12

four

Aimee~Capricorn

"Are you done with basketball practice for the season?" he asked. His voice tickled in my ear and it sent a shiver down my spine.

"Yeah," I said. "It sucks. It's like something inside of me is missing, like a black hole."

I could hear him laugh on the other side of the phone. "Much like your stomach when I take you out after practice."

"Daniel!" I cried. "You try running around the gym for once and tell me how it feels."

My boyfriend chuckled lazily. "Alright, Aimee," he muttered. He seemed to lose all of his strength suddenly. "I'm going to bed. Don't stress about basketball and school, please."

I groaned. "My head hurts enough as it is. Don't remind me."

"You just don't do well with stress, sweetie."

I giggled. "You just called me sweetie."

Daniel did his lazy laugh again. "Love you."

"Love you, too," I said, smiling. "I'll see you tomorrow."

I hesitated in ending the call when I heard a sharp yelp from his end of the line. The phone quivered in his hand and his voice started to sound muffled.

"Crap," he cried into the phone. "There is something on my shoulder."

"What is it?" I asked just as I felt a sharp pain in my ankle. I cried out, falling to the floor.I muttered curses as I fell, and my phone went flying. I heard Daniel call my name just as I hit the floor.

"I just got that feeling in my ankle," I muttered to him when I found my phone. I rolled over onto my back, resting the phone on the floor, and lifted my pant leg. There was almost like a tattoo of a curled "N" in the skin of my ankle. I groaned and rolled over, snatching up my phone from the floor. "What happened to you?"

I could hear footsteps, probably of Daniel walking down to the bathroom. His bedroom didn't have any mirrors, and I guessed that whatever had hurt him must've not been able to be seen from his angle. I waited.

"I got this strange scar thing on my shoulder. It's like this symbol that I can't name," he said.

I took a deep breath. "I got that, too. It's like a strange "N" on my foot. What does your's look like?"

I heard him shuffle and he responded with, "Like a half circle with lines on either side of the circle and another line underneath it." He inhaled sharply. "Still stings, though."

"Strange," I muttered. "I heard of this story from my mom."

Daniel sighed. "What did she tell you?"

I shrugged. "I don't remember much; it was so long ago. I just remember her telling me that when she was sixteen, she was badged with a symbol on her."

"Could that be what we are going through now?"

I shrugged again. "Who knows? And honestly, I could care less right now. I have a huge chemistry exam in the morning and I swear I might fail it."

"This is what I mean, Aimee," he said. "You are getting too worked up over these things. Relax, girl. Anyways, where is your mom? Maybe you can ask her about it?"

"She's out at the moment. She'll be home soon," I said. "I have to go, though. I'll text you what I find when she gets back."

We both hung up, and I went to my bed and sat with my books. My mother was visiting my older sister, Clara, at college, and she wasn't going to be home for a while. My father was taking my younger brother Matthew out to a baseball game for some reason.