Gym was easily the best class, for two solid reasons.

One, you didn’t have to listen to the teacher or take any pop quizzes.

But most importantly, it was the perfect opportunity to let off some steam… and hit a few select people in the face with a heavy rubber ball.

“Ouch!” Priscilla screeched, holding her left cheek. Her friends gathered around her as the dodgeball bounced away triumphantly. As usual, Priscilla was putting on a big show for attention.

It couldn’t have hurt that bad. But I hoped that it had.

Stacy giggled quietly beside me. 

“Nyx, Jesus not again.” Professor Ashton yelled from the sidelines while shaking his head, “you’re out! No face throws.” 

Ha. Always worth it.

I walked off the court and sat on the loser’s bench, flashing Priscilla a quick middle finger while the professor’s back was turned. She ignored me as she rubbed her cheek, continuing to play the victim. Her eyes kept darting off to the side where Lucius stood, as if hoping he would check on her, but he was busy staring out the nearby windows, seemingly lost in his own world.

The dodgeball game started up again. One of Priscilla’s friends, a tall lanky girl with thin, straight auburn hair, expertly threw one of the balls towards Stacy, who moved out of the way gracefully. Stacy was always the athletic, sporty girl growing up. She played three different sports, including ballet and even winning state championships in both volleyball and tennis.

In comparison, I was a clumsy buffoon. I accepted my athletic incompetence a long time ago and now avoided sports, or just any activity in general, at all costs.

One of the girls on our team picked up the loose ball, and immediately threw it at Lucius, as if she’d been eyeing him the whole time. At first, he didn’t seem to notice. He was still looking off to the side, daydreaming. But a split second before the ball made impact, his eyes darted to the ball and his hands moved as if he was going to stop it…

But he stopped mid-movement and the ball smacked his chest and ricocheted off the court.

That was weird. Most people would have at least tried to stop the ball instinctually, once they saw it coming. But he just let it happen without even flinching.

“Whoops,” Lucius said sheepishly, “sorry team.”

He walked over and sat next to me on the bench.

“Your bench is over there, with your teammates,” I said, pointing toward the other side of the court. It seemed like no matter what I did, I couldn’t get away from this guy. 

His gaze followed my finger. “That makes sense.” He smiled.

He didn’t budge.

“Okay,” I sighed, looking at his annoyingly bright blue eyes, “I’m not the talkative type. So let me be blunt. What do you want?”

He raised an eyebrow. “I’m not sure I understand.”

I threw up my hands, exasperated. “Really! Don’t play dumb with me. You want something from me, right? I don’t get why you’re hanging around me. If it’s really because of the street thing, that was no big deal. So just forget about it.”

I expected him to get mad or offended, but instead he leaned back and looked toward the ceiling as if contemplating something.

“Is that how I come across?” He finally said.

“Of course it is, I’m sure everyone is wondering the same thing.”

“Wondering what?”

“Why you’re talking to me.”

“I talk to a lot of people.”

I sighed. “You know, you act really innocent for someone that’s incredibly adept at dodging questions.” I put a finger to his chest, poking him and narrowing my eyes. “You. Don’t. Fool. Me.”

I knew he was hiding something. He was weird. Way too weird. 

His eyes flashed with an emotion I couldn’t pinpoint and disappeared as fast as it arrived.

He gave me an awkward shug.

“I don’t know many people here. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“Sorry enough to leave me alone?”

He paused, seeming surprised, and tilted his head to the side, eyeing me carefully. A blonde lock of hair fell across one of his bright blue gaze.

 “Hmm. I don’t know about that.”

He was infuriating. I really couldn’t tell if he was messing with me or not. A prank maybe? Had someone dared him? Maybe I’d known him in the past, but couldn’t remember. He was too persistent. Most people would have given up by now.

Annoyed, I stood up.

“You’re going to regret messing with me,” I said, brushing past him toward the locker room. 

“Nyx! The bell has not rung!” Our gym teacher called out to me, but I ignored his protests.

Anytime I was near Lucius, there was this strange… feeling, almost like an invisible itch that couldn’t be scratched. It was probably just my nerves getting to me.

As I changed out of my gym clothes, I tried to ignore the goosebumps crawling up my arms.