The Blaze

Thirty One

Karin:

Going back to school felt like an impossible task, one that I knew was going to start with some form of attack from Kelcinn, or dirty looks from teachers, or both. At least, that's what I had thought.

When I stepped onto campus, my guard was high and so was River's. We both knew we had to come back here eventually; we had fallen horrendously behind on homework due to spending all our time digging into books about Dimensions, Rips, and searching Grandma Fields' library for books on Zephryn that she may have brought with her. I had even asked my mom for help one night, but it was begrudgingly. Still, waking up to go to school felt more exhausting than every other sleepless night had, at least emotionally.

However, at the sight of Link standing by the main entrance, his nearly lanky form leaning against the wall, made me stop dead in my tracks. River bumped into me but when she saw what I saw, her hand fell on my shoulder. "That kid just doesn't know when to quit, does he?" I could hear the frown in her tone and I sighed in agreement.

Still, I knew it was too late to go around the back. He had already seen us, pushing off the wall and offering a small wave of sorts, his hand just lifting up into the air as his shoulders and head hung in a form of guilt. Sighing again, I squared my shoulders and continued walking, watching as he stuffed his hands into his hoodie pocket, backpack hanging off of one shoulder.

The moment I was within hearing distance, he said, "Before you scold me for being here, I swear I'm not trying to earn any points from you guys. I got here early for a study hall and saw Kelcinn camped out waiting for you guys. I made her leave."

"I don't need your help, Link." I didn't look at him, just walked around him. I did my best not to come across unkind or annoyed, even if I wanted to do and express both. "I'm sure both of us have mentioned something like that, yea?"

River made a disapproving sound in her throat at Link and he stopped just outside the door as I pulled it open. "Karin, can I please just talk to you for a moment? Just a moment, I need to tell you something."

I paused, halfway in the door but still not turning to look at him. Something in my gut told me those sapphire eyes would make me agree to his terms, so I stared at the ugly, robin's-egg-blue painted brick of the hallways in our school. "What's so important that you can't tell me in front of River, huh?"

Surprisingly, he laughed at that. "Yea, I expected a response along those lines, especially from you. Nothing really, so I'll just say it now. Kelcinn is going to keep trying to get you at every turn, and if it's my fault, I'm going to do my best to fix it. I didn't mean to further aggravate her, but I've dealt with people like her before."

River had moved to stand a little in front of me, inside, motioning with her eyes and shoulders for me to just keep walking. Instead, like an idiot, I turned to look at Link. His hair was in its perfect, swept to the side cut, the deep, dark brown looking almost black in the shadowed lighting. It made the blue of his eyes stand out all the clearer. Even stranger still was that edge of some kind of scar peeking out from the collar of his shirt. The tendril of it passed his collarbones and just barely reached his neck, like a white, jagged finger.

My eyes were still fixated there when he shrugged his shoulders a bit and his jacket shifted to cover it. I looked up and said, "Listen, thank you for standing up for me. River filled me in. Like I've said before, you're a really nice guy; getting caught up with people like me is not a good idea. I attract bad luck, I create conflict, I cause problems for those around me who get a little too close. River is an exception because she's known me my whole life, same as Ty. But, you are a newbie to my world and I would like to keep you on the outside. It's better for you."