Divinely Devoured

Chapter Nine - Old Friends

Much to my dismay, Stacey was nowhere to be found during our lunch break either. I guess my elaborate mystery solving plans would have to wait.

Everyone at the table was unusually quiet today, so I decided to use this opportunity to prod Rylan for some information.

"So Rylan, how do you know Stacey if you just moved here?"

"Stacey?" He looked rather perplexed.

"Yeah, the girl that approached you on Friday" Leona chipped in.

"Oh, we're old friends." He didn't seem certain.

That still didn't explain how he knew her though. 'Old friends' was super vague, it could literally mean anything. I wondered if maybe she was an ex girlfriend, that might explain why he was so tense around her and why he appears to be giving her the cold shoulder all the time. But you would never get an ex's name wrong. That's just a whole new level of heartless.

"So you play the guitar? Were you'll in a band together?" I fugured prodding him with general questions might help.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that." it was obvious he didn't want the conversation to go any further.

"So you must have lived pretty close for practice sessions to be possible." I thought out loud.

"That's a thing of the past. I'm making a fresh start."  was his only response.

I gave up and mindlessly tuned in to Leona and Luke's general conversation.

Why was it so exasperatingly difficult to get answers from this guy? The whole "mysterious guy" act was getting old pretty quickly. There's nothing mysterious or shameful(I suspected maybe he could be embarrassed) about playing in a band. And why would someone want to make a "fresh start" in what appears to be so close to home? Having people that know you kind of defeats the purpose of a fresh start doesn't it? What was he running from?

The sound of the buzzer pulled me out of my thoughts.

"I'll walk you to class" Rylan surprised me by offering.

"Such a gentleman" Leona teased.

"We basically have all the same classes anyway" I deadpanned. The last thing I needed was for Leona to start planning my wedding. I've been weary since she took the boy I was crushing on and I to the school prayer room to conduct the ceremony when we were just twelve years old.

"You have alot on your mind today." he pointed out. 

"Yeah, just random girly thoughts"  I decided to play the Rylan card.

***
Suddenly the room started spinning, almost as if we were in a whirlwind, it's like everyone around us were on pause.

Rylan pushed me against the door of our Math class. His eyes entrancing mine. He moved his head to the side of my neck. His cool breath tickling my warm, flushed skin.

"Be careful, Elora. You won't like what you find." he whispered. The warning in his soft tone was evident.

***

"Are you going in?" a familiar squeaky voice startled me.

"Stacey!" I realized "Oh my word, I've been looking for you all day."

"You have?" she looked confused.

"Yes, let's talk after class."

Math class was uneventful. Rylan kept sneaking these knowing glances at me. I knew I couldn't be imagining these "episodes" (for lack of a better term) that were occurring between us. It felt real and it was as if he was aware of them too. I decided it was part of the many mysteries I was yet to solve. I simply counted down the minutes to getting answers from Stacey.