The Elf on the Soccer Team And the Girl Hidden in Shadow

Chapter 8- Girl & Ogre

Chaaya felt her eyes lingering on the back of Auris' head throughout class. When he actually showed up to school, he was a star student. Always the first to finish tests, answering teachers' questions, and even tutoring other classmates. In first period he had a pair of other soccer players who sat beside him. At one point, Chaaya was sure one of them glanced back at her, and snickered something inaudible into Auris' ear. Did he just look at me?

The day wore on, and with each tick of the clock, she began to realize that yes, people were noticing her. The bustling hallways, heading towards second period, where normally a battleground for her. She'd end up with bruises from the ruthless onslaught of elbows and bodies that would bash unnoticing into her, but today the barrage didn't come. Several people even made eye contact with her. Eye contact. After years of being a side character, it seemed she'd finally made it into the big leagues where people actually acknowledged her. But as she would find, that too came with it's own series of complications.

Culinary class was next, the class she shared with Axe. She headed in, noticing him sitting at a kitchen station alone, peering through a cookbook. His eyes fluttered to her for a moment, back to his cookbook, and then violently snapped back to her as her identity registered in his mind. He slammed the cookbook down and thundered across the room to confront her.

"What are you doing in here? Got something to say?" He snapped, and she rolled her eyes. He doesn't realize that we have this class together.

"This is my class. We've been cooking partners together twice, Axe." Chaaya replied, not giving him a moment more of her attention or thought. She headed to her station where her nametag sat beside the sink, and of course, the big lug came rumbling after her.

"Bullshit, we do. What do you want?" He growled, and she glared up at him. Pulling her school ID from her wallet, she flashed her name at him, and then pointed at the nametape at the forefront of her cooking station. He scowled, glancing them both over, and gave nothing more than one very confused look before heading back to his own station.

Mrs. Deborah cleared her throat as the last few students came trickling in, followed by the ring of the tardy bell, "We'll be preparing apple pies today. Pair up, and we'll get baking."

Chaaya's heart sank. The reason she'd worked with Axe twice before was that neither of them knew anybody else in class. Being the only two oddballs meant they were paired up every time. The rest of the class shuffled about, and Axe froze. Chaaya could see that he was beginning to recall that they had, in fact, paired up in this class before. Chaaya decided to make the first move. She grasped her backpack, stepping through the class room to his station, dominantly setting her backpack down on the center of the counter, as if to say This is my territory.

She had a few things to say to him anyway, so this was all working in her favor quite well. She just had to wait for the right moment to strike. The two got to work, silently preparing the individual portions given to each pair in the class. Axe started the oven and secured ingredients, and Chaaya began mixing the ingredients together. The more she thought about what to say to him, the more nervous she got. She decided it was time to speak or remain silent. She opened her mouth, thinking she'd begin with something unthreatening and diplomatic, but halted.

Axe was focused on the cookbook, eyeing the words over through squinting eyes. He was genuinely interested in cooking this apple pie. "Do any baking in your free time?" Chaaya asked breezily.

Axe snapped the book close, tossing it onto the counter, "Men of my kind do not prepare food," he replied defensively as if she'd put him on trial.

"Well considering you have to actually select this class to be in it paints a different picture."

Axe's face contorted with the rage he was so prone too, "Don't speak as if you know me. Why do you even speak to me, to begin with?"