Lightning Moments

I pulled my backpack up further on my shoulder as I journeyed into the gym. I used it every day after chemistry as a shortcut to English on the other side of the school.

I had just closed the door behind me, squinting to see through the darkness, when I heard a noise. My heart went into hyper-drive, figuring that some kind of injured wild animal had found its way into the school. And injured wild animals were not friendly ones.

Swallowing hard, I called out, “Hello?” My voice reverberated through the empty space, startling me a little bit.

Just then, the sounds stopped. My eyebrows drew together as I continued to where I thought the source of the noise was: under the bleachers.

Resting my hand on the bench above my head, I stared down at a girl. She was crumpled in on herself, her dark hair falling over her arms and knees, shaking like a leaf.

What the hell was I supposed to do? I didn’t even know who the girl was, so how was I supposed to help her? Did she even want to be helped?

“Hi,” I finally started.

Her head whipped up to face me, her bright blue eyes wide as saucers. Mika. Her name flashed through my head like a bolt of lightning. What were the chances that I would just learn this girl’s name, and then I’d find her having a mental breakdown not even an hour later?

She wiped off her face frantically with the sleeves of her sweatshirt, but didn’t say anything back.

I cleared my throat, thoroughly uncomfortable, before asking, “Uh…are you…okay?”

“I’m just…” She paused and took a deep, shuddered breath. “I’m not a big fan of thunderstorms.”

It probably made me sound like the biggest wanker in the world, but I laughed, plopping my butt down next to her. “Not a fan? That seems like kind of an understatement for what you’re doing, curling up into a ball in the corner of the school gym, all alone.”

She didn’t say anything, her only response a little sniffle, which might have been at attempt at stopping the soft cries that were still escaping.

After a short silence, I turned toward her. “I’m Liam, by the way,” I introduced, figuring that, if I hadn’t known her, she didn’t know me. To seem friendlier, I extended a hand.

She took it slowly, a slight smile playing on the corners of her mouth. “Mika,” she reciprocated as we pulled back our hands.

“I know,” I replied without thinking. She gave me a confused look, so I quickly explained as my face filled with a blush, “I mean, Ms. Spears called you up in class today, and I couldn’t help but-”

Just then, the shrill bell sliced through the air. I chuckled under my breath, shaking my head. “Late for English,” I pointed out. “I’ve never been late to a class before.”

She flushed bright red and turned her attention to her toes. “Sorry. You can go to class now, if you want.”

I shook my head. “I want to make sure you’re okay.”

Just then, the lights turned back on in the gym, the sounds of the thunder distant.

She let out a soft sigh of relief. “I’m fine, really.”

I stared her down, trying to figure out if she was lying to me or not. The more my eyes lingered, the more I didn’t really believe her. Her eyes were narrowed, though not in anger, and she kept rubbing her temples. Starting to get a little worried, I got to my feet and said, “Come on.”

“Where are we going?” she questioned, narrowing her eyes at me.

“On an adventure,” I joked. I leaned over and put out my hand. “Coming?”

Cautiously, she put her hand in mine and used it to pull herself to her feet. After leaning down to grab her bag, she took a deep breath and connected those eyes to mine again. “Alright, let’s go.”

We walked out of the gym silently into the hallways that were completely barren of students. It was rare that students dilly-dallied, avoiding going to class, at George Williams Academy, since it was a pretty prestigious school. Students who went there, more often than not, were the absolute top of their class of their schools back home and were looking for a curriculum that was challenging.

Except Louis, of course. But his parents were ridiculously wealthy.

“Liam.” Mika’s voice sliced through the thick silence lingering around us. “Are you really not going to tell me where we’re going?”

I let out a snort of laughter. “God, you’re making it sound like I’m kidnapping you and hiding you in the boot of my car.”

She stared at me, eyes wide.

“You’ll see,” I followed up.

Mika let out a dramatic sigh, letting me know her discontent clearly, as we finally got where I was heading.

“The nurse’s office?” Mika read the door in disbelief. “Are you kidding?” It was just then that I noticed how thick her American accent was. Before, I’d been so wrapped up in making sure she was okay that I hadn’t paid attention. But once she was relaxed, it was blatantly obvious that she wasn’t from England or anywhere else in the United Kingdom.

“Nope,” I responded. “It’s pretty obvious that you don’t feel well, and I’m not totally sure that you should be in school with how upset you were.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but closed it again a second later. “Maybe you’re right.”

I grinned at her as the nurse walked over. “Can I help you?” she questioned in a subtle Irish brogue.

“Yeah,” I started, noticing that Mika wasn’t jumping to answer. “My friend here has a headache.”

She turned and cocked an eyebrow at me, which told me that I might have been right in my presumption.

“Alright, love.” The nurse put an arm around Mika. “Thanks for bringing her down. You can go back to class.”

“Um, could I possibly have a pass? My next teacher’s kind of strict about that kind of thing.”

The nurse nodded and reached into her desk, pulling out a pad of papers. After a quick series of scribbles, she handed the slip to me. “Don’t dawdle, you hear me?”

I nodded obediently before turning back to Mika. “I’ll see you around,” I bid.

She just looked at me without answering before the nurse led her over to one of the cots.

And with that, I slipped out of the nurse’s office and made my way to English, hoping that I hadn’t missed anything important.