Poison: Origin

I didn't see Amy the rest of the day. I found out later that she had gone home to be with her family. When Alyssa died I didn't know what was going on. I thought she was sleeping, I didn't understand at first why everyone was so sad. I just moved into middle school and Nikki was still in my mother's belly. I was only ten at the time. When I was told that I would never see my sister again because she had died I cried uncontrollably. Alyssa had been a senior when it happened. Her cancer had returned and didn't want to go through treatment all over again. That was what they said was her motive. I was excused from school for a few weeks. I still didn't think it was enough time. I cried at school. My middle school teachers were very supportive.

I wasn't told at first that my sister had killed herself. My parents told me a couple months before moving here. I didn't react. I had already come to terms with her death. My sister was dead. It didn't matter how it happened, I just knew she wasn't coming back. Poor Amy. She was going through the same thing I had. I had so many people who supported me during that time; my teachers, my friends, and my family. Without them I don't know what would've happened. When Amy came back to school I had to make sure she was okay.

"Yoohoo, Eli," Emma, my other best friend say waving hand in front my face.

"uh?" I said looking up. We were having lunch on one of the squared lunch tables. There were many courtyards in this school. Some, like this one, had tables in them. Others had a combination of benches and patches of grass where people could sit. The upper class men sat on the tables for lunch and the lower class men sat on the grass and whatever open benches are available. The tables were small, squared, and could only sit eight with two people on each side. Twelve if you sat three. I was sitting across from Emma and Emily on the opposite side of the small squared table.

"You've been staring at that bean burrito for the past ten minutes," Emily said holding her cheeseburger close to her face. I hadn't realized how long I had spaced out.

"oh, I was just..." what was I doing? Feeling nostalgic? Reminiscing about the past? "Thinking," I replied, giving a simple answer.

"That's dangerous you know," Emma said with wide eyes. Emily put her cheeseburger down. Emma was the weird one in our group. I don't even know how I became friends with her, I just did. The first thing I told her, was that her hair was pretty. After she just started talking and talking, she said some pretty weird things that made me laugh, others that made me cringe, and we've been together ever since. She had long platinum hair that almost reached her waist. It was slightly curly and she called it her pride and joy. She said it was her best feature next to her hazel eyes. She also had glasses that didn't make her look nerdy, but smart. Her glasses also magnified the intensity of her eyes. She only wore them during class and when she was reading so that she could see better. Emma was taller than me and Emily. In my opinion she was the prettiest of us three. With Emily coming in a close second.

"I know, Eli's poor brain would explode!" Emily said putting her hands together then dramatically expanding them.

"Shut up, at least I'm not stupid like you!" I retaliated to Emily's comment. Emily wasn't the smartest one of our group. She was the freeloader of our group. Emily quickly shut up.

"At least I don't run in front of speeding cars," she said with a smug smirk.

"The light was green!!" I screamed. She had been using this all day. Luckily, I only had Emily in two classes so I only had to deal with this in two classes and lunch.

"Yeah..." she mumbled. She didn't usually gave up this quickly. "for the cars," and she continued.

"UH!" I said in frustration massaging my head.

"Wait. You ran in front of a speeding car?" Emma said as though it was something new.

"The light was green and the bastard sped off anyway!" I yelled. I felt something in my stomach when I mentioned Leon. "He almost hit me," I said this with less intensity as before.

"Oh my god. You should have had him banished!" Emma said. She almost always talked like this. Me and Emily learned what we called 'Emma Talk'. She meant she wanted him sent away to prison, or sent away. Emily rubbed off on us both.

"The best part is: he then shows up here! As a student!" Emily laughed at my torment.

"Okay Em. Shut up," I didn't want her to get to the 'him being extremely gorgeous' part.

"Really! Here?! At the institution?!" Emma said stressing the 'really' part. Emma called the school the institution for some unknown reason. Emma who was sitting next to Emily turned in her seat to face Emma.

"Yeah and he's in one of my classes big deal," I said trying unsuccessfully to end the conversation. I leaned over the table to get their attention. My so called friends only ignored me. They were too engrossed in their own conversation. I gave up on trying to get their attention and rested my elbow on the table with my head on my hand. I saw in the across the courtyard the group of popular kids and they were heading this way.

"And the even better part: he is so incredibly sexy!" Emily screamed over the whole courtyard. A few people turned towards us. In between the crowd I saw Leon with the beautiful Jaime beside him, staring at the tables near us. He wasn't thinking of bringing that huge group here did he? On his other side was PURE EVIL!! Or at least thats what we called her.

Her real name was Morgan LeBaous. She was the school slut, literally. She was second in command of the popular girls, with Jaime being the leader, and hated it. Remember when I said that some of the girls here would rape Leon? Well I meant Morgan. She never had a boyfriend. Why would she, when she could sleep with the boyfriends of the girls in her clique. I don't know if the other girls knew about this, Morgan sure didn't hide it, or if they did, they were too afraid of life without the clique, that their boyfriends' cheating meant nothing. She also had many single guys she would call whenever she wanted to be with them.

She didn't like us from the start. She hated us when Emma snatched away one of her lovers. Don't get me wrong, Emma was a weird one, but she knew how to handle guys. She was the most experienced of us. Her beauty helped too. I used to wonder why she wasn't in the popular girls clique. She sure had the looks and the experience, she was a friend to Jaime too. When I asked her one day, she told me she would rather hang out with someone she could have an intelligent conversation with. Regardless, Morgan saw her as a threat.

"Allow me permission to seek!" Emma said. She wanted to look for him. Following him was the popular girl's clique, which, in turn, was followed by the popular boys clique. This guy had the school's most influential cliques following him by lunch. I can't imagine what he'll accomplish by the end of the year. Now, I was slightly regretting denting his car.

"You won't have too," I said looking the group. Emma and Emily looked at the group. Emily nodded with her head towards Leon. Emma gasped as she covered her mouth with her hand. When the group was close enough I saw that Leon was staring at us. I couldn't breath. His silver gaze unmoving, and unfaltering. He kept looking at us until neck couldn't bend anymore then continued on his way. As Morgan passed by and scowled at us. More to Emma than anything. Jamie, however, smiled and gave us a kind wave. Jamie was always so nice to everyone. When the group left, I exhaled. I didn't realize how long it had taken them to pass.

"Did you see how he was looking at us?," I said turning to my friends. Their mouths were slightly open without saying a word. "Come on! He isn't that hot!" I lied. Emily recovered from her trance the fastest.

"He was looking at you!" Emily said, her eyes wide.

"He was looking at us," I corrected. Emily was going crazy? Why would he be looking at me? Unless he was still mad about the car...

"His focus lingered on you!" Emma said coming back to the world of the living. So he was looking at me. I should probably apologize about the car. Who knows what he would tell his new friends to do to me.

"You think he's still mad?" I asked them. They only confused.

"It wasn't that kind of stare, Eli," Emily said.

"Why would he be mad?" Emma asked. I was surprised, it was one of her most normal talk.

"I dented his car." I said bluntly. It's better to just get it out of the way with these girls. If I didn't say Emily would or they would bug me the day for it.

"Yewouch," Emma said. "She has now reason to talk," Emily said. She wanted me to talk to him?

"Did you not see all his followers? How am I even supposed to even break that circle? And I'm not going to apologize for something that is clearly his fault!!" I said. I wasn't going to bow down to him because he was so incredibly and stunningly beautiful.

"Then don't seek forgiveness! Humor him!!" Said Emma. She wanted me to pretend I was going say sorry?

"Yeah! Then he'll come to you!" Emily reasoned. I didn't get their reason. The bell rang. After lunch we had a six minute passing period. I had physical education next. We were always allowed twenty minutes to suit up, so I usually waited outside for everyone to leave the locker room, I could then change without bumping shoulders with someone else.

If you're asking why I'm still in P.E. in eleventh grade, well it's because I refused to suit up in ninth grade. I would go to my number on the black top, instead, skipping the suit up process. If we didn't suit up it was automatic F for the day, but I didn't care back then. Now I had to make up those lost P.E. credits during eleventh grade. Next year, though I wouldn't have to do any credit catching up so I was really looking forward to that.

"We'll continue this later," Emily said. She stood up and walked away, leaving her plate on the table. She said she making janitors work for their money. I didn't have physical education with either Emily or Emma. I had the class after that, though, with Emma. It was English which was fun, especially with Emma. The teacher asked us once a week to write a story then some of us had to read it in front of the class. My stories were always mediocre, but Emma's - wow. I didn't know how she came up with this stuff.

"I'll see you next in Literature," Emma said as she stood up, picked up her plate and Emily's and walked away in the opposite direction Emily did. I studied them. They were so opposite in so many ways. Emily had hair like fire, while Emma had hair like wheat. Emily's eyes were like emeralds and Emma's like honey. Emma was tall and Emily was short. Emma was pale while Emily was tan. If any one came by and saw them both, they could have never guess that they came from the same table.

I leaned my head on the table. I would have to wait at least ten minutes to get to the locker rooms without them being to crowded. I felt something on the table as I moved my hands over my head. I looked up and saw Emma's glasses in their case. She always left them places and would have to run back to get them. She would probably need them for her next class.

I argued over taking them to her. I could take them or I couldn't and she would have to run back to get them and learn a lesson about forgetting them constantly. I decided to have her come back. I grabbed them and put them in on under my zipped up jacket. I would make her work for them. Let's see how many times she would forget them after this.

I leaned my head on the table as if nothing happened. I would have to pretend that way when she came back. I put my hands over my head like I did before I found the glasses. I could only see the lump on my jacket where the glasses were. I smiled to myself just looking at them. A couple minutes later I felt someone sit next to me.

"You're not going to find your glasses here," I lied still with my head down. I was grinning like crazy so I didn't look up and give me away. She didn't say anything. She probably looked annoyed. I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing at the picture. "Some guy came by and said he would take them to you," I lied again. She still didn't say anything. I felt her brush my hair with her hand, but Emma would never do that; unless she was a lesbian, or something, which I highly doubted. I looked up. I took a sharp inhale of breath and jumped out of my seat. Emma's glasses slipped out from under my jacket.

"FUCKING SHIT!" I screamed putting my hands over my fast beating heart. "You scared me!" I said once I calmed my breath. Before me was Leon, with a smile slightly tugging at his lips. His silver eyes, like diamonds. I was immediately drawn to them. He stood up and slowly walked towards me, his small smile never leaving his face. I couldn't look anywhere else but his eyes. There was something menacing about him. I took a step back, my breaths fast and deep. What the hell was he doing to me!?

I took many steps back but for everyone I took one he would take two. Something deep inside me told me to stay away from him. Every time he stepped closer my mind told me to run, but my body rebelled. I took one last step back and hit the wall of one of the buildings. I wanted to turn and runaway but another part me was held in place by his eyes. I my gaze couldn't move from his. Leon's eerie smile widened when he saw my back against the wall. He walked up right in front me and still my body wouldn't move. He was so close, too close for comfort. I wanted to slap him so badly at that moment.

He put his hands gently on my shoulders, like he knew I wasn't going anywhere. He then leaned in. I thought he was going to kiss me at first, but his lips when past mine and to my neck. What was he doing? My fingers twitched. I became aware that I could move again, but this time not even my mind wanted to leave. I felt his warm breath on my neck. He then did something weird.

He took a very deep breath through his mouth, centimeters away from my neck, and swallowed. Then he breathed it out of his nose. He let go of his loose grip on my shoulders and stepped back. He smiled at me, fully this time. His smile wasn't kind or cold. It was more as though he knew something I didn't. Something that would make me miserable. He stepped back, turned, and walked away.

I slid down with my back pressed against the wall. I watched him leave. My breathing slowly went back to normal. Leon had his hands in pockets and I knew he had that same smug smile on his face. I hated him more than I ever did at that moment. How could he do that to me so easily? Am I really that weak when it came to guys?! No! It was only when it came to him. I knew I was stronger than this. But how? Why him?

I watched his back as he walked away. I blinked, once, twice, thrice, and he was gone! I stood up and quickly ran to where he was standing. I got there but there was no trap door! I felt stupid for even thinking that there was a trap door on pavement, but then how? I reached up to pull my bangs out of my face then stopped. I looked up at the sky, my hands near my ears. Could he?
Argh!!! This boy was making me insane!

I angrily put my hands to my sides. No! Leon could not fucking FLY!! I was now mad at myself. How could one boy make me feel so stupid! But then again, it's not everyday someone disappears! I walked over to pick up my messenger bag from the floor next to the table. I picked up Emma's glasses on the way. Had I imagined everything? Was that even possible? I put my messenger bag over my shoulder. I guess Emma wasn't coming for her glasses. I heard fast footsteps behind me. I turned around, to see if it was Leon. I was disappointed when I saw Emma racing towards me her amber eyes wide.

"Emma something weird ju-" I said but Emma didn't let me finish.

"I praise you!" she said out of breath. She snatched the case with her glasses inside. She didn't even stop and bolted back the way she had come.

I wasn't going to waste my time trying to figure out what had happened. I made my way to the girls' locker rooms. I was so sure of it though. He was there! If I told anyone though, they'd most likely lock me up in an asylum. So I'll keep quiet, or at least for now. After that encounter though, I felt paranoid. Everywhere I went, I felt him watching. I looked everywhere; I looked at trees in case he decided to hide behind one, next to buildings peeking in a corner, on the tops of buildings, and I even looked up at a tree, half expecting him to be there.

In the locker rooms there was hardly any people there. Only the few who had reapply makeup, even though they were going to sweat it off anyway. The few who had waited like me, in one of the spare benches in the locker rooms. And the few who had feminine problems. I pulled off my shirt then held it close to me. I felt him watching, even when I knew he wasn't. His haunting face came into my mind. His eyes shinning, and his lips formed into that eerie grin.

"Three minute warning waring girls!" Coach Samuels, the head coach of the girl's soccer team, said. I cautiously pulled my shirt off me and slipped on my gray P.E. shirt on. I had my name and the number seven hand sewed onto it. The shirt went well past my thighs so I felt more comfortable taking off my jeans. I quickly pulled up my sweat pants though, just in case. I pulled a small hair tie from my bag before I stuffed my bag into the small 3/4 foot by 3/4 foot locker, then shoved my clothes into it. I put my hand to keep it from falling out. I slammed the locker moving my hand just in time to keep my close from falling and the locker from harming my hand.

"Alright girls, time's up if you're not outside now you'll be marked absent." Coach Samuels said, standing my the door. I put the hair tie into my mouth, then pulled my hair back with both hands. When I got the desired ponytail, I grabbed the hair tie with one hand and put it in my hair. My bangs weren't long enough to be put in the pony tail so I tucked them behind my ears. I arrived on the black top.

The blacktop was where the P.E. classes gathered. On each of the four corners were four sets of the numbers one through thirty in rows on the ground. They put the numbers four feet apart from each other. Each row had ten numbers. These numbers were our 'seats' were we would exercise. Each set of numbers was a different class. From the locker rooms, my class was the set of numbers one the upper left. I headed to my number. The coaches were barely taking roll so I was just on time. I was almost on my number when I noticed something in the corner of my eye on the set of numbers on the lower left side of the blacktop.

My pace stopped. I couldn't even breathe. There in one of the other classes was Leon. I was afraid of him. Of what he could do to me. Something was different about him though. He was the same, but somehow different. I studied him. He was the same, that much was certain, he wasn't any taller or any shorter. His clothes had changed. He was now wearing the P.E. uniform, with the sweatpants like I did. He was sitting on the ground his legs stretched out in front of him. He was leaning back using his hands for support. His eyes were that same silvery color, but his smile. That chilling smile was gone. Instead he had a small grin as he listened to the people talking around him.

His stunning eyes turned towards me. My breath caught in my throat, but not in a good way. His small grin turned into a frown. Was this guy the same one who had so much power over me? His eyebrows furrowed together. Or had I just hallucinated all of it? Maybe I fell asleep on the table and all that happened was a dream. I probably woke and ran over to the spot where he was standing before he was disappeared in my dream from the lunch table and not realized it. Either way, did this Leon have the same effect as one from my dream, who scared me more than anything?

"What?," he said. I quickly turned away. So he was allowed to look at me, but I wasn't allowed to look at him? Some of the people around him laughed. No, he wasn't the same. I bit my bottom lip. I was glad that I wasn't afraid of the real one.

"Do plan on coming to class or should I just mark you absent?" Coach Wilson said. I quickly walked over to my number. Coach Wilson was the co-coach of the boy's wrestling team. She was the tallest coach on the blacktop. She was a body builder; her overly huge muscles were abnormal for a woman and made me gag.

Once everyone had come out of the locker rooms. The coaches sounded off using their whistles. Coach Wilson told us to start off with jumping jacks. After we had done with the warm up, we had to run. It was the twenty minute run today. We had to run as many laps as we could in twenty minutes. This wasn't so hard for me. At least not anymore. I became used to running when I got here. The Coach Jamerson let his kids go first and started his timer. We couldn't all go at the same time or we would over crowd the entrance to the field. There was a thirty second wait. Coach Samuels let her kids go second. Thirty seconds later it was our turn. Coach Wilson blew her whistle, the signal to start.

I knew it wasn't a race but I was got the most laps. I ran down the ramp to the field. The first people were a full minute ahead of me so I started off with a sprint. I heard the whistle for Coach Marrows' students. When I got down the ramp I headed for the field. I was half way through the field when someone caught up to me.

"Hello," I heard someone say. I turned to the side and almost tripped. Leon was there. How did he catch up with me so quickly!? I slowed to a jog.

"Um..." What do I say!? What could I say?! 'I had a dream about you!' I don't think so! "Hi," I said slowly. Idiot. I didn't want to waste my breath talking or else my lungs would start to hurt.

"Mind if I run with you?" He asked. Even while running, he managed to pull off his charming smile. "Judging by what I saw earlier, you run pretty fast," Really? Thats it? Nothing about the car? Why was he being so nice to me all of the sudden. "Pardon my rudeness I haven't asked for your name," He said his smile growing.

"Didn't you hear it in Chemistry class?" I asked between breaths.

"Well I know your last name is Crowe, may I have a first?" He said. I guess giving him my name couldn't hurt.

"Eliana," I said then focused on what was ahead of me.

"Thats a nice name, Eliana Crowe," he repeated my name sounding it to himself. I ran ahead of him. I didn't want to waste my breath talking. He, unfortunately caught up with me. "We don't have talk if you want, at the moment," he continued. Great. The car thing would come up eventually.

"Sure," I said out of breath. I ran non-stop, I doubted he would be able to last long at my side. When we went around the field once then climbed up into the bleachers. We went up the stairs on the bleachers, then around the field back to where we started. By this point everyone had lost momentum and started walking. Everyone except me and Leon. We passed by the teachers.

"Wilson! Seven!" I yelled to the group of teachers. I saw Coach Wilson mark me off for one lap in her clipboard.

"Marrows! Twenty-two!" Leon yelled like I had. Leon then got back in pace with me. It annoyed me, but I figured, one lap is about one third of a mile. By the fourth lap he would far behind. I raced down the ramp, the once around the field, up the bleachers, then around to the coaches again. When I passed the coaches again I shouted my number, like did last time. This time, I shouted, "time!". Coach Wilson looked at her stop watch and told how much time I had used up. I had run two laps in four minutes and forty six seconds. I was right on time. I usually ran seven laps, walking the last one.

Leon was with me. While running he had that stupid grin on his face. Why did he suddenly so nice? Still I couldn't get that image from after lunch out of my head. I convinced myself it was a dream. It had to be? There was no other explanation for it. Even if it was a dream, it still scared me. Why was he so kind all of the sudden? I barely even knew him and I wanted to forgive him for almost killing me this morning.

We ran the course over and over again. We were on the fifth one by now. To my annoyance, Leon was still with me. He had only small beads of sweat on his forehead. My hair, on the other hand, was damp with sweat. It was around this time that I would slow down to a walk to catch my breath. I didn't want to stop. Not unless Leon stopped too. I wouldn't slow down and have him think I wasn't as good as him. We passed the coaches again and they marked us off.

I couldn't feel my legs, I still moved them forward, one at a time. My head was starting to hurt. I thought about stopping but looking at Leon's effortless jogging made me keep going. I almost tripped at the bottom of the ramp were the ground was uneven. I had to pay more attention to my feet. Around us most people were walking. Only very few were running like me and Leon. When we got to the bleachers, each step up the stairs was agonizing.

I didn't want to give up. I couldn't, not yet. My lungs hurt, and I felt faint. It was as though everything was a dream. I was running, but I couldn't feel it. My body screamed at my mind to stop, but I didn't allow my mind obey. I pushed myself to keep going. Every time I felt like stopping, all I had to do was look at Leon. He angered me by the way he so easily kept going. We came to the teachers again.

"Crowe! This is your best time yet!" I heard Coach Wilson say. I hated to admit it, but Leon brought out the best in me in the worst way.

"Time!" I gasped out of breath.

"Thirteen twelve!" Coach Wilson yelled after I passed her. Six laps, that was two miles in thirteen minutes! I was so happy I was doing so good. I was smiling, but inside everything burned. At the bottom of the ramp I tripped again on the same spot as before. This time I couldn't balance myself like did earlier. I put my hands out in front me to break my fall, but the ground never came. I chest heaved up and down, I was so close to falling. I knew who had caught me. I was so tired. I felt like stopping again so I looked over at Leon to refuel my determination. He wasn't looking at me with his smug smile. He looked concerned. Maybe he wasn't that bad of a guy after all.

"Are you alright?" he said worried, pulling me up in the process. He made me mad. How could he not be out of breath!?! My anger didn't let me see how close he was holding me. I shoved him off and continued running. He was taken back for a moment. A couple seconds later I heard him run after me. Every step I took sent jolts through my body. The most laps I had done during any twenty minute run was seven. Now I had six with another five minutes left.

Leon came up to my side. I looked up at him. His eyebrows were furrowed and his grin was gone. He looked like he was thinking over something. We came to the bleachers. I slowed to a stop and looked up at the stairs. Were they that steep before? Leon ran right past me. He was wrapped in his own thoughts he didn't even notice I wasn't beside him anymore. Not like I cared. He came to the top of the stairs and turned left. He realized, here, that I wasn't beside him. He just had to come back to the top of the stairs.

I was trying to steady my breaths when our eyes met from the top of the stairs to the bottom. It was as though his eyes told me to keep going. They almost dared me not to stop. I charged up the stairs. It was I though I had no limitations, as though I could anything. I liked the feeling. When I reached the top I turned to head towards the coaches. Leon ran beside me when I past by.

Then next couple minutes I managed to get three more laps. In total I ran three miles in twenty minutes. I was sure there were other people who had gotten more laps than me, but this was my own personal record breaker and it meant a lot to me. As soon as we got to the teachers they dismissed us for free time. We could do anything we wanted as long as we stayed on the black top and the field. We had fifteen minutes of free time.

I was so tired, so I decided to rest against one of walls. There were three small walls like this one. They were thirteen feet long and nine feet tall. They were put in place so that the P.E. students would stop playing wall ball against the buildings with classes in them. I sat on the side with the shade, which so happened to be the side facing the most of the black top.

Some of the other students were playing tether ball, while others played four square. Most of the students were sitting, like me, but in the racquetball courts. They were all happily talking to their friends. I had no one during this period so I sat alone. As I looked at the other students my eyes began to feel heavy. I didn't realize I was so tired. I pulled my legs up into my chest. I wrapped my arms around legs and rested my forehead on my knees. I slowly closed my eyes.

"Hey," I heard. I snapped head up. I turned to look for the source but didn't see anyone. I knew it was Leon but, where had the voice come from. Maybe I was hallucinating from exhaustion.

"Where are you?" I said tiredly not even bothering to look for him anymore. Instead I looked at the freshmen boy who had beat a sophomore in a tether ball game. He had his arms happily in the air.

"Behind you," he said. I turned to look behind me but was met with a wall. I felt stupid, he was behind me on the other side of the wall not literally behind me. I mentally slapped myself. I let go of my legs and crawled to look at the other side of the wall to see if he was really there. I peeked my head over the wall and the sun stung my eyes. He was there and looked better than ever. He was leaning against the wall, his arms crossed. His leg was lifted with his foot against the wall. He was looking at the direction of the sun. The sun made him look even better. His skin glowed and his eyes reflected the glowing sun.

I felt my mouth beginning to open and I quickly closed it. He didn't turn to look at me, only at the sun. I quickly pulled back to my side of the wall. I was staring too much. I sat in the middle of the wall, probably were he was on the other side. I stretched out my right leg, the other I lifted so that I could rest my left arm. I put the back of my head against the wall, looking up slightly.

"Why don't do come over to this side?" I heard him over the wall. He had a slight tone of humor in his voice. If I did I wouldn't even think straight with someone like him next to me.

"I, I wanna rest on the shade," I half lied. The sun was strong this time of day. There was silence. I turned my head slightly to the wall; I couldn't hear anything. Maybe he was gone. His presence was confirmed when he took a deep breath. There was still silence. "I'm sorry about your car," I blurted, weirded out by the silence. I mentally slapped myself again. What was I saying! He deserved the dent for almost running me over! I heard him laugh.

"Thats alright. I it can be fixed easily." he said in his European accent. At least he would have to waste money fixing it. "I'll forgive you, if you forgive me for my rudeness from earlier." Was he serious? He was apologizing to me? So he wasn't that bad of a person? Maybe after all, he didn't deserve the dent.

"Uh," it was the only thing that came out of my mouth. What do I say!? "Yeah, its cool." I wasn't about to give him all of it though. "But I won't forgive you for almost running me over!" I said.

"I was careless, forgive me?" he said from over the wall. I eyebrows furrowed together. Why did even want my forgiveness? I didn't want to forgive him, but I could never hold a grudge with anyone for more than a week. Forgiveness would come eventually; might as well be now.

"Sure," I breathed out. There was more silence. I looked at the people at the black top. I felt my chest tighten. Across on the other side of the black top was Leon. He had that same horrible grin from my dream. Maybe it wasn't a dream after all. We stared at each other, his eyes with malice and mine with fear, our gaze never shifted. People passed between our gaze but he never turned. His grin grew bigger as though he was about to something. I dropped my arm from my knee. "Leon?" I said scared.

"What is it Eliana?" I heard his gentle voice from behind the wall. I turned my head to the side as though I could hear him better if I did. If he was there then who was? I turned to look across the blacktop, but that person was gone! I was going insane!

"Nothing..." I whispered. I was so sure he was there. This sudden fright made me forget how tired I was. There was silence from both of us. Leon broke it this time.

"Why do you push yourself so hard?" He said. Because I didn't want you to think I was weak. I thought. I didn't want to say out loud though.

"I guess it's because I don't like coming in second." I said half lying. I did have some competitive issues, but nothing to serious. I saw Morgan talk to her friends. One of them pointed at me. Morgan began to walk over with her possie behind her. Sadly me and Morgan had the same schedule. "Morgan's coming," I said. Leon would probably leave now to go hang out with Morgan and all her pretty friends.

Jamie wasn't in this P.E. period. Which gave Morgan full control of whatever was here of their clique. I felt as though Morgan was plotting to ruin Jamie's life. Even now Morgan had loyal girls who followed her, not Jamie. Slowly Morgan was overthrowing Jaime. I shuddered at the thought.

"Can you not tell her that I'm here?" Leon said quickly. Morgan was so close now, she might be able to hear Leon if she paid attention.

"Wh-"

"Just please, don't," Leon interrupted. He sounded like he was pleading. Why didn't he want to be found?

"Eli," Morgan said overly nice. She had on her P.E. uniform, like everyone else, but she managed to make it inappropriate. She had pulled her shirt back and lifted it a little and tied a hair tie over the loose fabric. She had on shorts but she rolled the waist line so that her shorts were a lot shorter. She then lowered the rolled up waist line just below her waist, leaving very little to the imagination. Technically she wasn't breaking any rules since her shorts were longer than the tips of her fingers. The other girls in her possie were dressed in a similar fashion.

"It's Eliana to you," I told her. Only my friends and family called me Eli. I stood up from my spot on the floor so that I could see them eye to eye.

"What'd you say bitch!" said one of the girls in the possie as she shoved me back. I only knew her as The Crazy One. It seemed as though being in a clique robbed you of your identity. You were only a face in a crowd. I back hit the wall. There was no real damage, everyone in the school was used to The Crazy One's abuse. I was sure she only did it to get attention. Morgan threw this girl a look. The Crazy One quickly backed down. I didn't understand why The Crazy One was afraid of Morgan, she was clearly tougher than her.

"So, Eli," Morgan repeated. I rolled my eyes. "We all saw you running with Leon," I sighed. This was going to be about him. "Now would you mind telling me where he is?" she said in her cute voice, which in reality was incredibly annoying.

"Why?" I said keeping a close eye on The Crazy One. She had her hands on her hips.

"Because I know Jamie likes him," Morgan replied. I knew it! This was probably one of her ploys to ruin Jamie.

"And you want to beat her to him," I said for her. She smiled.

"You're a smart girl," she told me. "Now tell me where he is," she said getting impaitent.

"I wish I could help you. I really wish I could, but I just don't want to," I said, coyping Morgan's cute voice as best I could. I wanted to give her a taste of her own venom. Morgan stood there, her face tight. Then she nodded her head very quickly and very slightly. Anyone who wasn't as close as I was probably wouldn't see it. The Crazy One shoved me back harder than before. My back hit the wall with a painful thump. I wanted retaliate but I didn't want them to gang up on me.

"You fucking whore!" The Crazy One yelled. She was about to charge at me when Morgan intervened.

"Hey!" Morgan paused thinking something. "You!" She said. I laughed inside; she didn't know the girl's name either. "Go wait for us over there," she said nodding towards one of the empty racquetball courts. The Crazy One glared at me one last time before leaving.

"Aww she happily obeys her queen," I said intertwining my fingers and putting them close to my face. I wasn't afraid of The Crazy One. What I was afraid of though, was that if we did get in a fight, all her friends would jump in and beat the crap out of me. I am only one person after all. Maybe if Emily were here...

"Do you like him?" Morgan asked returning to our conversation. My eyes widened. If I said yes Leon would hear, but if I said no he might get offended and we would be back to square one.

"Leon! Of course not!" I said a little too quickly. It was better to have him think I didn't like him rather than have him think I was in love with him.

"Then how did you know I wasn't talking about someone else?" she said. Damn, she got me there. We weren't even talking about him anymore. And when we were talking about him it was about his whereabouts.

"Uh......I uh," I struggled through and it wasn't even a sentence! I felt my cheeks getting hot. How embarrassing! They were going to think I liked him even more. But then why was I blushing?....

"You do like him," Morgan said interested. "I can help you steal him away from Jamie. It helps that he's so incredibly sexy!" she said. What the hell was she talking about?! He was only making small talk since we got off with a bad start. I wonder how Leon felt with this girl talking about him this way.

"If he's 'so incredibly sexy' then you seduce him," I said as though it were the most logical answer.

"For some strange reason he seems to like you," she said stressing the word 'some'. He did come to me during P.E. What if he did like me? No! Even if he did like me, Leon belonged with Jamie. It just sounded right. It looked right. Come on! We ran together, that was all! There was nothing there. I knew I wasn't going to do this, but I wanted to see where Morgan was going with this.

"If I do it," I said. I already knew that answer that I was going to give her, "What do you gain Morgan? I've been at this school long enough to know you only work for yourself,"

"You see," Morgan started. "I only want Leon not to go to Jamie. She seems to be in love with the poor guy. Anyone, anyone at all how could get close enough to Leon would do." she said with evil practically shining in her eyes. Morgan raised her hands over her heart. "It would break Jamie's poor little heart," Morgan said in a fake sad voice. A few of the girls giggled. "So you're in?"

"Can you give me some time to think about this?" I asked.

"Try and give me an answer by the end of today," she said walking away.

"Okay! I got your answer!" I shouted. Morgan smiled evilly and quickly ran back to me.

"So?" she said smiling.

"Of course I won't help you! You insane psycho bitch!!" I yelled in her face. I completely forgot that Leon was on the other side of the wall. She wanted to ruin Jaime's life for what? Popularity? Morgan frowned. She didn't say anything at first.

"I only hated your friend," she spat, her bubbly voice completely gone. She was referring to Emma. "But now you've crossed someone you really shouldn't have," Her glare was a powerful thing. I bore into me like burning lava. I knew she was evil incarnated but I have never seen her go into full devil spawn mode before. "I'll make you eat your words!" she spat before dramatically turning and walking away. Her possie mimicked her moves.

"Great, now she'll make my life a living hell," I said bluntly to myself. From the other side of the wall I only heard silence. Maybe Leon had slipped away during our confrontation? "Leon?" I called out. There was a couple more seconds of silence before I got a response.

"Why did you let them treat you like that?" I heard Leon say. I wasn't afraid of Morgan or anyone of her possie. I was afraid of all them together.

"I don't know," I replied. I didn't want him to know I was afraid. I heard Coach Marrows blow on his whistle. P.E. was over.

"Thank you for not telling Morgan where I was." He came around the wall. His arms were still crossed. He came right up to me with a small grin. When he was a foot or two away he grabbed my hand; I felt like I was floating. He then brought it up to his lips and kissed it. I was confused. Who did that nowadays? Weird or not it still sent jolts though my body. "I'll see you around," he smiled. This American lingo sounded exotic coming out of his mouth.

"I, uh.....yeah," I finally managed to get out. It wasn't a sentence but it was something. He laughed in amusement at my response. I felt a strong urge to follow him. I resisted though. All temptation was removed when he stepped into the locker room. I breathed out; I had to get better control over myself.

I walked over to the locker rooms in daze. I had English next; my last class of the day. I don't think anything that happened there would ever amount to what happened during P.E. Today had been such an eventful day. Then I realized, all the events revolved around Leon, someway or the other. I felt a warm breeze on the back of my neck. That was weird. I didn't feel it anywhere else on my body. I fixed my hair; maybe my hair was arranged so that I felt the slightest hint of air. I felt it again, this time it was someone whispering my name in my ear. I jumped and looked around but there was no one. A lot of strange things were going on and I know they had something to do with Leon.