The Battle of Our Minds: Flesh and Blood

Home Sweet Hall

After Everly's parents left, she basked in the beauty of her room and freedom she'd never felt before. She sat in her window seat, staring at the stained-glass window positioned above it.

Where is this place? I've never seen a garden like this in real life.

Everly had explored the woods around her house, but all the trees looked the same. No part of the woods was distinct from another part of the woods without a trained eye. Everly appreciated the subtle beauty of nature back home, but this window seemed almost...alive. More alive than the real thing. Its beauty wasn't subtle. She tried to convince herself that this was just art, but a part of her felt like this wasn't just art, it was a destination.

The garden in her window included the smallest of details. There were hundreds of individual pieces of glass composing the entire picture. She made out details as minute as individual flower petals and little critters hiding within the grass. The window's garden had several streams of water flowing within it. There were dozens of species of plants and animals roaming throughout the land. Sadly, there were no people pictured in it. Everly regretted the idea that a garden so lovely didn't have people to enjoy it.

"Admiring the window?"

Everly jumped a foot in the air, somehow catapulting herself right off of her window seat without the help of her feet. She fell flat on her bottom. On hardwood floor.

"OW! Excuse me?! Who are you?" Everly rolled over on the floor, holding her rear end in pain.

That's ten years I'll never get back.

"Why, thank you for asking. I'm delighted to answer your question. My name's Wyatt Sutherland. My question is, are you enjoying the window?" Wyatt squeezed as much sarcasm as he could in those few words.

"I just fell flat on my butt and you're offended that I asked you your name?"

"No, I'm offended that you didn't answer my question."

The mysterious intruder looked at Everly as if she was the rudest person he'd ever met. She'd never been so baffled by a person in her entire life as she was in this moment.

"Who do you think you are?"

"Exactly who I said I was – Wyatt Sutherland. Are you sure you didn't hit your head when you decided to jump on the floor?"

Her mouth was agape. She looked at the intruder, Wyatt, sizing him up to see if he was a real threat or not. Based on his choice of attire, to Everly, he looked like he'd either been in a fight, crawled out of a dumpster, or returned from a frat party gone wrong. While all of those options were definitely threatening, she didn't feel threatened by him. He was undeniably handsome, and it was definitely natural. No effort was put forth in his outward appearance. Whatsoever.

But it wasn't his handsomeness that convinced Everly of his safeness. It was his bright, silver eyes. The warm expression they held contradicted their cool color, but she somehow, someway, saw goodness in them. She knew she could be wrong, but she kind of hoped she was right.

She also realized he hadn't entered her room to harass her – he entered her room because his home was Newman Hall and she was, in a way, the intruder. He was like a wild animal, curiously examining a human that had come into his territory. He tried to assert his dominance and mark his territory, but the truth was, he seemed more afraid of her than she was of him.

"Okay. Fine. Sorry. Yes – I was admiring the window. I think we got off on the wrong foot."

"Actually, you didn't get off on any foot." Wyatt cocked his head and humored himself with making fun of the clumsy freshman.