Whispers In The Dark

Anna

Anna

He was the first one to talk to me.

Jessiah was waiting outside when I stepped off of the bus. A part of me mulled on the oddity of it; him waiting for me after having only met the day before. Another part of me smiled at him and entered the school with him.

We entered through the gym, which was both fortunate and unfortunate. Fortunate, because we had Gym first period. Unfortunate, because we had Gym first period.

Gym was easily my least favorite class, ever. I'd only taken it because it was required to graduate, and I had been avoiding it. It wasn't so much the being active part that bothered me, it was the being active in front of people, and working on teams with people.

I wasn't good at sports, and I never had been, even when my dad had pushed me toward softball for three years. I spent my time on the field kicking up dirt and running at the wrong time.

It was even worse now, though, because everyone was older and we weren't all best friends who slept over each other's houses and played with dolls. We were teenagers in high school, overly competitive and obsessed with how we looked.

It was a bit better than it could've been, I guess. Jessiah was there to keep me company, and he seemed pretty athletic, with his broad shoulders and toned arms. He would, hopefully, be willing to let me stand behind him while he caught any balls that came our way.

I was right. When the teacher announced that we were going to be playing dodge ball, he stuck close by me, and even when the teacher put him on the opposite team (I may have panicked a bit), he snuck over and resumed his position next to me. My speeding heart decelerated as he did, and the fear that I would be stuck by myself in my least favorite class vanished.

"That team sucks, anyway," he said with a grin. "I'd much rather be over here."

My cheeks flushed but I didn't bother trying to hide my face, just smiled back and moved so that I was standing behind him.

He looked back at me. "I'm guessing that I'm going to be the one throwing the balls?"

The whistle blew, and we both jumped out of the way as a ball headed straight towards us. "Yeah," I affirmed.

He didn't say anything, just laughed and looked to where the opposite team was throwing balls. He picked up an orange one near him and threw it, hitting one girl in the thigh before bouncing off of her and hitting another girl in the hip.

"Yep," I said, "you're definitely going to be the one throwing the balls."