First Time

Breath of life

Chapter 16: Breath of life

"Atlee!"

Atlee paused; then she turned around to face Gar with a look of confusion. She raised a brow. "Do I know you?"

Gar was mesmerized by her voice. It was soft and gentle, very unlike Terra's that had a trace of huskiness to it; probably caused by her smoking habit.

Atlee took one step forward, repeating herself. "Do I know you?"

He shook his head to get his thoughts back on track. He needed to focus. He didn't want to come off as a stupid guy. "No, no you don't. We've never met before."

"I thought so. I would have remembered hair like that," she commented, pointing at his hair and giggling.

Gar blushed and rubbed his head. "Yeah, I guess I sort of stick out like a sore thumb."

"So if I've never met you before how do you know my name?" she asked, stepping forward. "You're not in uniform so clearly you don't attend classes here."

"As if they would let him in with hair like that," mumbled one of her friends who had freckles spread across her cheeks. The other girl, the one who sported a high ponytail and had dark skin, giggled.

"Do you have a brother or sister who goes here? Is that how you know my name?" Atlee asked before turning her eyes towards her two best friends. "Please don't tell me this is a repeat of when Stephanie tried hooking me up with her little brother."

Her two friends laughed, and all Gar could do was stare on in confusion.

"I'm an only child," Gar said softly, his eyes lowered. This was getting nowhere fast. He hadn't even introduced himself yet. His eyes widened. He knew how to get this meeting back on track. Abruptly, he shoved his hand forward. "My name is Logfield Garan." He shook his head, ridding himself of his nerves. "I mean, Garfield Logan."

Atlee giggled and tried to hide it behind her hand. Finally she extended her hand to enclose it around Gar's. She shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you Garfield."

"You can call me Gar. All my friends do," he added quickly, smiling happily.

She nodded once before pulling her hand away. "Right. What can I do for you, Garfield?"

"Uh...," he thought about correcting her, since he preferred his nickname, but decided against it. There were more important matters to attend to. "Okay, this is going to sound really weird but I know someone related to you. Her name was Terra, and she was your sister."

The dark skinned girl with the ponytail stepped forward. "You must have the wrong person. Our Atlee is an only child."

Atlee nodded to confirm this, smiling politely. "Sorry."

The three girls turned away, but thinking quickly Gar put a hand on Atlee's shoulder. "I'm not talking about your current family. I'm talking about your real one. The one who gave you up for adoption."

Atlee stiffened, the smile slipping from her face.

Gar continued. "If we could just go somewhere and talk-"

Atlee's two friends shoved their shoulders together, trapping Gar's wrist in the middle. Immediately a pained expression came to his face.

"She's not interested," claimed the one with the freckles.

"Yeah," added in the other girl. "Get lost uber freak."

Gar pulled his hand away and looked at the girls with fearful eyes. They were mean, strong, and clearly protective. A dangerous combination. Even so, he wouldn't allow them to deter him from his goal.