Ethereal

Chapter 3 - Oh, Fantastic

As soon as I walked into school, all I could think was, Oh god, oh god, oh god, HE'S HERE, and so on. My mind was basically a short-circuited machine. I couldn't think; I could only stare at the ground between my feet and hope he doesn't notice me. Of course, that wouldn't really have been a bad thing, but I would have been unable to form sentences and embarrassed beyond belief.

Yeah, yeah, I get it. I talk to someone for about three minutes and I'm already crushing on them. Sometimes, life is a bitch. I know.

But I did find another way to make the voices shut up. Well, I couldn't think at all, but I guess it counts.

I walked to my first class, not really caring that I'd be early. I just needed a way to distract myself. Walking was good enough for me. Walking usually helped me leave my feelings dug into the ground behind me.

Spoiler alert; it didn't work.

By the time I got into the classroom, my mind was scrambling for any grip on reality it could get. It wasn't working very well, but hey; it's better than nothing. I continued to look at the floor until I had walked across the room to my desk. I was sure I looked like I covered my face in red Sharpie and didn't manage to wash it all off.

I sat down at my desk and stared at nothing. I saw a couple people look at me weirdly out of the corner of my eyes, but I didn't react. I silently waited. Would he come, or not? I saw pros and cons of both, and I wished for both to happen.

In the end, he didn't come in. Whether that was good or bad, I still don't know.

                                     ~

He was in my last class. Math again.

I sat completely still except for my hand, which used a pencil to write down math problems that I wasn't even sure how I solved. Every so often, I glanced up - just glanced - at him, then quickly focused my gaze back on the paper. I knew he knew I was there. I saw him look up at me several times.

I also saw something that filled me with dread. It made my sluggish mind work a thousand times faster, and none of the thoughts that ran through it were good ones.

It was them. Jane and Austin. The ones who hated me with every part of their being. The ones who were not afraid to do some serious damage.

If course, I had no clue why they hated me, but they did.

They scooted closer. Slowly. It was most likely to torment me, and to make sure that if I tried to go anywhere, I wouldn't get far.

I waited. They were almost close enough. They wouldn't hurt me physically, no; not here. But they would remind me of things I would rather not be reminded of.

They moved another inch forward. I closed my eyes, waiting; any second.

Thump!

"OW! Holy schist!"

Everyone's heads shot up or swiveled in the direction of the scream. Not including mine, because I had already stood up and ran to his side.

"Sock, what's wrong?" I asked. He clutched at his ankle with a pained look on his face.

"I f-fell," he said. "My leg h-hurts. L-like, bad."

"Help him to the nurse," the teacher said from behind his desk. I nodded, and I helped Sock to his feet - well, foot, considering he wouldn't use his other leg. I half walked and half carried him out of the room and in the direction of the nurse.

To my surprise, when we were a hallway away from the classroom, he dropped the pained looked and put his foot on the ground.

I looked at him in confusion, and he grinned. "You're welcome," he said.

"For what?"

"Saving you from those idiots," Sock responded. "I'm not stupid, and when you didn't look at me for five seconds I got a little worried."

I didn't try to deny it, but I felt my face heat up. "Well, what are we supposed to do?" I asked in an attempt​ to get off that topic. He shrugged.

"Oh, walk around. We have five minutes before we can leave. No one'll notice." He smirked.

Well, he had a point...

                                      ~

I plopped down in bed that night, re-thinking the day's events. I had just walked home with Sock; it was nothing to think hard about. I mean, we'd only walked, talked, laughed...

There. That's it. Laughter. It's a beautiful thing to hear, and an even more beautiful thing to make. It's a good sound, like a breeze in the summer.

I hadn't laughed in years. And it felt good to do it, like slowly filling my body with warmth again.

Like slowly filling my wings with air again. With love.

Was that what this was? Love? I mean, I thought I had loved people before. But it wasn't like this. It was more of a dim flame that died before it existed. But this...this felt like an explosion, a longing. A chance.

Or maybe it was hope. Very, very powerful hope.

I looked again at the laser. I reached out and grabbed it, the metal cold against my skin. I stared at it as I turned it over in my hand. I thought for a minute, and then slipped it into my pocket.

Maybe...

...maybe there was a chance.

                                    ~