Elemental

Chapter 17

The next day, Christine saw Travis eating alone at breakfast. She hadn't seen him since the supply run. She grabbed her breakfast and sat across from him.

"Hey, Travis," she said, smiling softly.

Travis looked startled. "Oh, hi." He looked down at his food.

"How are you liking it here?"

"It's great," he wouldn't look her in the eye. "I'm really grateful to you for helping me."

"It's not a big deal. I was just glad to be able to help you. I was around your age when I lost my family so I understand what you're going through."

He swallowed and nodded.

Christine didn't understand why he was acting like this. Almost as if he was afraid of her.

"Travis—"

"Hey, Little T!" Damien came over and sat down next to her. "Sunshine," he nudged her with a smile.

Travis looked up at Damien and his face brightened. "Damien!"

"How'd the game go yesterday?"

She opened her mouth to ask but Travis was faster. "It was great! We won. It was a piece of cake. Isaiah bumped the ball to me and I totally spiked the winning point."

Damien grinned. "That's great. Next time when I can play, I'll give you more of a challenge."

Travis smiled. "You can try."

"Maybe Christine can play too," he said and she could practically see the joy leave his eyes.

"That's okay," she said. "I don't want to ruin boys' night."

"It's not a boys thing. Everyone in the quarters is welcome to play." Damien said.

"And what exactly is it?"

"Volleyball," he said. "I'm sure with gifts like yours, it shouldn't be too difficult."

Travis's eyes brightened. "Yeah! You can make a tree hit the ball. Or light it on fire," he said, the excitement back in his voice.

"I'm pretty sure that's cheating," Damien said.

"I bet you can't find anywhere in the rules that it is," Travis said, grinning. "I call Christine for a teammate!"

Damien laughed. "No fair."

And just like that, Travis opened up. The fear and hesitation in his voice were gone and he was making plans for the next volleyball game that included Christine.