Obscure

eighteen

THE REST OF class seemed to pass in a blur. Sophie remained distracted, her mind reeling, and doodled endlessly on the open notebook in front of her. She couldn't understand what Aubrey had meant when she said that Sophie would be relocated. What was this The Hunger Games?

"Sophie," Mr. Wolfe's lulling voice dragged Sophie out of her thoughts. "The bell rang a couple minutes ago," he said.

Her head snapped upward. Sophie looked around, her eyes widening when she realized that the room had been abandoned. Her gaze stopped on Mr. Wolfe, who eyed her from behind his desk. His expression seemed guarded.

Sophie gasped. The bell chimed again, and this time she actually registered it. She shoved her notebook into her backpack and scrambled from the desk.

"Sorry!" she chirped.

Mr. Wolfe hesitated. "Wait, Sophie," he called. Sophie paused in front of the door and glanced back at him, confused. He stared at her, his expression screwed. "It will be alright. I'll write you a pass."

Sophie blinked. She nodded slowly and walked closer to his desk. His gaze dropped. Tension riddled his body. He stiffly grabbed a pad of yellow sticky-notes and started to scribble on it.

"Do you know that you'll be exempt from your classes during the games?" he asked, nonchalant.

"No," Sophie grunted. "I hardly know anything about these stupid games. I told you; I'm being forced into it."  

His baby-blues flickered toward her. "Well, you're not particularly fighting it, either," he said. He peeled the sticky-note away from the pad. Then he stood and offered it to her.

Sophie frowned and took it. She fiddled with it in her hands. "Then what do you suppose that I do?"

"You don't particularly have to win," he said. He moved around the desk and leaned against the edge. Then he shrugged. His arms folded across his chest, and he asked, "What do you plan to do when you win?"

"What do you mean, when I win?" Sophie asked. Irritation flooded through her. Sophie didn't want to win, nor did she plan to. The other contestants would actually be fighting to win. Sophie planned to just sit back and watch.

His lips twitched into a delicious smirk. "I think you'll win."

"I will not. I refuse," she snapped. Sophie glared fervently at him. Her fingers curled around air quotes as she spoke, "I don't want to be 'mated' to Eli for the rest of my high-school career. I don't even like him like that!"

Then Sophie froze, unable to believe her own words. She did like him. She liked him a lot. Her gaze dropped and she clutched at her wrist. But there was something that made her hold back...

That pulling sensation returned. Her spine tingled, and her heart pounded inside of her chest as her gaze flickered back upward. Mr. Wolfe stalked closer, and then leaned in slightly. His eyes flashed. He shoved his hands into his front pockets and chuckled at Sophie's doe-eyed expression. "Good," he said, and then smiled. "I'm glad."

Sophie stumbled back into a desk. His hand shot out, and he grabbed her. The laughter that bubbled past his lips echoed around her head.

"W-What?" she gasped. Her hands clutched at his shirt.

Mr. Wolfe snickered. He steadied her, his hands clamped around her arms. His head angled down. "Don't you have a class to get to?" he asked, teasingly. Then he released her.

Embarrassment flooded through Sophie. She stepped back, her arms folded across her chest. "Don't you have a class to be teaching?" she snapped back.

He winked. "This is my planning period."

Sophie gritted her teeth. "You're so annoying," she hissed, and stomped toward the door. Her fingers curled around the doorknob.

"Sophie," he called again.

That strange sensation reappeared then, and the heated embarrassment faded. Sophie found her body moving at its own accord. She froze in front of the door and looked back over her shoulder at him. He leaned against the edge of the desk again, his arms folded across his chest.

"Just be careful, okay?" he said. His expression had clouded again.

Confusion rumbled through her. Sophie frowned at him, and then nodded solemnly. The door clicked open and, this time. Mr. Wolfe didn't try to stop her as she walked out.

Sophie hurriedly made her way toward her second period. The note had bunched and crinkled within her hand. Her footsteps pounded against the floor behind her, and echoed within the empty hallway. It was foreboding, and made her heart race inside her chest.

When she walked into the crowded classroom, the teacher paused and looked over, irritated that her lecture had been interrupted. Sophie handed her the note.

The teacher simply eyed it. Her nose still curled with distaste. Then she sent her to her seat.

Sophie turned and shuffled toward the back of the classroom, where she usually sat. A slight surprise jolted through her, when she noticed that Eli's seat was still empty. She gingerly sat down at her desk and looked around. None of his friends had bothered to show either.

Tabatha glanced at her, her eyes narrowed. Once the teacher had settled back into her lecture again, the dark haired girl passed Sophie a folded note.

Sophie's hands worked at it, and then she skimmed over it. A heavy sigh fluttered through her. Tabatha wanted to know why she'd been so late. Sophie scribbled her response, that she would talk to Tabatha about it later, and then passed it back.

Tabatha frowned at the note, her gaze flickering over it. Then she stuffed it into her backpack.

Sophie sighed quietly again.

She pulled her notebook out of her backpack and struggled to seriously take notes. Her mind remained distracted. Heavy guilt flashed through her, and she realized that she still needed to tell Tabatha about the date with Eli, and her encounter with Mr. Wolfe. Tabatha had showed her a lot of patience so far, and Sophie was grateful.

When the bell chimed, Tabatha stood and waited patiently for Sophie to collect her things. Sophie shrugged her shoulders through the straps of her backpack and smiled at Tabatha. The dark haired girl smiled slightly back, and the duo made their way toward the door.

"Is it later yet?" Tabatha asked as they stepped into the hallway, merging with the crowd of students.

"No," Sophie laughed. "I wanted to talk to you about it after classes, or maybe at lunch. At least someplace a little more private, okay?"

Tabatha sighed heavily and nodded. "Alright," she said.

Sophie smiled and nudged her gently with her elbow. "Thanks," she said. "I know that it's driving you crazy."

"That's a major understatement," Tabatha snorted.

Then a firm hand clasped down on Sophie's shoulder. A startled yelp burst past her lips, and she jumped. Tabatha jumped with her and almost dropped her books. Both whipped around, glaring.

"Alex," Sophie growled. "You scared us!"

He smiled sheepishly. His hand lowered back down, and then was shoved into this front pocket.  "Sorry!" he said.