After a weekend of fruitless bargaining, Monday came rolling around. Historiah typically skipped school, as she didn't even give a damn if every school building on earth came down in flames. But don't be mistaken, she was a walking genius. Intelligence her school had never seen in its 60 years of running. It was the final week of school before summer break, and she had only shown up a handful of times. She walked down the hall, not paying any mind to any of the stares she got from everyone. Her hip-long red hair was like a fire, similar to the one inside her. Or rather, the one that consumed her and made everyone terrified of getting too close, for fear of getting burned. All they did was stare, because it was all they could do. She stopped at her locker to pick up some materials, when a girl with shoulder length, wavy, raven hair, dyed grey at the tips and a pair of pretty, brown, doe eyes made her way around the crowd and hugged her from behind. "Tori!!!" She squealed fondly. She was, without a doubt, the only person in existence brave enough to do that. "You're going to suffocate me!" Historiah muffled. "And you're going to worry me to death! You were gone longer than you usually are, and my dad put me on ghost mode again..."
"That must suck." Historiah pulled away. Ivy looked at Historiah's chest and gave her a mischievous grin. "I see your melons got bigger, Tori." She teased. No, they didn't Ivy, It's your eyes." Somehow, Ivy always knew how to make her feel a bit bashful. Historiah did have a perfect figure. Curvy like an hourglass. "Alright," Ivy chuckled. "Class is starting. I'd better get going if I don't want to repeat the year. See ya later, sweetheart!" And she skipped off. Ivy was the governor's daughter. She was bubbly and fun. It was one of the great wonders of the world as to how these two became best friends. Or how Historiah had any friends.
She walked into her classroom and saw one of the faces she hated the most, Rachel Leighton-staring at her. She had bullied Historiah for most of their pre-school years and was as stuck up as you can imagine. She walked to the back seat in the corner as usual.
The teacher came in and greeted the class. "Good morning students, please take your seats. I guess we should count ourselves lucky that we finally get to see Ms. Kurrusso in class today." She said with sarcasm. It was A.P math, which wasn't an easy subject, but was a breeze for our girl Historiah. In the middle of the long, boring lecture, a boy walked into class. He was like something out of a fairytale. 6'0 feet tall, dark, curly hair, glowing lightly tanned skin, and midnight blue eyes that reminded you of sitting on a beach at night, staring at the stars. Nah, he was hot. "Oh, I didn't expect you to come this early! Even though this is the last week of the school year. Class, this is Luke, a foreign exchange student from Russia. Please welcome him warmly." She looked around and continued, "The only empty seat is at the back near Ms. Kurrusso. Will you have problems seeing from there?"
"No, I'll be just fine, Ma'am. Thank you." All the girls in class turned around to look at Historiah with scorn, jealous that she got that snack all to herself. But she wasn't exactly ecstatic about it either. The moment he stepped in the class, his eyes met hers. He knew who she was. Yup, her 'stalker' had shown up.
But that wasn't all. She sat in shock as he walked closer to her. At first, she wasn't sure, but hearing that deep voice assured her. He was the boy at the train station who couldn't mind his business and let her die in peace. The boy that was crazy enough to jump in front of a speeding train. Her stomach turned. Loathing. That was all she could do at the moment. She felt hatred for this person from the deepest corners of her shrivelled soul.
"Hello, Miss. I'm Luke. It's nice to meet you."
"Don't act as if you don't know everything about me and just shut up." She snapped. It was true, when a patient is admitted at the HSA, everything about them is learned through observation to help their therapists. And when their situation is dire enough to be assigned an ESP (who is a specially trained agent for various sensitive situations), that information is given to them to be studied intensively to improve results. Of course, this was done only when absolutely necessary, and with permission from the patient or a guardian. All information was also kept classified.
Her coldness didn't deter his attitude. "You know your stuff, don't you?" He smiled with a little mischief. She ignored him.
I was told of her intelligence, and I'm certain that if I can't prove that I can rival her intellectual level, she'll treat my words like gum under her shoe.
The teacher put down a complex question from an uncharted topic and asked if anyone had an idea of what to do. Honestly, it looked like ancient Egyptian lettering. Historiah was still trying to analyse it when he got up and said he'd like to try it. "Be my guest." The teacher handed him the marker. He took it and solved the problem easily. It was like deciphering a code. "W-wow, Luke! That was quite impressive, well done! Usually, Ms. Kurrusso does these, but I'm glad we have another brainiac!" The class clapped for him as he walked back. Historiah stared at him and looked away. His attempt to impress her a bit had simply hurt her ego and made her detest him even more. "Come on, Tori, if you can't do that, then you don't live up to your mini legend." He teased. getting on her nerves was kinda fun. "Did you just call me 'Tori'?"
"Well, Historiah is far too long, isn't it? Plus, I think it sounds cute."
Did he hear it from Ivy? No, it isn't too likely. The HSA doesn't mention things like that in their reports. So, he must've made it up.
"Don't call me that."
"It wouldn't kill you to loosen up a bit."
"I don't want my name rolling off your filthy tongue, talk less a pet name. Your job is just to follow me around, isn't it? Then keep your nicknames to yourself and do just that."
"You're really irritable. Are you by any chance on your period?" He smirked playfully. Her cheeks flushed. "J- just shut up!"
"Historiah, why the noise? If you don't want to be here, you can leave like you always do. Stop distracting our class!"
"Great! Best suggestion I've heard all day." She got up and walked out. That was Luke's way of testing the waters. He needed to know just how much of a heart was left in her. Whether it was broken, petrified, or simply non-existent. That was his first agenda before he could figure out where to start.
The school management had been made aware of Her condition, so they mostly let her do as she pleased as long as she wasn't being aggressive or rebellious. After school, Luke had to turn the entire school building inside-out to find Historiah. And it was even more difficult because it was an environment he wasn't used to. After almost two hours, he finally found her alone in the arts room. She was sleeping on a desk near the window and the golden light of the sun ready to set lit up her face. She looked calm, but not peaceful. Almost like she was having a nightmare. But damn, she looked beautiful. He sighed, knowing full well how difficult life had been on her. He tapped her gently, "Tori." She sat up slowly and stared into space for a bit, then looked up at him. "Wow, the best nap I've ever gotten was ruined by the sight of your face." She yawned and got up. "Really? Many would count it as a blessing to behold my wonderful face first thing after waking up." She ignored him and walked past him as he followed. She stopped in front of the school gate and asked, "Where's Mrs. King?"
"She told me to call her when I finally found you."
"Do it then. I need to get home."
"It wouldn't kill you to say please, you know."
"As much as I'd like such an easy death, I still wouldn't say it to you even if it would kill me."
Luke sighed and called Mrs. King and put it on speaker phone.
"Hello? Luke, have you found her?"
"Yeah, I have. Should I drop her off at your house?"
"Of course not! She's going home with you!"
"Excuse me?" Luke and Historiah let out simultaneously.