Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction ❯ HOWL ❯ Fluctuations ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A comment from Sadie unintentionally rouses a rough patch between Etruria and Xak.

Originally Posted: January 23, 2008.

DISCLAIMER: This story is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright � 2008 by Annalee, whenpigsfly8992.
Any retranscription or reproduction is prohibited.

Miscellaneous: Fables/Fairytales Fan Fiction / Romance Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Horror / Fantasy / Adventure / Action | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.08.2008 | Pages: 28 | Words: 18.0K | Visits: 205 | Status: Completed

Fluctuations

News spread quickly across the school the next week. The girls who used to squeal

around Mr. Wittman whispered in disbelief and pointed at me. At first they were bitter and

glared at me, but after telling them the story and giving the junior the credit he deserved,

they seemed understanding. I still didn't know his name, but when I described him, everyone

knew who I was talking about. Whatever his name may have been, he had some kind of

influence over the school for people to accept my story the moment I mentioned him.

I was surprised when I started catching glimpses of the junior passing me in the halls.

He walked with a quick pace, but never looked like he was in a hurry. I stopped at Sadie's

locker after lunch so we could walk to our fifth hour French III class.

"Hey, girly!" Sadie had, of course, been filled in on the entire story on Saturday. She

was already over the shock of it and acted like her normal self to my relief.

"Hey, how was lunch?" I asked. Her mom took her out to lunch today because she

had been given the rest of the afternoon off. Sadie's mom invited me, but I turned down the

offer, saying I had already packed a lunch.

"It was great! You should have come. No one was there to finish my fries!"

I chuckled, "Sorry,"

"It's okay. Next time, then. And you'd better promise." Her eyes wondered over my

shoulder and widened a little. "Uhm...Well, Ru, I guess I'll see you in class."

With that, she turned on her heel and walked off. I stood, dumbfounded. What just

happened?

"So, Etruria...Or should I be calling you 'Ru' instead?" A familiar, deep voice said.

The raspiness had faded during the weekend.

"I'd prefer that you call me Etruria." I corrected, turning to face the junior. "And

what about you? What should I be calling you?" I asked with a hint of venom. I hadn't

forgotten the first argument.

"Xak SonSouci. I'd prefer that you call me Xak."

"Tch… Smart ass…" I muttered. I just realized we had been walking in the direction of

my French class.

"I'll just disregard that...I must admit I am very impressed."

"About what?" I asked a little too harshly.

"Not being a drama queen...And from every story I've heard, you've been giving me

a lot more credit than I expected."

"Yeah, well...You deserved it." I finished awkwardly.

"Stay out of trouble. The first save is free. The next one'll cost ya." He said, not

once glancing at me. I rolled my eyes.

"Sure,"

"I'm completely serious." Xak said, "Five bucks next time I have to come to your

rescue. Another five if I have to hold you hair back again."

That was it! I groaned and yelled, "You asshole!"

I opened the door to my class. Just before I closed it, I heard him yell back, "And

proud of it!"

The bell rang just as I sat down next to Sadie. She was giving me a funny look. In

fact, a lot of my other classmates were giving me a funny look.

"What?" I murmured.

"We could hear you two from down the hall." Sadie whispered.

"Seriously?" I whispered back. She nodded while the teacher wrote our assignment,

in French, on the board.

I groaned when I walked out of French. Xak was leaning against the wall beside the

Latin classroom. He wore a black t-shirt, which showed off a very built, very healthy

physique, and dark blue jeans. There were two girls in front of him, trying to get him to talk

about the incident on Friday.

He looked up as I walked by. He smirked, but it was a challenging one. It was as if

he were silently daring me to continue the argument, to throw another comeback at him.

Fine, if he wanted it so bad.

I passed by and said low enough so only he could hear, "Fuck off, jerk."

He gave me a barking laugh, but didn't say anything.

The next day, Sadie picked me up in her new, shiny yellow VW Bug.

"Isn't it just the prettiest thing you've ever seen?" Sadie asked, taking hold of the

steering wheel.

A huge grin was plastered on my face and I couldn't help it. "It is. This is awesome,

Sadie." I picked at the fake sunflowers sitting in the built-in vase.

"My parents surprised me this morning. Oh, I wish you could have seen me! I was

literally bouncing off the walls."

"I didn't need to be there... I've seen you do that before," I laughed.

"Ahh, that's right." Sadie laughed as well, "So, Ru... You think you'll see him again

today?"

"Who? Xak?"

"Yeah,"

"Well, he does go to school with us. I'm sure I'll see him." I said with dripping

sarcasm.

"You know what I mean, Ru. Are you going to talk to him?"

"Oh, you mean argue? Only if he starts it."

"What do you mean?" She glanced at me.

"He's always sarcastic and seems selfish."

"That's why you were yelling yesterday?"

"He may have saved me, but he's a fucking jackass. It's so irritating."

"Don't let him egg you on. That's probably what he wants."

I grunted as she pulled into a parking space. "I don't like it... No one's ever been

able to annoy me like that."

"Weird," Sadie said, shutting the door and swinging her backpack over her shoulder.

"I wonder why that is. Try having a normal conversation. Don't let him get to you."

"I can try, but I can't promise much."

"Well, here's your chance. He's standing right over there." Sadie gestured quickly.

My head snapped over in that direction. He was standing on the sidewalk, loosely holding

his binder. He watched me walk over, but didn't say a word. I walked right past him and was

shocked when he wasn't walking with me. He hadn't even moved an inch. I glanced over my

shoulder.

Oh my god, I thought, are you kidding me? Was he actually taking me seriously? He was,

and yet it irritated me further. Damn! I was going to regret doing this... I could tell. I trudged

back to him and stood in front of him, looking up at his face.

"What is wrong with you?" I hissed. He looked down at me and shrugged.

"Well, my neck's really been bugging me for the past few days and I only got about

three hours of sleep last night. I feel like I'm about to pass out."

I forced myself not to react. "You know what I mean."

He studied my expression for a few moments. "You wanted me to leave you alone.

Am I right?"

"Well," I started impatiently. I could end all this nonsense by saying he was right. "I

wanted you to stop being a smart ass."

"You curse so much, Ru. "

"Etruria! That's not the point! I mean, it IS the point, but the cursing thing isn't!

Every time I say something, you have some sarcastic comeback."

Xak smirked and watched me through his hair. "Let me guess. You have a problem

with that. I wonder why that is?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's because it gets on people's nerves after a while. Is it

absolutely impossible for you to have a normal conversation with me?"

"Nope. I'll have a normal conversation with you once you learn not to overreact to

everything that I say."

"Overreact? I'm not overreacting!" I said with more force than I intended. Xak

raised a single eyebrow and smirked. Damn! I just proved his point.

"I'll give you a hint: the first step is realizing that not everything I say is an insult to

you."

I opened my mouth, but it closed again. Xak turned and took a few steps forward to

the school doors. He stopped and turned, giving me an expectant look. The sun hit us from

the side and it made his eyes glow. Shadows defined the sharp angle of his jaw and softened

the curve of his nose which rounded out at the tip. I hesitated and took a step forward. The

corner of his lips went slightly upward, urging me to keep going. I kept hesitating.

He heaved a sigh and said, "You're going to be late for class."

That jerked me to reality as I looked around and saw no one else outside. "Shit." I

breathed.

In my English class, I sat at the desk farthest away from the teacher's desk. We now

had substitutes coming for the rest of the week until they found a new teacher to hire. I

wasn't paying attention to the ancient sub. I was thinking about the previous conversations I

had had with Xak. He was completely right. I did overreact to everything he said and he was

never insulting me... Almost never.

"Ru...Ruuu..." Sadie said quietly. I looked over at her and blinked. "How'd it go?"

"He actually acted civil. He said I overreact, though--"

"--What? That's him acting civil?"

"He's right, Sadie. I have been overreacting, as much as I hate to admit it."

Sadie chuckled once and said, "Well, you have been known to overreact."

"Yeah, yeah..." I mumbled before the sub shuffled over to hand us worksheets.

I walked out of my third hour Choir and made my way to the lunchroom. Sadie

practically skipped to my side.

"You doing anything this weekend?" She asked, beaming.

"Well, I have to go pick up something for my mom on Friday. Other than that, I'm

free."

"Good! You wanna hang out on Friday night, then?"

"Sure. What time?"

"When do you have to run that errand?"

"Anytime after school. I'll probably drag you along if you don't mind. We could go

see a movie before, then run the errand and go back to your house. How 'bout we see a 6

o'clock movie?"

"Sounds good. I'll run it past my parents. Oh! Uhhm," Sadie looked ahead of us. Xak

had turned the corner and caught sight of us. He was still in front, but he slowed down so

we could catch up. Sadie glanced at me, "You want me to leave you alone?"

"Nah. You can keep us in check if we start yelling at each other."

"And why would we be yelling at each other?" Xak asked, leaning down. At his 6'4"

stature, he towered above us.

"Because we usually do start yelling." I replied, giving my voice a pleasant tone.

"Correction: you start yelling." Xak said, standing strait up. "But I will admit that I

follow suit."

Sadie's eyes looked back and forth at us. I pointed at her and said, "Xak, this is Sadie.

Sadie, this is Xak." and I pointed at him. Sadie smiled at him, brilliantly as usual, as he

nodded to her.

"Be right back," Sadie said, turning to the left and heading for the vending machines.

"So are you staying on your best behavior for your friend?"

"No. Trying to be on my best behavior. That's it. I wanted a normal conversation

and since it's apparently my fault that we haven't had one yet—"

"—Okay, okay. I'll have a normal conversation with you so long as you keep acting

like a good little girl."

I wanted to say, 'Good little girl? What the hell?' but I kept my mouth firmly shut.

"So," I started instead, "why did you act like that? People usually aren't that harsh after

something like that."

"Honestly? Just a precaution, I suppose. I wanted to see if you would take me

seriously."

"And I did. Sure, the memory still creeps me out, but what you said makes sense." I

spoke casually. Lucky it was a good day.

"Good. Believe it or not, I've been through some pretty rough things... Not along

those lines, of course, but still worse."

"Like what? Child abuse?" I asked, slightly cautious.

"No, no, no, no, no! Nothing like that!"

"Then what?" I was curious, "I want to know."

"It doesn't mean I want to tell." He replied, looking back at me in the lunch line.

"What if I said I needed to know?" I challenged. What could be worse? What could

be so life changing?

"And what if I told you I wasn't allowed to tell?"

"Damn!" I hissed. I was absentmindedly leading him to the table where Sadie now

sat. "Why wouldn't you be able to tell?"

"You ask way too many questions… It's not exactly something everyone should

know, okay?"

Sadie watched us with an amused look on her face. She was perfectly content with it.

"Oh, fine. I give up." I said, plopping down in the chair and setting my food on the

table.

"You'd have to find out on your own, Ru, without asking me."

"That's not fair! How am I supposed to—? It's Etruria to you!"

"Trust me, Ru, it's very possible… Even for you." Xak said, taking a bite out of his

burger.

"Goddammit! Would you call me Etruria?!" He looked up at me with an expression

that made me realize I was losing my cool. "Sorry…"

"What's wrong with me calling you 'Ru'?"

"It's weird when someone I hardly know calls me by my nickname."

"Then I guess…" Xak started slowly, "You'll have to learn to get used to me calling

you 'Ru'. It's the only way to make it not weird, right?"

"No!" How was I getting so worked up over this? I sighed and rubbed my temples. I

felt Sadie's hand pat my back lightly. "How can you be so irritating?" I grumbled.

"You react to it and you make it too easy." Xak replied, half-smirking.

"So you admit to purposely irritating me?!" I accused.

Xak chuckled, "Yeah. Just now, at least." He stood up and pushed the chair back.

"I'll see ya around, Ru."

I sighed and looked up at him. "Yeah, see ya." I managed a smile, but I wasn't sure

how convincing it was. Xak hesitated, half turned, and looked at me. He gave me a crooked

smile, but his jaw was tightened. He turned and walked away. With his fast pace, he was

quickly out of sight.

I looked over at Sadie, who was fighting a smile that tugged on her lips.

"What?" I asked her exasperatedly. She opened her mouth to respond, but went into

a fit of giggles. "Is there something I'm missing?"

Sadie calmed down after a few minutes.

"You… You totally like him!" She whispered.

I gaped at her, opening and closing my mouth like a fish. Once again, Sadie had said

something that completely took me by surprise.

"Wh-what? Why did you—?"

"Because it's true. I've never seen you act like that before… And did you see his face

when he left? I think he realized it too."

"B-but… I… Does he?… What?"

"Do you think I should find out for you?" Sadie asked, waggling her eyebrows.

"N-NO! I kind of need to… accept the fact for myself. Why would you think that?"

"Denial, Ru. The first step is denial."

I hid my face in my hands and took a few deep breaths.

I was shaking uncontrollably. With the idea that I liked Xak planted in my head, I

was jumpy and nervous. I felt vulnerable and it threw me off.

"Damn it, Sadie! Why'd you have to say that?" I hissed. French class was five

minutes from being over. Xak's Latin class was right next door. The only ways to avoid

seeing him would be to leave the moment the bell rang, or lag behind for a couple of

minutes. I couldn't do either one, though. If I left early, he'd easily be able to catch up with

me. If I left late, I would be tardy to my Algebra II class, which was on the exact opposite

side of the school. Another reason why is that I didn't like taking the easy way out. I'd have

to face him no matter what.

I quickly calmed myself and actually convinced myself that it was just my reaction to

Sadie's comment. It didn't mean I really did like him. The bell rang and I stood up and

walked confidently through the door beside Sadie.

I saw Xak standing against the wall, back facing us, and talking to a fellow classmate,

Ben Phillips.

"I don't know about this weekend, man. I'm gonna be kind of preoccupied. Maybe

we should meet at your place on Thursday. I'll bring my video camera and we can walk to

the park and film." Xak was suggesting.

"I guess we could do that too. All right, thanks, man. See ya."

"See ya," Xak called back as Ben walked away. I still felt solidly confident, and it was

a good sign. I was even more sure that Sadie's comment wasn't true.

"Hey, Etruria," Xak's voice snapped me out of my thoughts. He had a smile on that

showed off small dimples in his cheeks. My resolve shattered into thousands of little pieces

that I knew would take a long time to put back together.

"H-hey," I responded, immediately walking down the hallway at a brisk pace. He

caught up in no time.

"How was French?"

"Not horrible." But pretty damn close, I thought.

Xak gave a breath of laughter, "But it wasn't great?" I shook my head. I briefly

wondered where Sadie was before chancing another glance at Xak… Only to find him

staring down at me. My face burned at the humiliation of being caught, but Xak had a look

of wonderment on his face.

"Are you okay?" He asked. Again, there was no concern in his tone.

"Y-yeah. I'm going to be late for Algebra if I don't hurry."

"Don't worry about it, you'll make it in time." Xak said casually.

"No I won't. I don't walk as fast as you." I complained.

His only response was a smirk.

I barely made it to Algebra II while the bell was still ringing. My hands were shaking

and I couldn't write properly. I felt like yelling and strangling someone, and felt like crying

because of my embarrassment. I was praying for Friday night to hang out with Sadie and

forget about Xak.

I walked silently with Sadie to her car, glancing around in case Xak came over

suddenly. I caught sight of his old looking Cadillac Seville, but he was nowhere near it.

I heard a short, piercing whistle that made me jump and look where Sadie's car was

parked.

"Does he normally appear out of nowhere like that?" Sadie whispered, stopped dead

in her tracks.

"Looking for something, Etruria?" Xak called teasingly, leaning against the tiny hood

of the yellow bug. As embarrassing as it was to think, the way he sat, his body resembled that

of a Greek god. Muscular arms, broad shoulders, a slender torso, and strong legs like that of

a runner. Only one way to stop this…

"Nothing. Get out of the way, Xak." I said coldly, brushing past him. I needed to

build up a stronger shield.

"Whatever you say, Ru—"

"—Stop it, Xak. Just stop it." I interrupted him sharply. Without sparing him a

glance, I climbed into the car and set my backpack and purse in the back seat. Sadie did the

same shortly afterward and started the engine. I did not look up to see Xak's face, but at the

same time I was dying to see his reaction… To see if his expression had stayed the same, or

if he had been smirking.

Wednesday passed slowly and with only nods of acknowledgement from Xak if we

saw each other in the halls. No smile, not even a half-smile, and definitely no conversations.

I thought I would have more confidence, but everything that was not happening made it

worse.

Thursday was even worse. Xak barely glanced at me when I tried saying hi. He was

taking me seriously again and I didn't know which was worse: feeling nervous and jittery

around him or not being around him at all.

I felt exhausted when I came home from school. I had no homework to keep myself

busy and there was nothing good on TV. I rubbed my temples and paced the living room.

There was only one last escape: music. I opened the CD cabinet and looked through the

hundreds of artists. It was a mix of my CDs and my parents' CDs. There was a huge range of

music, from Celine Dion to Evanescence, Metallica to the full collection of Mozart. There

was anything and everything in here.

I decided to go with Mozart in the end and cranked up the volume. I lied on the sofa

and let the music wash me away, give me a distraction. Only one more day and I would be

able to hang out with Sadie.

The doorbell rang over the forte of strings in the song. I pushed myself up and

paused the music. Had mom ordered a package? I glanced through the peephole and did a

double take. A tired and sweaty Ben Phillips stood next to none other than Xak SonSouci.

Hesitantly, I opened the door.

"Yo," Ben barely got out between breaths. His honey blond hair was plastered

against his forehead and neck with sweat.

Xak's face became hard and unreadable once he saw me.

"We were… running… all over… the park… Do… you have… water?" Ben gasped.

"Yeah, come in." I said reluctantly. I should have remembered. Ben lived twelve

houses away from mine. I walked into the kitchen and filled a large glass with water from the

fridge. "Drink up." I said, giving the glass to Ben, who had literally crashed down onto the

sofa.

"You need anything?" I finally asked Xak, after watching Ben guzzle half the glass in

five seconds.

He shook his head, "I'm fine."

Knowing it would, his voice sent a pleasing shock down my spine.

"Dude, I can't believe you're not on any sports team." Ben said, finishing off the very

last drop of water.

"Sports aren't really my style."

"So… What exactly does this have to do with Latin?" I asked, slightly lost.

"Running around was just part of the script. Not important anymore. We stopped by

because I didn't think I could make it all the way back to my house on foot. Anyway, we

have to get going so we can edit this baby." Ben explained, patting Xak's video camera.

"O-okay." I said dumbly. The boys walked to the door, but I stopped Xak. The door

was open, revealing the late afternoon sky, orange that faded into a blood red. Xak's hand

rested on the doorknob as he faced me. I gulped and quickly planned what I wanted to say. I

opened my mouth to say something, but stopped. Ben was still standing just outside the

door, looking between us with confusion in his eyes. I bit my lip and glanced over at Ben at

the same time as Xak did. Ben took it as his cue to go ahead of Xak.

"Look, I'm sorry about Tuesday. I just wasn't—" I started, but Xak interrupted me.

His tone was irritated and for the first time, he spoke harshly, "Don't give me that

bullshit. First you're angry with me, then you act like a little angel, and then you completely

blow me off. All in one day, too." His eyes flashed dangerously, the turquoise color

appearing eerily inhuman.

"Would you let me finish?!" I snapped, stepping in front of him.

"By all means," He said venomously.

I sighed, "I wasn't feeling like myself, okay? The second half of my day wasn't the

greatest and at the time I really didn't want to talk to anyone."

Xak eyed me critically. My face flushed and I looked away. I felt Xak walk past me,

but he stopped and looked at me from the corner of his eye.

"Give me a heads up next time you decide to push me away." He said. My breath

stopped short. He was forgiving me… in his own way. I nodded and he kept walking.

"See you tomorrow…" I said quietly. Xak stopped, but did not turn.

"Yeah… I'll see ya." He said, his head inclining ever so slightly in my direction. I

closed the door once he walked away.

Friday morning, I turned into the parking lot. In no time, I spotted Xak sitting on

the hood of his car, smoking a cigarette and waving me over to the empty space beside him.

I parked and got out of my car. I smiled half-heartedly, but Xak wore a huge, brilliant

smile in return. His teeth were strait and white and looked almost wolfish.

"Feeling more like yourself?" Xak asked.

"N-not completely." I answered. For the first time there was concern in his eyes. His

hand rose and brushed my bangs out of my face. His long fingers felt callused, but warm and

sent shockwaves through my body. "Dammit, Xak," I said, frustrated. His hand immediately

dropped.

"Did I remind you? Is that what it was?" Xak asked guiltily.

"Wha—? No! Just… My hair… No, don't… Don't worry about it." I stopped myself

before I kept babbling. I barely realized that it had all ready been a week since then.

"Oh… Uh… Sorry 'bout that, then." Xak said, sticking the cigarette into his mouth

and taking a long drag. The wind picked up a bit and he swung his head around so the

smoke would be taken away by the gust. I stared down at my feet and my hair blew into my

face. There was still a long time until we had to be inside and Sadie hadn't even shown up

yet. I looked up to find Xak watching me, squinting in the bright morning light. He was

exhaling another lungful of smoke.

"Y-you… How long have you been smoking?" I asked. I often got nervous during

awkward situations. There was a strange tension that had settled over the area.

Xak chuckled quietly, "Don't get the wrong impression," he said, dropping the

cigarette butt and stepping on the last of the glowing embers. "I'm what you could call a

nervous smoker…"

"Nervous smoker? Right…" I said skeptically.

"Really, I am. I don't need to smoke to survive. Just to calm my nerves in… tense

situations… I've been doing it since I was sixteen, after I—…" Xak broke off suddenly and

refused to look at me.

"After you what? Xak?"

"Nothing. Forget about it." Xak barked, giving me a sharp look. His hand twitched

toward his pocket, then moved away. Nervous smoker… He doesn't want me to know that he's

nervous right now. I thought. He looked angry about the fact that he couldn't calm his nerves.

"Okay, go ahead. I won't ask anymore." I said, looking around to make sure people

weren't going inside yet. I heard the clicking of Xak's lighter and turned to see him taking

several drags. He leaned against his car door and looked me in the eye. His eyes held mine

until loud talking signaled that people were going into the school. Xak cleared his throat and

extinguished his cigarette.

"Come on, Etruria. Let's go." He said, leaning over and grabbing his binder from the

hood of his car. I opened the passenger's side door and got my backpack and purse.

"Hurry," he said impatiently.

"Calm down, Xak. I'm going as fast as I can. We're not going to be late, so why does

it mat—"

"—Just come!" Xak growled, clutching my hand and tugging me toward the school. I

locked my door and practically kicked it closed as Xak dragged me away.

"What the fuck are you doing?!" I yelled as we neared the school doors. He pushed

open the door and immediately turned. "Xak, dammit, look at me!"

Xak whorled around and saw me. His expression changed to surprise, as if he wasn't

expecting to see me standing behind him. In a split second, it twisted into rage.

"Go to class, Etruria." He enunciated each word with more force than was needed. I

stared, bewildered. I took a step forward, but Xak gave me a sharp glare. His eyes were

burning with anger, but there was a hint of— I may have been imagining it— panic. "Please

go or you'll be late… Sadie will wonder where you are."

"Xak, what's wrong?" I asked. I heard the worry in my voice. Xak's eyes softened,

and he walked forward, closer and closer. My heart skipped a beat as he took my face in his

hands— gently and carefully— and locked eyes with me. His hands were hot and burned

against my skin.

"It's nothing… to worry about." Xak said, his voice deep and rough. He leaned

forward and brought his lips to my ear and said, "Please go to class, Ru…" A shiver ran

pleasantly down my spine, feeling his breath— hot and cool at the same time— and the

husky whisper in my ear. "I promise," he continued, "I'll let you know… I'll tell you, show

you, somehow." I could feel his lips moving, brushing ever so slightly against my ear.

"I have to go, just for a little while." Xak said, backing away.

"W-what? Where? You'll be late to class if you leave!" I said, snapping out of my

previous state.

"Don't worry about anything. And I won't be late. Go now, Etruria."

I nodded and turned. I half-ran down the hallway and when I glanced over my

shoulder, Xak was gone. As much as my curiosity told me to follow, I kept going toward my

class.

"Hey there, slowpoke!" Sadie greeted me when I sat next to her in English.

"Hey," I replied, vaguely aware of anything else in the room.

"I saw you in the parking lot with Xak. Thought I'd give you some privacy." She said,

waggling her eyebrows.

I forced a smile and decided not to tell her about Xak's odd behavior. The next hour

seemed like some kind of cruel torture. I kept remembering his hands on my face, the look

in his eyes… His promise to tell me… Tell me what?

The bell sounded and I dashed out of the English classroom in record time.

"Wait up, Ru!" Sadie called, throwing her backpack over her shoulder and running

after me. I neared the end of the hall, Sadie huffing and puffing behind me, just as Xak

rounded the corner.

"Hey, Etruria. Told you I'd make it to class on time." He said. I noticed, for the first

time, the slight swagger he had when he walked. It was emphasized when he slowed down.

I forced another smile on my face and said, "Hey. How much time did you have left

before the bell?"

"About two seconds."

"You barely made it." I said, raising an eyebrow.

"You could put it that way… But I still wasn't late." He bragged.

Chemistry and Choir were the same as always. I, like everyone else, looked forward

to lunch the most. I didn't pack much of a lunch today due to how late I got up this

morning. The bell that signaled the end of third hour sounded and I jumped up. I met Sadie

at her locker.

"My dad is going to take me to lunch today… Sorry…" She said apologetically. Her

dad's car could only hold two people. He usually used it for driving himself to work and

back.

"Don't worry about it. I packed a lunch today." I said.

"Plus, Xak will probably be there to keep you company." Sadie winked at me.

"Don't start that again." I pleaded. "Just go meet your dad outside."

"Okay. I'll see you later!" She called, walking away.

"Bye!" I called back.

I sat at the usual lunch table in the middle of the crowd and unpacked my lunch: an

apple and a can of soda. I sighed and took a bite out of my apple.

"Hi there, Ru." Xak's voice floated into my ears. I nearly choked when I realized he

was leaning over the back of my chair.

"Hi, Xak… Please call me Etru—"

"—Etruria, I know. I don't feel like it, though. Anyway…" He said, looking down at

my lunch. "Hmm…"

"What?" I asked nervously. I felt him lean over more.

I heard and felt him say into my ear, "Let's go out and get something to eat."

I gulped, "Why don't you go with Ben or something?"

"You don't want to go with me?"

"I have a lunch." I said, holding up my apple.

Xak leaned to the side and looked up into my face. He locked gazes with me and

said, "Let's go."

I was outside, standing next to Xak's car and watching him climb into it. When he

leaned over to unlock the door, he smiled up at me. His eyes were bright and shiny and he

looked like an excited little kid. His dimples got deeper when he smiled bigger and my heart

leapt.

I joined him in the car and was surprised by the strong pine scent. I glanced around

to see if there was some hidden air freshener, but there was none.

"Any place in particular you want to go?" Xak asked, slipping the key into the

ignition and starting the car.

"No…"

"You sure? You're not craving any certain type of food?"

I shook my head.

"Ru?" He said quietly. His fingers gently pulled my hair behind my ear to get a better

look at me. I flinched automatically. I didn't mean to, but Xak misunderstood.

"I'm… I'm sorry, Ru. I did it again, didn't I?"

"No! Xak, no. I just wasn't expecting you to do that. Honestly." I said with a

pleading note in my voice. "Let's… Let's just go to Sonic… Okay?"

Xak was staring at me curiously. He didn't say anything else, but backed out and left

the parking lot.

I told Xak that I didn't really want anything, but he ordered two burgers anyway. I

finally took a bite of mine after arguing for five minutes and kept eating. I hadn't realized

how hungry I was.

"Ru?" Xak asked.

"What?" I asked a little sharply.

He paused and locked eyes with me. "Was I wrong?" His voice got husky.

"About what?" I said, shifting my mood after seeing the questioning look in his eyes.

I turned from his gaze.

"Acting the way I did… Telling you not to let… that… turn you into some drama

queen… It was like I had told you not to express any kind of emotion."

"You were kind of… harsh." I admitted, glancing at him and doing a double take.

Somehow he had moved about six inches from my face. His left hand reached up and

touched the right side of my neck, where the hickey had been the day my former teacher

attacked me. My stomach turned at the thought and I started to regret eating lunch at all

today. My throat tightened painfully and my eyes stung. That image sprung up in my mind as

clearly as if it were only a minute ago.

I don't know what happened or how it happened, but the next thing I knew, Xak

and I were back in the school parking lot, safe in his car. Tears were streaming down my face

and Xak was carefully holding me.

"Ru… Please stop crying…" He said quietly. I couldn't though. I didn't realize how

much I had held in, how much that I'd bottled up.

Xak was warm, though. His skin was nearly burning but it seemed comforting.

"We have to go inside soon. Get yourself cleaned up Ru." Xak told me, wiping away

tear after tear. "Unless you don't feel well enough to go back… I'll take you home."

I nodded for him to take me home.

"All right, come with me." Xak commanded, getting out of the car.

"But—"

"—Don't worry about your appearance. All the more convincing." Xak winked. He

walked me to the office, placing his hand on the small of my back. "Pearl," Xak addressed

the office lady at the desk, "Etruria Mallory is not feeling well… She's called her parents, but

neither of them have time to pick her up. They've requested that I take her home."

At first, the office lady looked irritated, but then the recognized the two of us.

"Is it…?" Pearl whispered.

Xak threw me a sideways glance and leaned forward to whisper to Pearl, "She's been

trying not to think about it, but it finally got to her while we were eating."

"Ahh… I'll write a note to excuse you when you get back."

Xak nodded and watched Pearl fill out a small, blue slip and hand it to him. He lightly

tapped his fingers against my back and we turned to walk out of the office.

"Feel better, Etruria." Pearl called. I nodded and we walked out the door.

"We'll take your car." Xak said, holding out his hand for my keys.

"Aren't you going back to class?" I asked, wiping my face with the sleeve of my shirt.

"Yes. I've got to come back and tell Sadie so she can give you any work you miss,

right?" Xak replied, gesturing again for my keys.

I reached into my purse and took out my keys.

"How are you going to get back?" I asked, pointing out the obvious problem.

"I'm a very good runner." He replied.

"Don't even try to be funny." I snapped. Xak had my keys and unlocked the driver's

side door. He unlocked my door and I climbed in.

"I'm not trying to be." He said.

"You're planning to drop me off and then run all the way back?"

"Exactly." He said.

"Who do you think you are, The Flash? You expect me to believe that you are willing

to run nearly five miles? And still get back to class at a reasonable time?"

Xak was driving out of the parking lot. "Yes, I do expect you to believe me. Besides,

it's too late to convince me otherwise."

I sat quietly, watching him with confusion. He drove and every once in a while, he

glanced over and just smirked.

We were at my house within ten minutes and Xak cut the engine and stepped out of

the car. I got out as well. Xak gave me my car keys and stooped down to my eye level.

"Be good, okay?" Xak said. His hand brushed mine and I gulped nervously.

"S-see you on Monday, I guess." I said.

He gave me a crooked smile. "We'll see." He replied, grinning widely.

"What?" I asked quietly.

"Be safe this weekend. If anything happens when you're out with Sadie, I'll be there.

Just remember that five dollar fee."

"You were serious about that?"

Xak chuckled and pushed me through my front door after I unlocked it.

I stared at the closed door for a while, wondering if he had left all ready.

"Get some rest, Ru." Xak's muffled voice floated through the door. I jumped and

backed away. I smiled a little and sat on the sofa. Before I knew it, I was asleep.