Sprigs from Ice

Part One// 4. Dead Shoot

Two steps away from the landing, an obnoxious sneeze startled me so hard, I dropped my phone while trying to slip it into my pocket. I turned to find who it was. David was just turning the corner, rubbing his nose with a tissue, and froze when he saw me.

"I'm sorry, did I startle you?" He asked, watching me pick up the phone from the floor. He didnt sound particularly apologetic, just amused.

"No." I replied nonchalantly and checked for cracks on the screen. There were none, thank God.

"What are you doing here?" He asked and began to climb down the stairs until he stood next to me. "I thought you had classes?"

How he had found that out, I had no idea.

"I did." There wasn't enough room on the stair for two people, so I stepped down while replying to his question. He towered over me. "It just ended."

David frowned at that. School had officially ended fifteen minutes ago, and my extra classes began five minutes after that. Mr. Asah, the Physics teacher for my class, sent me on my way with an assignment and told me he would see me tomorrow. Something that was supposed to last ninety minutes had ended after only two. I was just as confused as David was.

"I have Mr. Asah for Physics." I clarified.

"Oh." David nodded in understanding and climbed down. He was next to me again. "So are you going to join the debaters now? I know Astrid is still around and she told me you would be helping out."

"No, I'm heading home."

"Why?"

"Why not? There's nothing to do."

"Mr. Asah didn't teach you anything?"

"No, he did not. He just gave me an assignment to solve and hand it in tomorrow. He probably assumed that I knew the topic or something."

Without meaning to, we had descended the rest of the stairs and were standing on the veranda overlooking the compound. Very few students remained in school after hours, which made the environment seem eerily silent when I was so used to hearing the din of chatter and the beating of drums I usually associated with this place.

"How are you going to solve the assignment if you don't know the topic?" David asked, hands in his pockets, head tilted back to stare at the ceiling above us. "You should've just told him you didn't know the topic."

"I'm sure I can learn enough of it in order to be able to solve the assignment."

"On your own?" He asked doubtfully, turning to look at me.

"People do it all the time. It's not a big deal."

He stared at me silently for a while, his gaze all-knowing as he took in the bags under my eyes and every other feature that screamed fatigue. And then he chuckled. "I'm sure for someone like you, it isn't."

I bristled. "What do you me-"

Before I could finish my sentence or comprehend what was happening, he snatched the phone out of my hand and began tapping away on it. He handed it back when he was finished, and my quickly inflating bubble of irritation popped and left behind surprise.

Did he just save his number on my phone?

"Text the topic Mr. Asah gave you to me." He said and raised his left hand to check the time on his watch. "I'll send you my notes."

I continued to stare at my phone, and then back at him without a word. He tipped an imaginary hat and began to walk away. "I'd best get going before Adam blows up the chemistry lab. See you tomorrow, Tricia."