Beyond the Fairy Gate

Chapter 4

Nyline

Nyline allowed the crowd of people to jostle her towards the lunchroom. Reaching into her pocket, she turned the volume up on her mp3 player. Lunch had always been the most challenging part of the day for her because almost the entire school was in one large room making all the noise they wanted, inside and out.

Nyline glanced across the cafeteria as she walked towards the line that led into the kitchen. She wondered where the weird new kid had gone, what had his name been? John? Jake? Jack? Shaking her head, she decided it didn't matter; she just needed to keep an eye on him. There was something about him that wasn't right, and she needed to figure it out before she let Uncle John know. Stopping at the end of the line, she pulled the strap of her bag higher up on her back, her eyes still looking out across the lunchroom. Where had he gone?

Something caught her eye. She looked to the side with just her eyes to see that Jake was standing in front of her. She observed him out of the corner of her eye before she traced his line of sight to the cheerleader table, where he was staring intently at one of them, Morgan Richman to be exact. According to people's thoughts, Morgan was pretty by most people's standards, with her fair complexion, vibrant red hair, and bright green eyes. She, like every day, was dressed in a short white pleated skirt that was most defiantly against the dress code and a faded pink t-shirt, showing her navel. On her right wrist was an assortment of bangles that made a soft tinkling noise. She was currently sitting at the table as one of the football players stood in between her legs. They spoke their faces close, his hands resting softly on her thighs.

Nyline glanced back at Jake for a moment to see that his eyes were still glued to the girl. She reached out with her mind towards him. She wanted to know what he was thinking. To her surprise, his thoughts were muffled, but as she pushed her mind further, she could hear his desperation breakthrough. He needed to approach this girl and speak with her. Nyline took a moment to wonder why he was having so many problems wondering how to talk to a girl. Maybe it was her football boyfriend that was looming over her like a ravenous wolf. She shook her head slightly as she tried to hear more, but all she caught was '... cause it wouldn't work on her...' but missed the rest of the thought.

Maybe she could accidentally brush her skin against his and see directly into his mind. She felt her limbs tighten at the thought as she shook her head. No. That wasn't an option; that would be rude and an invasion. So, she decided that she would do it the old-fashioned way and took a deep breath before she leaned against the wall next to him, brushing his shoulder with her hoody-covered one.

"That's Morgan Richman," He took a moment to realize that she was speaking before he turned and eyed her. "She's part of the cheerleading squad, bottom right corner of the pyramid. She only really cares about sports and the guys who play them. The guy that is standing over her is her boyfriend. They've been together since middle school, and he's rather overprotective."

"That's interesting," Jake spoke again. His voice was quiet, and she could barely hear him over the music. Reaching into her pocket, she made a wrong decision in turning the music down before she promptly turned it back up. The press of all the voices inside her mind made her head throb. "How did you know?"

"You were staring directly at her," She shrugged as the line started to move, and she moved forward with everyone else. "I thought that you might want to know more about her." As she reached the food, she grabbed a piece of pizza and a bottle of water. She paused as she saw that Jake was glancing around at the food with a slightly confused look on his face. His eyes only darted towards Nyline's plate for a second before he quickly grabbed the same thing. When they got to the register, the lady rang up her food and exchanged money. Turning, she walked away but paused and glanced over her shoulder in time to see Jake mimicking the movements of exchanging cash before he turned and looked at her with a smile on his face.