Cipher

Chapter 9: Running

The next week was mostly uneventful. Ms. Keller assigned lab partners and, thankfully, he was not paired with Matthew. Mr. Wulf assigned a three page paper.

Cindy had finally calmed down enough to talk to him like a person, not a curiosity, which was nice. She was actually a rather interesting person to speak to.

Joslyn continued to sit with them in the grass at lunch; she also continued to sidestep anything to do with Jason. Cipher didn't mind, though. He knew she would talk about it when she was ready to.

Now they were running for some fitness test or another. Cipher couldn't complain, running was what he was built for.

So even P.E. was going well...

Until it wasn't.

Air knocked out of his lungs as he was hit. Pain emanating from the point of contact along his ribs. Cipher barely kept upright as Drake passed him.

A string of Aeolian curses ran through Cipher's head as he knelt down next to the track trying to force air into his lungs again. What was that? He forced the pain to the back of his mind as he caught his breath.

Isaac came sprinting over to him, his aura drenched in concern. "What happened?"

"Drake?" Cipher forced out. He wasn't sure what exactly had happened and he doubted anyone had seen anything. He and Drake had been pretty far ahead of the rest of the class for the timed mile run. "I am not sure." he winced, arm wrapping around his middle.

"You need to tell Coach." Isaac said, helping him up.

"Yes, I will inform him" Cipher agreed. Not that it would help much. He didn't even know what actually happened, and Coach Meyers would require more than that to punish one of the better players on the team. What had the human done? Cipher did not know, but he did know that it hurt. A lot more than he was ever going to admit.

Nothing seemed to be broken or seriously damaged; it took a lot to leave a mark on Aeolian skin. It was made to protect against a harsh climate, to keep every possible resource inside. They were hard to break, but not impossible.

"Hey, Cipher," Isaac asked as they slowly made their way over to the teacher.

"Yes?" Cipher managed to keep his voice even.

"Weird question, but why does it look like you have gills whenever we have to run and stuff?" Isaac gestured to his neck, looking over at his friend.

Gills? That did not make any sense. Gills were for breathing underwater and he was most certainly not aquatic. Cipher put a hand up to his own neck. He could feel that the slits were open down the side of it. "Oh," now he understood Isaac's confusion. "It is for heat dispersion. Like a jackrabbit's ears or a vehicle's radiator." He was glad to have something to take his mind off the painful walk back to where Coach was waiting for the class. "Aeolians do not sweat, this helps prevent overheating. It is mostly unnecessary on Earth except during strenuous tasks."

The slits, or 'gills' as Isaac had referred to them, ran down either side of his neck and continued under his arms down his sides until stopping at his waist. They were almost unnoticeable, kept flat against his body unless they were actively cooling. Cipher was only a little surprised that the others hadn't asked about it before.

"Anything else?" Cipher asked, internally begging for a distraction even though they were nearly there.

"Not... really." Isaac said. "I think I'm still trying to get over the comparison to a car."

Cipher shook his head. "That is the part you got caught on?"

Isaac shrugged as they neared Coach. "Let's get someone in trouble." he said so only Cipher could hear.

Cipher was not so hopeful. He tightened his arm around his side. Either way, he did not see this ending well.

***Author's Note***

This chapter is dedicated to my friend & one and only follower :)

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