Animi Motus

3: Felix(pov #3)

They say lunch is the hardest part of the school day for a new kid. But, lunch is only tough if you don't have any friends, and those are easy to come by. Anyone can be your friend if you're persistent enough. And I think I may have already made a couple. I see the grumpy guy Riley walk past a table of football jocks who glance nervously around, clearly not wanting him around. He glares at them and moves on to an empty table by himself. Perfect! I walked over to take a seat across from him. Despite his angry demeanor, I could already tell we would be friends.

"Do you mind?" I ask, gesturing to the open chair opposite Riley.

"Whatever, man." He mumbles, not looking up from his plate of meatloaf.

"So what's the deal with you and the douche crew?" I genuinely want to know. Riley looks up, clearly I've found a topic he's interested in.

"It's just such bull, you know?" he runs his hands through his hair, frustrated. "Yesterday I got kicked off the football team. And now those, well yeah, I guess douches don't want anything to do with me."

"So what?" This didn't seem like that big a deal to me.

"So what? Are you kidding me?" Riley is visibly upset. I choose my next words carefully.

"Sorry, not 'so what.' I mean, don't let it get you down. Football's just a stupid game, you know? I'm sure you'll find another contact sport to spend your time on. No big deal." Definitely not the right thing to say. Smoke is practically coming from Riley's nostrils. Or is that real smoke? I don't have time to consider it, because he suddenly lunges across the table and grabs the collar of my shirt with both hands. I jerk away from him, but he's ridiculously strong. "Football was my whole life, you washed up loser. I don't need you trying to make me feel better about my problems," he spits. At this point he's practically lifted me off the ground. Then I feel his grip loosen, and he drops me, gets up, and stalks out of the room. Shaken, my hands move to my collar to straighten it out, then recoile when I find it hot to the touch. Upon closer examination, I find it slightly singed. But that's not the only thing. I could've sworn that Riley's eyes were a blueish brown color. But when I looked him in the eye only moments ago, they glowed a deep red. Was I seeing things? No. My burned collar was evidence of that. So there's really only one other explanation, and if I'm right, I need to go find Riley Smit.

"Hey Asher, can I sit down? I never got a chance to introduce myself." It's the girl from the house, who I met earlier today. I put on an only slightly forced smile and push back the chair across from me for her to sit down.

"Of course!" I say, glancing in the direction Riley went. She sits down with a bowl of salad and some chocolate milk. "So, are you going to tell me your name or what?" I ask. She smiles sheepishly.

"I'm Nessa. Nessa Donatello. It's nice to formally meet you Asher." She says. I hate to skip the small talk because Nessa seems nice, but I have questions about Riley Smit that need answers.

"So, you and Riley are friends right?" I wonder innocently. "I mean, you know him pretty well?"

"No. We're not friends, I'd never even spoken to him until yesterday. But I do know some stuff." I lean forward in anticipation. "Riley was captain of the football team, there's a rumour that he got booted, he's totally obsessed with himself...what else? Oh yeah, he's an IED." She shrugs. "That's all I got. Why do you ask?"

"So IED, that's like, anger management, right?" she nods. "He got mad at me, and something weird happened."

"Oh my god are you okay? Usually when Riley gets mad someone ends up in the hospital!" she looks alarmed.

"I'm fine." I mutter.

"So what was so weird?"

"It's just, when he got mad...he...well, he..." I struggle to find the right words. "His eyes, they...glowed... and he burned my shirt." I look up at Nessa, and see her pursed look of annoyance. I'm not sure why I told her the truth. I knew she wouldn't believe me, otherwise I wouldn't have said anything. But it seems I've offended her, and I feel regret wash over me.