Eyes of Emerald

Chapter Eight (2)

I FELT MY CHEEKS redden rapidly, as I watched the boy weave his way through the dispersing crowd towards us. His eyebrows were furrowed gently in concern as he reached us.

                "You alright?" he asked, holding out a hand. "Here," he smiled at me, as I stared at the hand. His eyes met mine and I faintly wondered why he wasn't commenting on the fact that I was a Shifter. Iris certainly reacted strongly - so why wasn't he?

                "You, um..." I began, and he smiled easily. "I'm okay," I said, eyeing the hand with distrust. I would not get flipped over his shoulder. I didn't know much about etiquette, but I was fairly sure it usually didn't involve throwing someone over your shoulder instead of a handshake.

                "Ffi tried the flip trick?" he said. "I won't, I promise." he grinned, flashing white teeth. I gritted my teeth, trying hard not to stare. His eyes were the deepest blue I'd ever seen.

                "I'll be fine," I said, getting up.

                He shrugged, and put his hand in his belt loop, which held some plain, worn daggers that looked like they could kill someone with just a prick on the finger. I moved my gaze away from him quickly, my cheeks flaming. Keira noticed and shot me a feral smile with a raised eyebrow. I glared back - he was only a boy, after all.

                I stood awkwardly opposite him as he looked up into the sky. Keira nudged me and giggled. I had to suppress the urge to elbow her, however close we were. I narrowed my eyes at her, which only made her laugh all the more.

                "I need to talk to the Shifter," he asked suddenly, dropping his gaze to mine. I held it for a moment and then looked down to the grass, hoping he wasn't talking to me. Maybe he was talking to Keira. That would be better. 

                "You what?" I asked, surprised that he would actually want to talk to me. He rubbed the pommel of his sword.

                "You're the only Shifter around here that I can see," he said casually. I blinked, opening my mouth to reply.

                "Oh, well..." I looked around to Keira, my heartbeat speeding up. I was feeling slightly panicky, and the fact that Keira smiled and waved for me to go with him didn't help. I bit savagely at the back of my thumb, a nervous habit I never seemed to be able to escape.

                "Um, I'm going to go and look for Celie," she said, turning her back and walking off, her short dark hair shifting in the wind. How could she? I glared. She knew I was nervous around people I didn't know - especially boys - and she had just left me.

                I glared at her retreating back before turning back to the boy, whose eyes matched the colour of the sky almost perfectly. Amusement glittered inside the calm waters, as he smiled at me with a raised eyebrow, guessing that I was nervous.

                "I'm Wynn," he said. "Wynn Weatherstaff." he swept his dark fringe from his eyes.

                "Autumn," I replied nervously, fiddling with my hair. "Autumn Moore." 

                "Nice name." he said with a smile. I nodded, staring at the ground, feeling incredibly awkward. What do you talk about to boys? I'd always been far too shy to speak to the boys in my class in school. I supposed I hadn't had many good experiences with boys - maybe most of them were actually mature and civilised.