Star Bright

Cathleen didn’t shake his hand. She couldn’t do anything…except stare at him. He stood there for a few moments, his arm held out, which made him look sort of foolish. Slowly, his hand lowered. He gave a look that appeared to be one of slight rejection, but he chose not to say anything about it.

“Will you please…show me to my locker?”

Cathleen bobbed her head slightly, her mind still in a daze. She stepped back in silence. Davis started to walk towards her, his body motion having such a fluid grace unlike any she had ever seen. It was almost like he was gliding across the floor. He stopped at the door, his dark blue eyes darting down to the floor. Cathleen tried to comprehend what he was looking at when he bent down and snatched up her book bag. She made a half-hearted move to grab it, but stopped when he held out his free hand and shook it. “It’s alright. I’ll carry your bag for you.” Cathleen stared into his eyes, seeing nothing but sincerity, and kindness. Her cheeks suddenly grew very hot, something that had never happened to her before. Looking down at her feet, she swallowed hard.

“I…follow me.”

Cathleen rushed out of the office, not wanting anyone, least of all the principal, to see her like this. She wasn’t sure if it was possible for there to be any coloration in her face, but she didn’t want to find out like that. Leading the way, Cathleen pulled her arms around herself and shivered slightly. Even though he was behind her, she could feel his eyes on her. How was it possible? How could there be someone else like her? Cathleen found the mystery not to her liking at all. She wanted to know just what the heck was going on. A quickening of footsteps filled her ears, and Davis was walking beside her. Although Cathleen gave the impression that she was only staring straight down the long and narrow hallway, but in reality she kept glancing at Davis out the corner of her eye. He seemed to be looking calmly ahead. In fact, his whole demeanor was just too calm. One would think that two unique freaks like them would be completely slack jawed when they ran across each other. But by the way Davis was acting, he might as well have been walking beside a normal looking girl. That one thing, was what crept Cathleen out the most. Finding herself looking at him more and more, she tilted her head slightly to get a better look at his face. She had been so freaked out by his similar appearance to her that she hadn’t really looked at his face. It was smooth to the point of almost being boyish. But that ended at the sharp edges of his cheeks, those were the things that made him obviously stand out as a man. His silver hair was exactly as smooth as hers was, to the point where it almost appeared to be a fancy form of silk. But above all that, Cathleen just couldn’t pull herself to look away from his eyes. Those eyes that were so mysterious, yet not frightening. The dark blue circles rimming his pupils made it almost impossible to not get lost inside them, which is exactly what Cathleen did. That was until she realized that Davis was looking at her. The heat surging through her face intensified, and she looked away. She heard him fidget slightly, and took that to be some kind of embarrassment. Cathleen kept her head low and her mouth shut as they continued to walk on.

When they reached the lockers, Cathleen knew that she had no choice but to look at Davis. When she did, those damn eyes of his knocked the wind right out of her. Gulping, she braced herself against her locker and stared at him. Davis folded his arms across his chest and took a deep breath. “You want to say it, so say it.”

“Where…how?”

“I should ask you the same thing.” he said, snatching the locker combination from her trembling hand. “I mean…look at you.”

“But, why do you look like that?” Cathleen stammered, working her eyes up and down Davis’ lean body.

He turned from her, rotated the combination until it there was a sharp click, and poked his head inside the locker. “I’m guessing the same way that you look the way you do. I was born this way.” Davis’ head appeared over the top of the open locker door. “Am I right?”

Cathleen weakly nodded her head. Davis forced a faint smile. “Look, I really don’t know what to say to you. I’m still in a little bit of shock about all this.”

“But I thought I was the only one.” Cathleen blurted out.

Davis shoved his jacket into the locker and shut it. He turned the fullness of his body to her, giving Cathleen a good view of exactly just how much his body was rigid with muscles. Staring at his chest, Cathleen felt that strange light headed sensation come back, and she forced herself to look away from him.

“I know what you mean.” Davis said. “I’ve never known a girl like you before. It’s kind of scary.” Davis looked down at his feet and rubbed the back of his head. “But, I like it.”

Cathleen had to struggle just to breath after he said that. What the hell was happening to her? She had never experienced feelings like this before. Like Davis had said, she was finding the concept of another like her, especially a boy, to be very frightening. But somewhere in the depths of herself, Cathleen knew that she shared Davis’ feelings. She really liked the idea of not being alone anymore. She didn’t know exactly who this Davis was, but she had to find out. She needed to know why he looked so much like her when no one else ever had.

“Are…are your parents like you?” she asked.

Davis’ mood instantly changed with that simple question. The friendly and comforting shin of his pale face became as blank as a statue. A faint sigh escaped his lips as he turned his back to her. “My parents…they’re dead.”

Cathleen gasped, placing her hands over her mouth. Oh, her and her big mouth. Why did she have to go and do something like that? She didn’t know anything about him. Now she felt simply terrible. “Oh! I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean…”

Davis looked up at the ceiling. Even though she couldn’t see his face, she could tell that he was very upset. Knowing that made Cathleen feel even worse. Davis almost seemed to sense Cathleen’s feeling, because he cut her off before she had a chance to apologize. “It’s alright. I was very young when it happened. Too young to remember them.”
Cathleen was always very nervous about the thought of any kind of physical contact. She didn’t like people touching her at all. Which was why it came to such a terrible shock to her that her hand was reaching out for his shoulder. She was only starting to realize what she was doing when her hand gently rested upon his shoulder. A jolt zapped through her fingers the instant they made contact. It raced through her whole body like she had just grabbed an electrical wire. It was such an overload on her senses that Cathleen jerked her hand back sharply and fell backwards. Her arms flailed around wildly as she went down. Just before the back of her head slammed into the tile floor, Davis’ hand locked onto her wrist. As Cathleen’s eyes began to widen, he jerked her back up, right into his arms. Her whole body froze as he wrapped his arms around her in one blinding motion. Blood pounded through her head as she felt her body press against his. The contact between them lasted only a moment, but it was a moment that Cathleen would never forget her entire life. Nestled within Davis’ strong arms, all of the harsh things she had ever known for her entire life instantly vanished. It was like being wrapped in a blanket of comforting warmth. Cathleen wouldn’t have dared to believe that something so good could possibly exist in a world that had always seemed so cold to her. She wished that the feeling could have lasted forever. But it didn’t. The tightness in Davis’ grip eased, and he slowly pushed her away from him.

He looked her in the eyes, his face full of worry. “Are you alright?” Cathleen stared up into those seemingly endless twilight orbs, and her voice left her. Her heart was still hammering in her chest, making it almost impossible for her to even breathe. Davis didn’t take her silence for a good sign. “Hey,” he whispered, rubbing her shoulders. “You’re not hurt, are you?”

That time, Cathleen felt her body spring to life. “I…” she suddenly pulled away from his strong grip. A grip she had to escape from instantly, otherwise she would never had the desire to. “I’m fine.”

Davis let his arms fall to his sides, but he raised an eyebrow questioningly. “You sure?” Cathleen nodded her head slightly. She looked away from him, terrified that she would lock eyes with him again, and become lost forever in his gentle gaze. Hot and cold tremors were racing throughout her whole body as she tried to get a grip on what was happening to her. She didn’t even know what was happening, she had never experienced sensations like this before, and it was scaring her. She needed to stop thinking about all of it. In desperation, she focused her attention on the small sheet that had a list of Davis’ classes. Cathleen actually released a faint sign of relief when she saw that he wasn’t going to be in any of hers. She was already having a terrible enough time just dealing with him like this. If he was in one of her classes, then Cathleen was almost certain that she would fail them without question.

“I’ll show you around.”

Unable to help herself, Cathleen’s eyes slowly turned towards him. Davis folded his arms across his chest and gave her that gentle smile again that made Cathleen just want to melt through the floor. “Lead the way. And please try not to fall down again, I really don’t want to see you get hurt.” His voice cooed into her ears. A shudder ran up her spine, and Cathleen began to walk. The sound of Davis’ footsteps fell in line with hers. He didn’t come to her side, perhaps sensing that Cathleen was already troubled enough by his presence. As much as his mirror looks were sending Cathleen’s thought process into a tailspin, there was something much greater that was consuming her. It was what had just happened when she fell. She had almost smashed her head into the floor, which she was certain would have knocked her out at best. How had he caught her? His back had been to her when she had started to fall. That meant that Davis had, in no more than a second’s time, turned around and caught her just before she had hit the floor. But not only that, he had stopped her fall cold, and following right after that he had jerked her right back to her feet. Cathleen didn’t want to admit it to herself, but she had stared at him more than once over the last ten minutes or so. Davis certainly had the muscle mass to be on the rather strong side. But that strong? Possession of strength like that, combined with their mutual looks, further drove home the realization to Cathleen that Davis was in many ways different in more than just looks from other boys. Which only left Cathleen with one other burning question, which was how much more different was she in more than just looks?

The mystery was tearing her insides apart, but she forced herself to keep her mouth shut. The next half hour passed without incident between them. Cathleen showed Davis around the school to all of his classes. She also pointed out to him the gymnasium, the assembly hall, and the cafeteria. Davis remained silent throughout the whole tour, the only noise coming from him was his footsteps and even those were very faint. Cathleen didn’t know why she had been able to pick up on that, but softness of Davis’ footfalls almost seemed to give her the impression that he was practically gliding across the floor. When she finally showed him the last part of the building, Davis stepped in front of Cathleen without making even the slightest sound. The unexpected action caused her to jump back slightly with a startled gasp. “What?” she questioned.

Davis looked back down at his feet, clearly nervous. “I’ve been thinking about this for the last couple of minutes, and I need to ask you something.” Davis leaned in towards Cathleen. The closeness sent off an electrical storm of tingles throughout her whole face as she tried with all of her mental power to keep from getting trapped in his gaze once again. Cathleen held herself on the edge of sanity as she waited for a question from Davis that she was afraid she might not be able to answer. “What’s your name?”

“My name?”

“Yes, I didn’t ask you when we first met. That was rude of me.”

Cathleen felt nervous herself, but put on the spotlight like this. She licked her lips slightly. “It’s Cathleen.”

Davis lips curved slightly in a mysterious smile. “That’s a pretty name.”

Cathleen felt her throat tighten by his statement. If she didn’t know any better, she would have sworn that Davis was playing games with her. She wanted to speak, to get answers from him, but it was impossible to do so without looking at him. To top it all off, she could barely focus with the vortex of bizarre feelings swirling around inside her. Again, he seemed sort of sense her discomfort. “I’m sorry if I’m upsetting you, Cathleen. But if it makes you feel any better, I’m just as scared about all this as you are. I know that feeling, that your life is empty and there’s no place that you belong. Sometimes you even wonder what’s the point in living. I know all about it.” One of his arms rose slowly, the hand reaching out for her. Cathleen saw it coming, and wanted to move, but she couldn’t. It was like her whole body had been petrified. All she could do was listen to the intensifying beat of her heart as Davis was just moments away from making contact with her again. She wanted to scream, to slap away his hand, run away, anything. Just so long as she didn’t stand there like a mannequin. For all her desire to just get away, Cathleen had become enwrapped in Davis’ presence. She felt drawn to him in ways that she had never, ever, felt around another human being before. As his hand hovered only inches away from the bare skin of her cheek, a tingle began to radiate in her chest. There was no way she knew how to describe it, only that it was alien to her. When the tips of Davis’ fingers brushed against her flesh, Cathleen’s world shattered. All the barriers of known existence simply fell apart, and her mind was flooded with crushing tsunami of images and sensations. It was far too much of an overload to her thought process to understand what it was she was experiencing, much less being able to single out any of it. As the full weight of it began to crush her brain, it all just vanished in a flash. Cathleen blinked the way she did when she had just woken up. She found herself staring right into Davis’ kind eyes, but there was something else lurking within them. Something that she had never seen before. A sort of desperate hope that mixed with concern. Beyond realizing that, Cathleen could only comprehend one other thing. The intense feeling of pressure on her chest. It was as if someone was standing on her, placing so much weight down that it was almost impossible to breath.

“Cathleen.” Davis whispered, stepping closer to her.

The loud ringing of the school bell broke the static that existed between them, waking Cathleen completely from her almost dream like state. Without even thinking about it, she slapped Davis’ hand off of her. “Get away from me!” she screamed, fleeing as fast as her legs would let her.

“Cathleen, wait!” Davis called after her. Cathleen didn’t head his plea. She didn’t care anymore. She just wanted to get as far away from this damn person who was destroying her entire world. But more than anything, she desperately hoped that putting distance between herself and him would end the tingling in her chest. She raced down the hallway, rounding a corner as fast as her legs would carry her. As she ran down the hall, she could see all the doors in the hallway were swinging open and dozens of students were pouring out into the hallway. Cathleen didn’t stop her running, she didn’t care about the looks that they gave her. She didn’t care about the things that they said about her. She didn’t care about the laughs that were made at her expense. She just didn’t care anymore. Cathleen spotted a restroom and darted inside it. Once safely inside, she slammed the door shut and braced herself against its frame. There was little doubt in her that someone would bother to come into the small three stalled bathroom, much less to check on her. Breathing deeply, with sweat beginning to dot her forehead, Cathleen nervously brought a hand up to her chest. The tingling wasn’t going away. If anything, it was becoming worse. Working her hand attentively up, the breath died in her throat when she realized where the odd sensations were radiating from.

Her family jewel.

Just as the revelation overcame her, Cathleen shut her eyes and shook her head hard. She wanted nothing more than to just will away everything that was happening to her. To her complete shock, that’s exactly what happened. Like someone had turned off a light, all the odd sensations ended. Feeling herself on the verge of tears, Cathleen reluctantly opened one of her eyes slightly. It was all gone. The family jewel was just that, a pretty looking gem. Shakes began to overtake Cathleen. She began to fear if she really was loosing her mind. Dangling on the edge of rationality, Cathleen locked herself in one of the stalls and stayed there for at least the next hour. She didn’t want to think about anything. About the weird feelings that were surging through her body. About why it seemed the family jewel was at the heart of those feelings. And certainly, about Davis. Cathleen wanted nothing more than to just hide away in the stall for the rest of the day. Wishes, however, always seemed to be in short supply for her.

A light knocking on the stall’s door brought Cathleen out of her protective bubble. “What?” she asked, her whole body tense with fear of hearing Davis’ voice.

“Cat.”

Cathleen hardly bothered to breath a sigh of relief. She threw the door open and pulled Maude inside. Slamming it shut, she turned to her only friend. Concern was evident all through Maude’s face. “Cat, what the hell happened? You look…scared.”

“It…” Cathleen tried to force the words out of her mouth, but it was next to impossible. How could she possibly tell her friend that she had just come across a boy that looked almost like her?

“Has someone picked on you again?” Maude demanded. “Tell me who it is, I’ll kick their ass.”

“No, it’s not that.”

“Then what is it?”

Cathleen thought about how to put it all into the right words. After several failed attempts, she finally just blurted it out. Maude remained quiet as Cathleen filled her in about everything. When she was told about the strange new boy Davis, Maude’s jaw dropped.

“Cat, are you serious? He looked just like you?”

“Well…” Cathleen said nervously. “He wasn’t exactly like me.”

“So, what was different about him?”

“His eyes.”

“What about his eyes? What’s different about them?”

So she told Maude about Davis’ eyes. And then, against what she perceived to be her better judgment, Cathleen told her about what had happened when she had nearly fell. Maude leaned against the door and continued to listen as she explained how he had somehow stopped her from falling and pulled her back up into his arms.

“Wait, wait, wait.” Maude interrupted her. Her friend’s eyebrow raised questioningly. “Are you telling me that he pulled you up without any effort?”

Cathleen nodded. “I know. It sounds crazy Maude, but he did it.” Cathleen licked her lips slightly. “And when he held me, it was only for a moment, but it felt like I was being pushed against a brick wall.”

“He held you?”

Panic surged through her as Cathleen comprehended what she had just told her friend. “It…it wasn’t like that! He…Davis was just making sure that I wasn’t hurt.”

Once again that day, the tolling of the school bell managed to save Cathleen from a situation that she had no idea how to get out of. Each of them instinctively glanced up at the ceiling, mentally taking count of which bell had just rung. It was the fifth one. Lunch hour. Cathleen had a moment of dread overtake her. She knew exactly what lunch hour meant. She would have to face Davis again. Maude, however, didn’t seem the least bit concerned. If anything, she appeared very excited at the prospect of meeting Davis. “Come on.” she said with a hint of child like glee in her voice as she held out her hand. “Let’s go find this mystery guy of yours.”

“But…” Cathleen didn’t to protest anymore. Maude grabbed her hand and dragged her out of the stall. She tried to fight against being pulled out of her sanctuary, but Maude wasn’t about to let her go. Once she had been lead out into the hallway, Cathleen chose to not resist anymore. Because in the back of her mind, she knew that there was just no way she was going to be able to elude Davis forever. And also there, much to Cathleen’s shock, was an inching need to see him again. The closer she was lead towards the cafeteria, the less of a fight Cathleen put up against Maude. When they walked through the front doors to the cafeteria, she was walking right alongside Maude, her purple eyes darting all over the large open space.

Once inside, Cathleen instantly recognized that something was very different in the overall atmosphere of the building. Where just days ago she would have gotten a few odd glances and some snickering comments, now everyone was staring at her and talking. She didn’t like the sudden attention at all. As she and Maude passed a table, Cathleen overheard several girls talking in hushed whispers.

“I swear to god, he looked just like milk girl.”

“Shut up. You’re lying.”

“I’m not. Who’d thought that there was another freak like her?”

Some of the other things that they said about her and Davis were just too nasty for Cathleen to keep listening. She continued to look around, but to no avail. It appeared as if Davis had just disappeared off the face of the earth. Feeling slightly rejected, Cathleen held her head low as she fell in line with Maude to get lunch. “Don’t worry hun.” Maude assured her. “I’m sure he’s got to be around here somewhere. I mean, it’s not like he wouldn’t stick out.”

Cathleen looked at the confidence in her friend, and had a resurgence of confidence herself. They each took their meals, and headed to their usual spot. As Cathleen stepped out into the bright sunlight, she nearly dropped her tray. There he was, sitting quietly on the bench near the tree, his hair almost sparkling from the sun’s rays. Davis turned his head to her, and waved her over with a smile. Cathleen looked over at Maude. Her friend’s mouth was hanging open slightly. She guessed knowing something and seeing it were two completely different things. However, Maude was the one who recovered first. Gently nudging her in the side, Maude motioned for them to go over to Davis. He remained perfectly still as they approached him. His hands were calmly folded in front of his tray, but looked like they were ready to spring open at a moment’s notice.

“Hello again.” Davis said when they stopped just beyond the table. His eyes darted over to Maude. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m guessing that you’re a friend of Cathleen’s?”
Maude stammered her first couple of words, apparently still trying to process what she was looking at. Davis, if anything, wasn’t affected by her jumbled words. “It’s alright. I get that a lot.” Standing up from them, Davis held his hand out towards Maude. Maude glanced once over at Cathleen, as if seeking her approval. Cathleen didn’t know what to tell her, she just shrugged her shoulders. She guessed the Maude took that as a yes. Maude brought her hand out to take Davis’, her movements reminding Cathleen very much of someone who was about to pet an animal that they didn’t know if it was friendly or vicious. Davis took her hand and shook it gently several times.

“You don’t have to be afraid of me.” he said. “Like Cathleen, I just look different.”
Without saying another word, Davis sat back down and waited for them. Cathleen looked over to Maude to see if she didn’t have a problem with sitting with him. When she saw that she was staring at him, or more specifically his eyes, something Cathleen had never been really aware of spiked inside her. Jealousy. Her pulse quickened, and she nudged Maude in the side. It did the trick, Maude snapped out of it and looked at her. The tops of her cheeks turned a slight shade of red and she took a seat without saying anything. Flustered, Cathleen sat next to her. She did her best to keep her eyes on her plate as she picked away at her food. Davis, clearly, wasn’t going to just let things stay that way.

“Cathleen.”

Hearing her name caused her to look up at him, and she wished she hadn’t. He was gazing at her with those damn captivating eyes. “Tell me about yourself.”

Embarrassment flushed deep within Cathleen by being placed on the spotlight. She didn’t even know this guy, and here he was asking her about her life story. Keeping her eyes down on her food, Cathleen didn’t respond to Davis’ request. Thankfully, Maude instantly leapt to her defense. “Why don’t you tell us about yourself.” she demanded. Cathleen brought her gaze up slightly, and saw Davis nod his head.

“You’re right. That was rude of me to ask that. I’m just…very excited. It’s not every day that I run into someone like me. But Cathleen would know better than anyone else how that feels. Right?”

Cathleen mumbled a response. Everything was just happening all too fast. Much too fast for her to make heads or tails of everything. Although she tried her very best to pretend that her mind was far off, she mentally had her ears honed on Davis’ voice. Each word he spoke was gobbled up by her like a delicious meal. The more she could find out about him, the better her chances were of solving the obvious mystery of their mutual appearance. Davis, it soon became clear to her, had a very similar personality to hers. He was very closed about anything he said, and would only answer direct questions. Not that Cathleen could blame him. As she thought back on her life, and all the suffering she had endured at the hands of other kids, it was no wonder to her that he appeared to be more on the silent side. However, he clearly didn’t have multiple mental barriers the way she did. Once the initial awkward moments were passed, Davis opened up like a frigging book. Cathleen silently wondered if that odd quirk about him had anything to do with him being a guy.

Maude asked him simple questions at first. Like if he had any siblings. Davis gave her the same sad answer of how he was an only child and an orphan. It took several minutes of painful apologies from Maude before she finally managed to work up the nerve to continue on with the questioning. The next, and perhaps most important one, was where he was from.

“You might find this hard to believe.” Davis said with a slight chuckled. “But I’m actually a dirt boy.”

“Dirt boy, what the heck is that?” Maude asked.

The corners of Davis’ mouth curved slightly. “Farmer. I grew up on a small corn farm in Nebraska with my aunt. She was very good to me, loved me like I was her own son. In ways…I guess she was a second mother to me.”

“So where’s she now?” Maude asked. “Why did you leave to come here?”
Cathleen didn’t know how she knew it, but a feeling raced through her body, causing her to tense up. She already knew what Davis was going to say even before he uttered the first word. It was like she could feel the sadness radiating off of him or something.

“She left me two months ago.” Davis replied flatly. “Cancer.”

“Oh…oh my god. You poor guy.” Maude whispered. Cathleen saw her friend reach across the table and pat his hand. Even though it was ridiculous for her to think of it at that time, anger began to brew within Cathleen. It should be her doing that for Davis, not Maude. She was the one who could understand Davis, she was the one who could feel his pain. In fact, Cathleen could barely believe it herself, she started to wonder why she thought her life was so miserable. Here was a guy who had lost so much more than her, and he still appeared to have life in him.

Just as she thought that, Davis looked up from the table…directly at her. Cathleen froze instantly when their eyes locked yet again. “Death seems to really like me. No matter how far I travel, I just can’t seem to shake it.”

“Then why did you come here?” Cathleen blurted out, immediately feeling terrible for the harsh tone she had given him. Davis appeared to ignore it.

“I got word that I had a second cousin living around here that might have been able to take me in.”

“But why come all the way here just for that?” Cathleen asked.

Davis shrugged his shoulders. “What did I have to lose? It wasn’t like there was anyone left back home that I had to stay for. And I certainly didn’t want to keep living in that house after…it happened.”

“Well,” Maude asked, leaning a bit over the table towards him. “Did you find your cousin?”

“No.” Davis said. “Whoever they were, they’re long gone now. By all accounts, I’m the last surviving member of my family.”

Cathleen continued to keep her mouth shut about what she was not only thinking, but what she was feeling too. She found her heart reaching out to this guy she didn’t really know, and was afraid because of it. As she sat there, listening to the two of them talk, she noticed something. While he kept answering Maude’s questions, Davis began to move his hands. It was very slowly, only noticeable if someone, like herself, took the time to watch. One by one, he took the food items off of his lunch tray and calmly set them beside it. Cathleen started to wonder why he was doing something like that when it made no sense to do it. Maude, as she suspected, was completely oblivious to what Davis was doing. She watched as his fingers wrapped tightly around the edges of the lunch tray. Then, a sort of odd spark of realization came over Cathleen. Davis was about to be attacked.

“So…what are you going to do now? Where are you going to live?”

“I’m eighteen.” Davis answered. “I’m more than capable…”

Right in mid sentence, Davis suddenly leapt to his feet, the lunch tray clutched tightly in his hands. Although Cathleen expected something, she hadn’t been ready for Davis’ nearly lighting fast reflexes. Maude was taken completely by surprise. She jumped back so much that she fell off the bench’s seat with a thump. It was because of that that Cathleen was the only one who saw what happened next. Davis’ body swung around with a sort of odd grace that really didn’t seem befitting such quick movements. Lashing out with the tray like as if he were holding a baseball bat, Davis hit something. It all happened too fast for her to see what it was, but she definitely heard a sharp cry of pain a second later. Cathleen looked over his shoulder, and saw one of the many guys who had always made her life a living hell since she had been old enough to remember lying on the ground clutching his face. Cathleen turned her gaze from him to the back of Davis’ head. A sort of horrifying understanding overcame her as she connected the dots of what had just happened. Davis had started to take the items off of the tray almost a full ten seconds before he moved, and not once in that time or just before it had he actually looked over his shoulder. But he had known. Somehow, he had known that the kid was going to throw that object at him before he had even done it. Despite being out in the warm spring sunlight, she felt a very cold chill run through her. It was just another piece added to the many other things she had experienced in the short time since first meeting Davis that confirmed to her that there was a whole lot more to him than just his looks. Cathleen didn’t have any more time to think on what was wrong with Davis, because the kid he had ‘hit’ was getting up. Other people around them started to take notice too.

“You…” the kid growled, rushing at Davis. It was plain as day that he hadn’t expected the counter attack, and he was smarting from it. Now he wanted payback. Cathleen helped Maude up and the two of them backed away from the table, least they somehow get caught up in the brawl that was about to unfold.

As the kid charged him, Davis tossed the tray aside and stood his ground. Davis wasn’t small, not by a long shot, but he still wasn’t as big as the boy rushing him. Cathleen thought of shouting a warning to Davis, but she already knew that would be pointless. A fight was about to happen, no matter what she said now. Looking on, Cathleen felt worry come over her. Worry for Davis.

When the kid was almost upon him, he threw a wide punch. Davis, just like all the other things he had done, moved out of the way with a speed that should have been impossible. Of set by not connecting his punch, the kid went down in a small cloud of dirt. All around them, a few light laughs ensued. Climbing back to his feet, the kid stared daggers at him.

“Stop this right now.” Davis told him calmly. His warning went unheeded. Growling even more ferocious than before, the kid threw himself at Davis again, swinging wildly. Davis easily either dodged aside or blocked the blows. Compared to him, the guy who was just trying to land a punch might as well have been a five year old. He certainly looked like it with how clumsily he stumbled around. “I told you,” Davis spoke to him again, slapping away a strong punch, “stop this fighting right now.”

“Chicken shit!” the kid spat. “You afraid to fight me?”
Davis looked on with a sort of pity in his eyes. “You can’t win. This is battle is pointless.”

“I’ll show you!” he screamed, throwing a punch straight at Davis’ face. Davis sidestepped the punch with such ease that it caused many of the other students to gasp. Kicking out on of his legs slightly, Davis connected with the kid’s right leg, which was extended. The unexpected hit knocked him off balance, sending him once again to the ground. The second he hit the dirt, Davis backed up several steps.

“You’re not thinking rationally, and you have no fighting skills at all. If you keep this up, you’re going to get hurt.”

Davis’ warning went unheeded, just as Cathleen expected it would. Scrambling to his feet, the kid charged Davis and tackled him head on. As the two of them went down in a mass of twisting arms and kicking feet, Cathleen again saw something that no one else did. And it made her breath die in her throat. Her entire body froze when from underneath Davis’ shirt…fell a crystal like pendant. Its shape was smooth to the point where it appeared to have naturally formed that way, but she knew that it was impossible for a crystal to form in a curved upside down v shape with the ends jutting upward the way a crescent moon did. More than that, what disturbed Cathleen the most was that his gem was the exact same color as his eyes. Which was exactly the way her own gem’s coloration was. The similarity caused Cathleen to fall to her knees. Looking at that unique gem with its otherworldly appearance, it all suddenly became so very clear to Cathleen. She had felt it, or rather, her own gem had felt Davis’. It was why that odd sensation of protective comfort had washed over her when being near him. It was also why she had that indescribable connection flow through her by his mere touch. How was all this possible. How could Davis be like this? How could he have so much in common with every little detail that made her unique when she didn’t even know him? From seemingly nowhere, three very large male teachers pushed their way through the crowd and broke up the fight. As they marched the two of them off to the principal’s office, Davis quietly looked over at Cathleen. His eyes meet with hers, and they were full of…shame. When they were all out of sight, the faint chatter of whispering became an earsplitting roar as hundreds of kids all began talking to themselves about what they had just seen.

“Did you see that? Did you? He had him on the ground, and he still couldn’t land a punch!”

“How the hell did he know that apple had been thrown at him? The way he hit it back…”

“He’s an even bigger freak than milk girl.”

Cathleen didn’t wait around for any of the shock to transform into something worse, which she ultimately knew would be directed at her. Leaping to her feet, she rushed towards the far end of the school. Even Maude’s desperate cries for her to wait up didn’t deter her running. She felt like her head was about to explode in the swirling confusion. She needed to get away from all of it before her mind was crushed. Finding a spot near the drainage ditch bordering the woods which surrounded the school, Cathleen sat down on the small depression and curled into a pitiful ball. She shut her eyes and willed herself to wake up. Everything that had happened had to be a dream. Just a terrible nightmare. Any second, she would wake up in her bed, alone in the world once again. No more stupid mysterious gems. No more haunting unnatural eyes. No more Davis.
When a hand touched her shoulder, Cathleen jumped with a yelp. One glance around told her that nothing had been a dream, she realized with deep devastation. Everything that had happened was real.

“Easy, Cat, easy.”

Cathleen back away slightly, her face growing wilder with each passing second. “He’s not human Maude!” she cried.

Maude held up her hands defensively. “Ok, Cat. You need to just calm down.”

“He looks exactly like me. He has crazy eyes like mine. He has a goddamn gem just like me!” her voice was reach a near hysterical pitch, and she didn’t care. “He knew that apple was thrown at him without even looking. And I knew that he did. I…I felt it too! Before he even did anything, I sensed what was going to happen!”

Collapsing in a miserable heap, Cathleen buried her face in her hands. “What happening to me?” she cried as tears began to seep through her trembling fingers. “What is he? What the hell am I?”