Red ~ (Tales of Arcadia Fic)(x Reader/OC)

Chapter 8 | Claire and Draal

Having a free period at the end of the day means I usually sit in on Jim and Toby's gym class. That way I can not only monitor Jim's skills with the armor, in the forge, but his skills without it.

Adjusting my books in my bag, I swing it over my shoulder, strolling toward the gym.

"Hey! Y/n!" Claire says, moving to walk with me.

"Oh, hey Claire," I smile at her,

"Where are you headed? It's the middle of class?" She asks,

"I could ask you the same thing," I smirk, sighing, "No, I actually don't have a class for last period so I sit in on Jim and Toby's P.E."

"Oh, right, Jim and Toby," She says, looking hesitant, "Your good friends with them, right? They're always around you,"

"You could say that, I guess,"

"Well then, do you think you could tell me somethings about Jim? He seems like a good person! I just- I can't seem to figure him out." She says, frustrated.

 "Honestly, all I can tell you, is he's special. Different than anyone I've ever met that had his kind of responsibility."

"What kind of responsibility?" She asks,

"Oh! Uh, just, you know, school stuff, regular... life stuff." I say quickly, maybe a little too quickly, "I know, everyone deals with that stuff. I get it. But him? He's got more pressure on him than most people would guess."

From her face, I see her brain churning, contemplating my words. Her shoulders relax, a soft smile and blush gracing her face, almost making me snicker.

"So, what are you doing here? It is the middle of class, you know?" I say cheekily,

"I was actually, gonna go talk to Jim." She says,

I smile at her as she pushes the door open.

Bam

Next thing I know, Claire is on the floor, face on her hand, groaning. I slap my hand over my mouth, gasping with wide eyes.

Jim, Toby, Steve, and the coach rush over, standing over her.

"Ooh, headshot! Shake it off, Nunez!" Coach yells, shaking his head,

I glance back and forth between Claire and Jim, my facial expression unchanging.

"Was this-?" I point at Claire and then to Jim,

Jim nods slowly, a guilty look on his face.

I huff exasperatedly, "I'll take her to the nurse," Crouching down, I help her sit up slowly, in case she has a concussion or anything like that, "Come on," I say, standing her up,

I glance back at Jim, his face twisted in worry.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So...." I say awkwardly, sitting next to Claire as we wait for the nurse.

"Yeah..." She says, equally as uncomfortable,

"I'm really sorry," I say, "On Jim's behalf,"

She chuckles, "Don't worry about it, it was an accident."

Reaching into my bag, I pull out, a copy of the script, handing it to her.

"Sorry, it's not really the ideal time, but here's the new script. Tried not to make too many changes," I say, "Don't tell Miss. Janeth it's still not accurate,"

She laughs, "Thanks. You really know your Shakespeare,"

"Yeah, haha"

We sit in silence and she flips through the script a bit,