornado.”

               Crap.  She thought.  Lyla stood with everyone and proceeded out the door, trying to keep a distance away from the other kids but someone pushed her from behind and she flew into the back of a tall boy.  The boy reached around his body and steadied the intruder, Lyla.  He kept a hand on her and turned around.  Lyla’s charm faded away, she was completely visible now and Chase was looking straight at her.